Much has been said about Mel Gibson lately. Is his professional acting career over? Well, I am sure he will always have a following. My mind did go back to a movie from a few years back, What Women Want! (2000). If you didn’t see it, the storyline went something like this. Mel (I don’t remember his movie character’s name) was struck by lightning one night, and the next day he began to hear what women thought. As a result, he helped some women, lied to some women, and stole the thoughts of the one woman so much smarter than he was, and on and on… Funny thing is that he almost lost his own mind trying to listen to what goes on in a woman’s head. I could have told him that! Men will never fully understand a woman’s thinking processes. There really is no use in trying to get women all figured out. “It ain’t gonna happen!” We are too complex! or perhaps I should say “intricately designed!”
Anyway, I liked the title, and I got to thinking about teachers. Since I am a coaching consultant for schools, I often get to tell teachers what I think should be done or shouldn’t be done to improve student learning. However, after spending 20 consecutive days with teachers this past spring, I got to thinking about a remarkable idea. I wonder if anyone ever asks the teachers what they want. What do they want for their students? What do they want for their own professional dreams? What do they want from the community? What do they want from folks like me who think they know the answers to complicated dynamics found in their classrooms? Okay, so, you know I think I have the answers, right? Of course you know I do, or else why would I write about it? There are several things I believe teachers want, and yes, I am going to eventually share them with you.
1. Teachers want to be treated as the professionals they were trained to be! (Oh my, it is time for the S.B. Odom Soapbox Speech of the night!). Seriously, think about it. Teachers spend at least 3 ½ to 4 years learning how to teach and the content needed to deliver to students. Most in today’s society continue to educate themselves through a graduate program which is typically 18 months to 2 years in length. Wait a second! That is a grand total of 5 to 7 years of post secondary training. AND the typical Medical Degree takes how long!?! When was the last time we walked into the medical doctor’s office and questioned, “Are you highly qualified to make this diagnosis? When did you have your last board test? What is the level of proficiency in your medical professional treatments of your patients? How many of your patients have died in the last year? How many unsuccessful patients did you treat? Where is the lab work from their tests? What did you do about the lab work? What interventions did you provide? Did you make all your patients take the same medications regardless of their different body chemistries?” Yeah, I think you get the picture.
I believe instead of pointing an accusing finger at the most noble profession in America, we need to ask, “What can I do to help you?” I believe we should help them develop a network to tap into the greatest intellectual “think tank” in the world. Do we dare be so audacious to think teachers cannot provide viable solutions to the educational problems today? What I think teachers want is for someone to say, “Tell me what you are experiencing in your classroom. Give me examples of the specific challenges you face, and let me see if I can help you find solutions. Let me hear what you are saying first, before I make suggestions or tell you what you need to do.”
2. Teachers want to be able to do what they are trained to do – TEACH! So when did we allow the “main thing” to no longer be the “main thing?” Teachers love to train children. Why else would they submit themselves to the scrutiny of the public all year? They want to do a great job. However, the target is forever moving. Would somebody please stop moving the target? Or, if the target just has to move, can we at least provide the teachers with the target practice they need to be successful? I often find when someone takes the time to help teachers decipher all the mandates of the state departments of education, they look at you and say, “THANK YOU! For the first time in my teaching career, this finally makes sense!”
I fully believe the reason teachers have become so dependent on textbooks is because we stripped them of their ability to lead, and told them they must follow the proven path (Not quite sure who proved it, but let’s follow it anyway! After all, Texas and California are doing it.) I have great respect for men and women who dedicate themselves to the calling of providing children with information they can translate into knowledge. However, I do not believe there is a textbook in print that can adequately teach any child everything he/she needs to know about a subject or course content area. And I believe when we follow recipes for education (textbook-driven recipes), we should not be surprised when we get status quo students (You know, like the store-bought cake mixes versus the home-made cake that is better than…Well, you know!). If we want the free thinking that made America what it is today, we need to get off the brakes and allow teachers to take hold of the throttle.
And finally (for tonight)
3. Teachers want the ability to cleanse their profession of quacks and naysayers! Had so many ineffective, non-productive people not been allowed to hide behind laws, such as tenure, the teaching profession would not be suffering the way it is today. True teachers, with passion and purpose, do not need to be driven: they are more capable of driving the educational system than anyone alive. If our government would fund excellence, cut non-productivity, and reward men and women who live to teach, the public educational system in America would not have to have legislation like NCLB overseeing its every move. When is enough going to be enough? I believe not until the passion-driven educators in this country stand up and say, “ENOUGH!” will we see a true watershed in American Education.
Once the quacks are gone, educators can then restructure American Education to meet the needs of the American people. We need a system which makes us global, specialized, differentiated, and competitive. We do not need drones. We need diversity! We need skills! I think about the building of Solomon’s Temple (about 1000 BC, or 587 BCE). Look at all the various people needed to build this magnificent temple: men to cut the great cedars; men to transport the cedars; carpenters; woodcarvers; cloth makers; dye experts; stone masons; architects; goldsmiths; bronze makers; and the list could go on for days. So, my question is, “Are we preparing our children for the 21st Century, or are we forcing them to remain in the past?” What skills do children of the 21st Century need? Are we building a stone temple? What is the next frontier? What will the future hold in terms of knowledge and technology? See, real bonafide teachers understand education must evolve with society. They understand they must produce thinkers and doers for the civilization we all love so dearly to survive. Yet, we inundate them with meaningless 2nd century paperwork. There are many people in today’s society who want to shuffle paper. Hire them to do the paperwork! Let teachers TEACH!
Conclusion to the Soapbox Speech
We all know public education has a myriad of problems. It is a complex system with an utopian ideology in a pragmatic reality. If we want our teachers to be successful, then we must provide them with the tools for success. More importantly, we need to “hear” what they are saying to us. Or perhaps they should just sit back and watch us speed headlong into Hades with all our legislation, stimulus funding for multiplied billions thrown to the wind without a plan, and oversized Band-Aids trying to hold back the existential meltdown of our educational system overseen by politicians and interest groups. Eventually, perhaps, someone will remember why the teaching profession was important in the first place and will cry out for the noble giants to come to the rescue! Maybe, just maybe, by that point, everyone else will step back, and let the educational professionals do their jobs!
Stepping down from the soapbox!
Until the next wave of passion explodes!
S.B. Odom
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