Teaching As A "Noble Profession"

In this entry, let's examine what must, at times. seem like a paradox of sorts. It would be most difficult to imagine our world without individuals we refer to as "teachers." Of course, in this context we are speaking of, those individuals have in one form or another, and one title or another, chose "teaching" as a profession, and generally make their livelihood by being compensated as such. 

So, what is the paradox, you might ask? The paradox is that in a profession considered by most reasonable people as being fundamentally essential to the education and development of other human beings, young and old, and is the profession that trains and prepares people for all the other professions, the "Mother of Professions;" if you will, is constantly under oppressive scrutiny and attack by elements in our society.

In addition, we have a profession where the principal players - teachers - are constantly in contact and interchange with other human beings, yet, as noted in the quote above, teachers frequently feel isolated and on their own. Teachers generally find themselves experiencing the "fishbowl" and/or "microscope" effect where the person imagines, or experiences, a continuous scrutiny from both within and outside the formal school organization.

Not only a paradox, but seemingly contradictory is the notion that a profession that has been referred to as "noble" should seemingly be under constant attack by the very society it serves. As noted in the introductory statement, except for a small element of critics, teaching, and its product, education, are considered essential and fundamental to the strength of a nation.





There would appear to be two questions pressing us for reasonable answers? 1) If teaching is a "noble profession," why are the discordant messages coming from perceived benefactors? 2) Is there a solution to the dissonant perspective(s) that view teaching in a lesser light? One does not even have to go to the professional literature to gain a sense of the variables contributing to the rift between what is perceived as "existing" vs. "what should be." An initial search of the internet will generate a plethora of insights, perspectives, and opinions, with a bit of factual information included for good measure. To provide the reader an example, the writer has included a recent "opinion" article from an on-line administrative journal dealing with the topic:


Can we make the teaching profession noble again?

We need to stop blaming teachers and focus on increasing quality

Written by: Caroline Lewis

Teaching is losing its magic. Every year, the profession loses some of our most effective colleagues prematurely. Moreover, we fail to attract enough college graduates who have the talent and passion for teaching.

Many of us blame the education reform movement for this. Leaders may be well intentioned, but they ignore the reality that successful public education requires development of three key pillars—think of them as though they were the legs of a stool:

• the ability and readiness-to-learn of the students


• the quality of the teachers and


• the culture and tone of the school (leadership, resources, parental involvement, and so on)

We seem fixated on only one of the pillars—teachers—and not in ways that improve quality, but only in ways that undermine, place blame and seriously demoralize too many good people. Somehow, in the debate on what constitutes successful education, the spotlight has become laser-focused on a teacher’s ability to get students to pass tests.

True teaching is hard to measure

We have to recognize that effective teaching is about so much more. What is easily measurable isn’t always what’s significant in most teaching-learning environments.

What a teacher contributes to an individual student’s attitude, ambition, choices, career paths and so on may never truly be known. Teacher effectiveness is a complex issue—as I detail in my book (Just Back Off And Let Us Teach, 2014, Dog Ear Publishing)—and many of the rich classroom exchanges between teachers and their students go undocumented.

For too many, teaching is now reduced to robotic drilling of information in preparation for tests. The ideal of a teacher as a caring, scholarly, creative, pedagogical wizard is not the image being presented or acknowledged.

The joy of teaching has been diminished, and the wind has been knocked out of teachers’ sails. These teachers do not feel validated, much less fulfilled, and are vulnerable to burnout and despair in the current climate.

Racing to the top

We must rethink our education strategy and change the current debate. I would like to remind those who disagree with me that we cannot reform public education if our pool of effective teachers continues to shrink.

We must extol, not vilify, teaching to restore nobility to the profession. I fell in love with teaching in my early teens as I first saw the opportunity teachers had to educate, engage and make a difference in learning, lives and schools.

Back in the 1970s teaching was still considered an honorable profession, and it called out to me.

Let’s change the focus of education reform, attend to all three legs of the stool, and put people like me on the team in charge of the teaching pillar.

Here’s what I would do:

• First, I would stop spending millions of education reform dollars on designing new systems of instruction and measurement every few years at local, state and federal levels.


• Redirect this money to teacher salaries and meaningful professional development for teachers and administrators, including department chairpersons.


• Work, over the next five years, to raise the starting salary for teachers to $75,000. This, no doubt, will go a long way to attracting and retaining the brightest and the best.


• Require a certified master’s degree in education for all teachers, and fund or heavily subsidize it for the brightest applicants with the talent and passion for teaching. 


• Recognize our effective teachers and weed out those who don’t belong.

If we do this and make effective teaching a priority, we might much more quickly race to the top and leave far fewer children behind.

Caroline Lewis spent 22 years as a science teacher and school principal.

DA Daily, August 6, 2016, District Administration 35 Nutmeg Drive, Suite 205, Trumbull, CT, 06611. (https://www.districtadministration.com/article/can-we-make-teaching-profession-noble-again)

Whether, or not, Ms. Lewis' perspective and solution regarding returning teaching to its "noble profession" status is correct, or not, is not the important point in our conversation. What is important, if the people to which we are entrusting the educational formation of our youth to are not viewed in such a "noble" light, then how on earth can we expect to grow and improve as a people? As with any socially related issue, pretending there are easy solutions is simply delusional. If Ms. Lewis is correct in her assessment that teaching was once in our history held in such high esteem so as to be considered "noble," then had we not better sort through the pertinent issues post-haste, and restore teaching to its appropriate rank. If not for our sakes, then for the children's sake it is critically important that we at minimum attempt to do so. In light of diminishing ranks of top notch teachers, as proposed by Ms. Lewis, there is an urgency to this message.

Reflections on Anne Frank's Diary

Reading through his journal, the writer came across the quote above by Anne Frank posted in her well know Diary. Although written in the midst of World War II, her perspective seems as relevant today as it did more than half a century ago. We adults so often "get down" on young people for being disingenuous and seemingly detached from what is believed important and relevant. Do we ever consider that the young people are merely responding to their evolutionary instincts and operating from a defensive mode of functioning. The constant bombardment of negative messages coming from all forms of media is enough to cause anyone to withdraw and turn their "true self" inward. The general optimism and idealism natural to youth is being twisted and ground into the muck and mire of pessimistic nihilism.

Those of you who have read Anne's Diary know that she appeared able to see the light in the world even in those darkest of times. One can surmise all sorts of psychological postulations as to why Anne was able to remain upbeat and positive despite the bleak and challenging circumstances. The writer would prefer to accredit this ability to the great resiliency of youth. Many of our children, even in the more "advanced" countries, still today must contend with mental, physical, and spiritual hardships that no young person should be forced to bear. And, even though children display considerable resilience amidst adversity, it is blatantly obvious that the eroding social forces that are ever-present, and increasing, grind away at youthful optimism and resourcefulness.

The third and final quote of Anne's not only reflects the power of eternal hope and positive expectation, but reminds us that each moment we are alive is a possible point of debarkation to an improved, and, hopefully, better world. We need to believe that this is true, or we truly are a doomed species. Even more important, we need to assist our young people to believe that such a world is possible, and through the older generations' empowerment of the youth, they can be an essential part of the rebuilding and renewal process.

Finally, older generations bemoan the perceived lack of respect and concern by young people toward older individuals. Having worked directly with the younger generation for over 40 years, it is the writer's opinion that the youth of today very much want to respect and honor the older generations, but are increasingly being given reason to do otherwise. This is a topic for another time and post, but the writer believes that the younger members of our species are watching and waiting for reasons to be responsive to, and supportive of, the older generations. We need to take responsibility of opening the doors and inviting them to join their forces with ours to build a better world for themselves, and the generations yet to come.



The Truth About Children

The Truth About Children

“3 Minute Poet” is exactly what it sounds like– a non-threatening way to get kids writing. The teacher provides the title (in this case “your name”) and starts the timer. The rest is up to the students. Here’s a wonderful piece by a Davis Academy 5th grader (now rising 6th grader), Isabella McCullough. It’s reprinted here with parental consent.

Isabella McCullough

creatively weird

undefined

haven’t opened the door,

but I’ve freed my mind.

clash with the heart,

the true me is still there.

If you’re looking for me

I’ll be anywhere

I’m an unfinished

book

an open-ended fairy tale

I am who I am

Isabella’s poem and the context in which it was written (“3 minute poet”) illustrates a simple but important point:

Every child is a poet.

“I know I saw that book in here somewhere!”

When it comes to kids it can be hard to make sweeping generalizations. Not every kid is a math whiz, or a polyglot, or an app developer, or competent with a hair brush. But I do think there are some things we can say about “every child.”

Every child is an artist.

Every child is a philosopher.

Every child is a theologian.

Every child is an actor.

Every child is a dancer.

Every child is a nature-lover.

Every child is an explorer.

Every child is a comedian.

Every child is a skeptic.

Every child is a teacher.

Every child is a boundary pusher.

Every child is a truth speaker.

The Talmud teaches that the world is sustained by the breath of schoolchildren. When we pause and consider the wonderful qualities and traits of our children, it’s hard to disagree.

Whether we live out our responsibilities towards children as parents, teachers, school administrators, or simply as caring adults who look to future generations to make the world a better place, we should ask how we are helping cultivate these characteristics and traits in our children.


********************************************************************


Although the blogger would like to take credit for the above post, he cannot. Although he holds the same thoughts in his heart, the originator of the post is Rabbi Micah Lapidus. It was too beautiful not to share with the followers of the Children's Champion blog. The original citation is offered below should the reader care to visit Rabbi Lapidus' blog.


(Blogpost by Rabbi Micah Lapidus: http://www.rabbispen.com/the-truth-about-children/)

"When Teachers Are At Their Best"

The following is an excerpt of a school district superintendent's message to the returning staff of a western United States school district:

“At their very best, teachers are the heart and soul of this school district -- period,” he said. “At their best, they are passionate about what they do and that passion shows.”

When they are at their best, they inspire confidence and self-esteem. “They are role models and sometimes they even change lives,” he said.

Great teachers realize that students have needs beyond food, shelter and clothing, they also need a sense of self-worth or importance.

“Every student in this school district wants to feel important,” he said.

“If they feel disconnected, if they feel disenfranchised, if they feel invisible, there are consequences,” XXXX said.

 “Teachers are not simply conveyors of cognitive information,” he said. They recognize the other side of children and that those needs are just as or even more important than just the academics.

In, and of itself, the message is not a great deal different than that delivered to teaching staff members as they return to their schools in late summer each year. However, the writer, having served as a school district superintendent for a good number of years, and thereby having had the opportunity to greet his staff in a similar setting finds such observations and statements such as those shared in the excerpt wanting in both meaningful content and substance.


For instance, the presenter of these statements is obviously intending to connect with his audience in a positive and supportive manner. However, the several statements intended to identify teachers when "they are at their best" begs the question, "What about when teachers are not at their best?" What does this look like to the student, parent, colleague, administrator, etc.?" Indeed, the obvious unsaid implication of the superintendent's statements is that not all the teachers are "at their best" part, or all, the time. How do we compensate for the individual and greater good when some, or all, teachers are not "at their best?"


One final observation, and question, regarding the superintendent's shared remarks. Certainly, one realizes that people in any occupation or circumstance embrace rhetoric aimed at making them feel valued. The superintendent's declaration that teachers "are the heart and soul of this school district - period" may have won the hearts and minds of those in the audience, but is it, in reality, true? Why do schools exist in the first place? Who more than the children represent the complete and total reason for public schools to exist? As a member of a Christian church council, the writer was once asked, as were the other members of the council, "who, or what, is the heart of our church?" Interestingly, everyone else, including the pastor, named some member(s) of the church congregation. When asked for my reply, I simply stated, "It had better be Jesus Christ, otherwise we are all wasting our time here tonight."


Hopefully, no one reading this will question the need for great teachers, operating at their best, to ensure that our children receive a rich and rewarding educational experience. However, when we place the importance of one part of a school district community higher, or lower, than another part, we are dishonoring the greater whole. Ask any school administrator that did not have a good quality and supportive classified staff, supportive board, supportive parents, supportive community, and willing students, how things are functioning. Furthermore, if we place the importance solely on the teachers, "operating at their best," we have forgotten a very basic premise; schools are referred to as "systems" meaning that it is made of complementary parts working together. Whether you agree with the writer's thoughts and premises, or not, at least reflect on how the meanings of our words/statements need to be carefully considered before sharing them with an audience.

Conversations As A Pathway to Improved Communications

"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said."

- Peter Drucker

There are few among us who have not been part of an exchange where the topic of "communication"  comes up. Whether it is an organization that is the target of criticism, or a significant other, the message usually appears clear: the message-sharing is deemed subpar. It can be argued that perception vs. reality in some of these cases, but the end result is that people are neither happy, nor satisfied, with the exchange of information.

Nearly as fatal to effective relationships between parties is the illusion by one, or more, of the parties that the appropriate exchange/sharing of information has taken place when in reality it has not, at least to the satisfaction of all involved in the intended exchange.

"The single biggest problem in communication

 is the illusion that it has taken place."

 - George Bernard Shaw

One approach to addressing the disconnect between those attempting to "communicate" with each other is developing the skills necessary to enter into conversation with another. Too often the diagrammatic "sender" - "receiver" communication model is dominant in interpersonal exchanges. Although in its simplicity this basic model lulls one into believing that utilizing it leads to both efficiency and effectiveness of sharing information, it rarely meets the emotional needs of participating individuals. "Objective" intercourse between people may be hailed for its Spartan economy, but in reality the austerity it engenders frequently creates an emotional void which usually, in the end, exacts a deficit in terms of an effective and lasting outcome.


Although not occurring often enough, one frequently encounters someone who is said to be a "good communicator." Those with a frugal approach to the examination of what makes a "good communicator" will often state that the core attribute of a good communicator is being a good/active listener. Although active listening skills are an essential element of good communications, being able to respond to the other party's input appropriately is believed to be just as essential. Outside of Freudian "free association" counseling, most people want to feel "engaged" with the other party(ies), which is best accomplished through effective conversations. Conversation moves communication into a more subjective, personalized, activity and strengthens the bond between speaker and receiver.

"Conversations are efforts toward good relations. They are an elementary form of reciprocity. They are the exercise of our love for each other. They are the enemies of our loneliness, our doubt, our anxiety, our tendencies to abdicate. To continue to be in good conversation over our enormous and terrifying problems is to be calling out to each other in the night. If we attend with imagination and devotion to our conversations, we will find what we need; and someone among us will act—it does not matter whom—and we will survive." - Barry Lopez

Waking Up Children to the World!

"We teach our children one thing only, as we were taught: to wake up. We teach our children to look alive there, to join by words and activities the life of human culture on the planet's crust. As adults we are almost all adept at waking up. We have so mastered the transition we forget we ever learned it. Yet it is the transition we make a hundred times a day, as, like so many willing dolphins, we plunge and surface, lapse and emerge. We live half our waking lives and all our sleeping lives in some private, useless, and insensible waters we never mention or recall. Useless, I say, Valueless, I might add - until someone hauls their wealth up to the surface and into the wide-awake city, in a form that people can use." (p. 17) -  Annie Dillard, The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New.


Annie Dillard's perspective on what might be our primary charge as teachers to our children is considerably different than the often identified didactic rationales presented when asked the purpose of education. Just as most children require motivation and encouragement to awake in the morning, so too considerable motivation and encouragement is usually required to awaken our children developmentally. Educators (for the purposes of this discussion, an educator is anyone who directly, or indirectly, influences the growth and development of the child) are often heard telling parents that they expect children to arrive at school "awake and ready to learn." At face value such a request does not seem out of line, nor unreasonable. However, the follow-up question that haunts the expectant parties is, "What if the child arrives not awake, nor ready to learn?" Of course, there is a tendency to slip into a subjectification mode where cause and blame are affixed to both people and situations. Experience generally proves that taking such a route adds little in the way of finding a solution to the problem.


Ideally, one hopes that before the tentacles of frustration, anger, and/or despondency put a death-lock on his/her optimism, the person rises to the occasion and actively seeks solutions to what appears to be a dilemma. Once the fear of drowning passes, it is time to analyze the situation and begin the evolution and development of a plan of constructive response. As Germany Kent states, “If you don't put anything in place, do not expect miraculous results to appear.”


Breaking free of the institutionalized doubts and speculations about children and their abilities to become enthusiastic participants in their education, the educator needs to open the windows of his/her mind and think beyond the restricting forces, both real and imagined. It is important not to allow institutional restrictions to prevent innovation and opportunity. Shannon L. Alder suggests, “Don't ever get to the point where you can't be taught because life is a classroom and everyone owns a pen.”  It can be difficult at times to "think outside the box" when, for whatever reasons, school district rules and policies seem to put severe limitations on what the individual, or collective, can do without putting themselves in personal jeopardy. Perhaps the greatest challenge in this evolution is developing a mindset such as that of Dodie Smith offers in I Capture the Castle, when stating, “Oh, it is wonderful to wake up in the morning with things to look forward to!”  


Just as important as the students waking up to life and what it offers, is the need for the educator to experience an awakening, as well. The vast majority of individuals who seek to become educators/teachers dream of being a positive influence on the lives of their students. Such a dream is both noble and important. However,  Israelmore Ayivor, in Shaping the Dream, reminds the person/dreamer,“Know that dreaming is a waste of ... time and energy if you don’t wake up to achieve them.”   Similarly, Ka Chinery, in Perceptions from the Photon Frequency alludes, “Through the many years of what I thought was 'searching', was really the process of 'awakening'.”  



Acknowledging the factors affecting the child's, as well as the adult's, awakening will be important if success is to be experienced. Unlearning things that may have been learned, either through instruction or experience, will be a challenge. Perhaps the most challenging will be genuinely accepting the differences in individuals and the need to adapt and modify one's plan to meet such needs. John Marsden applies humor to this matter, noting, “Some people wake up fast. Some people wake up slow. I wake up dead.” So, grab your cup of coffee and let the awakening begin.