The
Beatings Will Continue
Until
Morale Improves. . .
Public educator morale is
low. We hear this all the time from a
variety of sources, and those of us in the field of education hear it, know it
and live it on a daily basis. Low
educator morale isn't a new phenomena, but the dropping spirits of educators
are accelerating at an alarming rate.
Concerns about losing collective bargaining rights, increased pressure
from evaluations, and an increasingly hostile climate all add to the existing
stresses that educators face.
Yet, there are many who
question the need for concern about educator morale. After all, to many, education is just another
profession and educators should be able to handle the same stresses and
challenges that any other employee faces.
We hear this sentiment expressed all the time. When educator morale is mentioned the
conversation inevitably turns to the long summers off, the short hours, the
fact that those in the private sector have been suffering more for longer
periods of time, etc. The question comes
up, why shouldn't those educators be treated like all the rest of America's
workforce? After all, it's not like they
have a tough demanding job. The hours
are short, the pay is good, and those benefits, wow! Even those sympathetic to educators and
supportive of our public schools frequently take this tone. I often hear people say, I support my kid's
teachers, but. . .
In addition to the
comments about pay, working conditions and benefits, talk inevitably turns to
the quality of the American public education system. Test scores, employer concerns, and anecdotal
evidence of the failure of our schools is used to essentially say that public
school educators don't earn their paychecks anyway. We should ignore the realities that educators
work in, the challenges our students face, the society we live in, and the
validity of the assessments used to evaluate schools. Just look at the bottom line, that's what we
do in the private sector right?
Education should be treated as a business, and educators are just like
any other employee in any other industry.
Morale should be secondary to productivity is the thinking of many.
This flawed logic is
having an incredibly harmful impact on our nation's schools. While the argument that employee morale in
any industry or profession is important and that "happy" workers make
for better productivity, the reality is that educators do their jobs in a
profession that is very different from much of the rest of the workforce. We are not "better" and we are not
"more privileged" or "more deserving", we simply do a job
that requires a specific set of skills and a particular emotional approach in
order to successfully carry out our responsibilities.
The heart of the issue
lies in the reality that the "products" produced in the
"educational industry" are the knowledge, skills and attitudes of our
nation's children. This is very different
from a physical product or even a service that employees in other professions
create or deliver. A professional
educator designs the curriculum, delivers the instruction and sets the tone for
the environment that the students work and socialize in. Our "customers" are our
"products" at the same time.
The "raw materials" we work to mold into a finished
"product" (a well educated, career and college ready citizen) come to
us with a variety of strengths and challenges, they operate in a society filled
with preconceived ideas about them. In a
public school every student's needs must be addressed and no one can be turned
away. As educators we accept these
challenges and do our best to create a learning environment that is positive,
supportive and filled with opportunity.
In order to do this
challenging task well, educators need to be sound not only in their knowledge,
but also in their emotional state. We
have to be ready to calm a frightened or angry student, support a family in crisis,
help solve the social problems of students and provide an education all at the
same time. If morale is low, then these
multiple challenges become simply overwhelming.
Our morale is low, not
because we have been coddled for too long.
It is low, not because we couldn't handle it in the private sector so we
turned to public education as an easy way to make a buck. It is low, not because we don't want to work
hard to help our students. It isn't low
because we don't want to be held accountable for our student's achievement. It is low for a number of sound reasons.
Lack of respect- We have all heard these lines (or some variation of them) "Those
who can do, do. Those who can't do,
teach." Sitting in a professional
development last week I watched a video (made by an educator with a
pro-education message) say that teaching "isn't rocket science." There is a general sense among many that
teaching students is tough, not because of the skills required, but rather
because of other intangible reasons.
Somehow the skills required to teach 25 students of different
backgrounds, abilities and motivations a concept is devalued in our
society. Educators aren't skilled
professionals, but rather glorified babysitters who simply give out information
to students that the students really could get anywhere.
Actually, it is true,
teaching isn't "rocket science".
It isn't "brain surgery" either. Educating students is a unique combination of
technical skill combined with an ability to motivate students while
understanding their basic needs and addressing their emotional health. Education is a form of art. Just like any art form it is easy to say what
to do and how to do it, but a totally different thing to actually
accomplish. In devaluing educator's
skills we use the flawed logic that anyone can paint a masterpiece, compose a
musical score or wow the crowd with an electrifying athletic move simply by
following a set of directions or trying hard.
Educators take great pride
in our ability to perform a demanding job.
Saying that our skills are less than those in other professions and are
not worthy of respect is a direct attack on us and our value to society.
Devaluing educators and education- Once the professional skills of educators are
questioned, it isn't too hard to begin arguing that they don't deserve to be
respected or compensated at the same level as other professionals. Sentiments like this one from the comment
section of an article about educator morale sum up the disrespect shown
directly to elementary educators.
"Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with that sort
of salary ($73k/year) for a teacher who teaches higher level subjects...but
there is no reason for an elementary school teacher to make anywhere near that
amount."
However, the reality is
that $73k/year isn't a salary that compares to other professions that require
the same expertise and education. For
that reason it really disrespectful to all educators. Would a professional actor, athlete or CEO
work for that amount of money?
Here in Wisconsin we are still reeling from the
impacts of Act 10 and other "reforms" that have been directly aimed
at educators and education. It is
difficult to feel valued when my families take home pay for the last month was
over $700 less than in previous years.
That this can occur in my state with a long history of supporting public
schools certainly doesn't help the morale of educators.
Creating an intimidating and unfriendly
environment- The decline in morale
over the past couple of years can be directly traced to the changes in working
conditions brought on by new legislation and policy. These are supposedly designed to make our
schools more "efficient" and more "accountable". Yet, the legacy of policies like No Child
Left Behind and Race to the Top is not increased student achievement, but
rather an environment that is hostile to learning and reduced opportunity for
students.
The loss of collective
bargaining rights for most educators, and the restrictions on bargaining that
exist for those who do still have contracts create unfavorable working
conditions for educators. The movement
to make educators more "accountable" has caused many to question
whether our employers trust us to use our time well. We are increasingly required to document how
we use our time and to participate in mandated professional development instead
of planning or collaborating with our colleagues to meet our student's needs.
This environment isn't
just unfriendly to educators, but is unfriendly to public schools in
general. The entire voucher movement
arises out of a climate that is hostile to public education. The idea that our public schools deserve our
respect and support is foreign to many in public office and their ideas fuel negative
public opinions.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/top-16-nyc-charter-school-execs-out-earn-chancellor-de
Implementing harmful "reforms"- While working conditions, compensation and the general
climate surrounding education are important to educators, it is often our
inability to do our jobs in the way we feel that is best for our students that
causes significant stress for us. We are
seeing a disturbing movement in education right now towards "rigor"
and "accountability". These
trends aren't disturbing to educators because we don't want to challenge our
students or be accountable. They are
troubling because the "rigor" and "accountability" that is
currently being imposed on us appears to be misguided and harmful to our
students.
At the end of the day most
educators that I know put their students needs ahead of their own in almost
every way. It is because of this that we
put in the extra time to meet with students and their families, that we attend
events in the community and that we speak out about so called
"reforms". We provide snacks
on a daily basis for hungry students, we pay for field trips for students who
can't afford them, we provide school supplies.
We offer encouragement and emotional support above and beyond what is
required of us. We look for ways to help
students achieve the standards and benchmarks while still retaining a love of
learning.
Our reward for these
efforts is continuing professional development calling for us to either
completely scrap our existing curricula or to learn new terms for things that
we already do. We are asked to collect
data on our students to be used to fuel more changes. We must change our schedules to implement
programs that have little impact on student achievement. We are pressured to pressure our students and
make them view learning as a chore or obligation. Learning becomes something measurable and a
requirement instead of an opportunity and a joy. The means becomes more important than the
ends. We spend more time justifying ourselves
and worrying about data than we do preparing lessons to engage our students in
learning. In the end it is the children
who suffer because of the policies that are implemented.
None of what I've written
so far is likely to change the opinions of those who truly believe that our
current state of education is moving us in the proper direction. The thinking that schools should be run like
businesses and educators need to simply deal with that or leave the profession
is a difficult mindset to change. The
only way to really understand what is happening to our public educators is to
experience what we are experiencing and talk directly to people who work in our
schools. All of the data, all of the
test scores and all of the anecdotal evidence can't compare to real life
experience.
The real problems in
education aren't the public educators and they aren't the students or families
who attend our public schools. The
problems lie in our continuing political and economic battles. Our schools are caught in the crossfire
between powerful groups who seek to maintain and expand their hold on wealth
and power. Our students suffer, not
because of the educators who work with them, but because of policies enacted
from people outside of the schools.
Our students, educators
and school suffer because we as a society, haven't ever committed to making our
schools work for all students. We are
quick to assess blame, but not as quick to work towards solutions that will
effectively address our challenges. It
is one thing to point fingers of blame, but another to put your hands to work
fixing the problems that we all know exist in our schools and in our society.
Educators feel helpless in
the face of these attacks and unable to do what they feel is correct for their
students and their profession. They feel
disrespected and devalued. We don't have
many friends in high places who advocate for us on policy issues. Most of those with access to power are
aligned with the "reformers" and the educational profiteers. It is a recipe for low morale, high-turnover
and dissatisfaction among employees who are so vital for the future of our
students and our society. We need to
start changing the ingredients in our "educational menu" so that we
can make positive change happen for our
students, our educators and our public schools.
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