After reading the chapter and going through what a lot of you guys posted, I realized that there are a lot of wussies in our class. Sure, the chapter told us a list of what to do and what not to do and it was a no-brainer and, sure, it is a job so it should be viewed as such and nothing more. I understand these points of view completely but they're wrong.
How many jobs have you had where you can inspire or challenge another's complete outlook on life? How many jobs have you had where you really wanted to know the people and the potential of the people you worked with? How often have you hid in your safe shell of a job and were afraid to say or do something different because you might get fired? Stop kissing ass and take charge of what you love!
I know from my own experience that I have never done what I was told to do just because. There had to be a good reason backing it or I would never do it. Every job I've ever had, aside from acting, was one in which I rebelled against my oppressors. Every job I've ever had had hypocritical management and a list of things to do and not to do and I just ignored them. Granted, I read and heard them but I tweaked them to suit my needs. As an educator, you need to tweak the way your school is run based on the student's needs. They're not giving you enough money, work on the weekends as a server or hotel manager. They're telling you how to do your job— shut the door and teach your way. They're telling you "you have to teach for this standard or test," teach how you feel is the best interest for the students... so they can get a job and have a successful life after high school. They're telling you that you'd be fired if you go on strike, have your students go on strike for you! Keep the rules they've shoved down your throat in your forethought but teach those kids and worry less about the stipulations of the term "job."
Teaching is more than a job; it is a way of thinking, a way of idealizing, and a way of setting the standards for the future of the nation. Take the power from the corporate vagabonds and federal government and remake America from the schooling outward. Stop cowering and worrying about your job security, grow some guts and take a stand. You shape the future, not them. When the rest of the leaders of the world lack popularity and the youth stop looking to them for guidance, they look to teachers. We make the difference. Get out there and risk everything. No fear.
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13 comments:
I'm going to chalk this entire comment up to inexperience in the "real world" and some fantasy of what you think you will get away with in your classroom.
I would like to think we are all idealic, driven and rebellious types that strive to make a difference in the world, but do you hear that....it's reality knocking.
Not everyone is that committed to doing what they think is right over what is mandated. It's always a choice of how much to fight.
How much change can you effect if you've gone too far and lost your job? Zilch.
Some of us choose to keep our jobs first, hedge when we feel the need, as well as take some chances when the situation calls for it.
Going into a class with that attitude that you have taken will cause your career to be short-lived. You need a dose of reality with your double-size helping of martyrdom.
Case in point, my wife's co-worker failed a school board member's son. He lost his job because he did the right thing. This is a decision I would make, but I would not make the assanine decision that Christenbury did with wahtshisface.
We're not revolutionaries, we're teachers. You've watched too many teacher films.
Wake up.
~Stan
Sorry Stan, but I live in the land of the free and, naive as it may be, it only takes one person to do the right thing to make a difference. I plan to make a difference even if it takes my job. The students are the priority, not the job.
I guess the difference is I'm choosing teaching for a profession, a rewarding one, that will provide for me and my family. Your priorities change when you have others to be responsible for.
Christenbury acknowledges this when she said, in hindsight, she would not do the same for Ray if she had to make the choice again. She realized how her actions made in haste and with emotions running high were in poor judgement.
My take on this is that I will make a difference for the majority by teaching. I'm not saying there won't be instances when I'm told not to do something that I won't circumvent the system if I feel it's the wrong thing to do.
I am saying that if it means the difference in being fired, or continuing to provide for my family, the one student will have to fall by the wayside. Too bad for him. Do I hope it won't come to that? Sure.
Not all of us have the committment to helping others more than ourselves. I guess you could call it selfish, but I like to think of it as being responsible for my family. If I was single, I might be more brazen and confrontational when it comes to perceptions of right and wrong.
Having a little life experience, I know there are some things that you fight for, and some you don't. the choice to do so will be made when the call to action arises. Until then, I couldn't say for certain that you and I wouldn't fight for the same cause, in the same manner, to the same degree of severity. At this point, it's all conjecture.
But, it has been fun having the discussion. Where's Keri? Is she even reading these anymore? Oh...Hi Dr. Franklin.
~Stan
P.S. You'll need to write more than that to bring me over to the dark side.....
~Stan
Wow Stan, it seems that Mike really hit a nerve here. I haven't seen such an emotional post since we started this blog. I think it's great. This is the first time that I have actually wanted to comment on this blog because I love a good argument. I guess I have a benefit here because my ideology falls somewhere in the middle of yours and Mike's.
I agree with you Stan when you say that you will be no good to the students if you are fired, but I also agree with Mike when he says that teachers have to be revolutionaries. I didn't choose this career path with only the security of my family in mind, that was only a part of the reason that I chose this profession. The main reason I choose this profession is because I have confidence that I have what it takes to help future generations of students. If I was simply concerned with bringing home the bacon I would major in business or advertising.
This is where I think of the crossroads that I might come to as a teacher. If I am teaching at a school and I think that an administrator is doing something unethical, I see it as my duty to fight back. At the same time, I need the job. That is why I plan to choose my battles wisely. This is a skill that I will have to refine over time but I think that it is important to save the drastic measures for when an administrator or school board is doing something that would look scandalous on the 6:00 news.
If I am instructed to teach items that will be on a standardized test then I will teach them my way. With skirmishes like that you can always use your creativity to create a meaningful lesson out of the requirements. Throughout the years I have become somewhat of an expert at finding loopholes in rules and regulations. This is what I plan to do as a teacher. I don't see myself running into my first year of teaching with guns blazing and immediately developing a reputation as a liability, but I do plan on finding my boundaries and testing the waters of dissent over time so that I can serve my students while keeping my job.
It's all fine and good if you just want to sit back and teach safely because you want to support your family but consider the alternatives; think about what would happen if you took a risk, put your job on the line, and started the unthinkable:
Do you want to know how change is made in a country like America? The people must say something to turn the tides. When Black rights weren't being given, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr took action. When the British invaded India, Ghandi took action. When teachers don't show courage in the face of hardships and obsticles, nothing happens.
All I'm asking is why begin teaching in the ways we're told to teach instead of using our own insight to teach them what they need to know? Right now, there are no good leaders, no good role models for these students to look up to. Bush is an idiot and the media talks about Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and gang violence all the time. Who're the kids going to look up to if you're their teacher and you're hiding behind the juristicion of the classroom? Nobody.
Maybe I have seen too many teacher movies but there's a reason they were made. Some future writer was inspired by some idealistic teacher and wrote a film based on the issue or, like Freedom Writers, the events actually happened and one ambitious teacher made all the difference. You can't tell me that you don't want to be remembered as the teacher that got the students to stand on desks, play in a rock band, or use their creativity to gain wisdom beyond their years is not something you want. I'm tired of hearing that teachers won't get but one student from each year or so to write back and say thanks. That means something's wrong.
And why can't I go in there with ideas all my own and start something new? Isn't that what Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and all the other legendary thinkers did? Are you suggesting that there is no more room for ambitious thinkers in the classroom? Sorry Plato, apparently, everyone escaped the cave at once and no one needs to think anymore. Or are you simply worried about lossing a job that pays less than a babysitter's salery?
If I stand up for the student's rights and I get canned, those students will remember me as a go-getter for change. Getting fired is the least of my worries. Having the students grow up to be like Bush or another awful leader is where my worries lie.
Your turn...
Here's my thoughts -
I don't think that you necessarily have to break the rules to be a good teacher. I think you can be a fantastic, thought-provoking, inspiring, and even revolutionary teacher without throwing ALL caution to the wind. Most of the rules prescribed for us by administrators have good purposes behind them.
Note that I said most. Now, I don't think we need to follow every letter of a minor law that we disagree with ideologically. You have to weigh the consequences - is it worth it? And don't say it's always worth it. I'm more inclined to evaluate "worth" in regards to what positive effect it will have on my students, not job security or my inner rebelliousness trying to aggravate the "suits."
As well, how insulting is it to teachers before us if we think we're going to be the ones to change society? You think teachers before us didn't go into the classroom as delusional as Michael? You don't think teachers at all levels don't break the rules, allow some students to get out of taking finals, turn papers in late, think that they are going to be the ones to change their students outlook?
I don't think Kevin is far off from the truth. Knowing when to fight for a key idea and make the decision then.
I pose the following scenario for those who are interested in responding. If you were in Christenbury's shoes with Ray, would you do what she did?
I agree with Michael that we're not entering a profession that pays much, as I laughed at the babysitter's salary comment, but is that why we woul risk our job? If you made wages in the 40-60 thousand salary range, would you be more cautious?
~Stan
It's not entirely the reasoning behind acting out, but it is a good reason for acting out. As I'm sure everyone would agree, we didn't join the teacher's work force to make money. We did it for the gratification of helping others achieve great heights in their lives. That's more important than a numbered salary... no matter how much you put under my nose to keep me quiet. I wouldn't trade my self-respect or courage to put dreams into reality for all the money in the world.
I've been asked before what I would do if I won the lottery or won big at the casinos and you know what I said? I told them I'd give it all away to charities and the needy. I didn't earn that money so it's not mine to spend. I like to work for my money... anything else doesn't belong to me.
Maybe I'm more of an idealist than most but someone has to be. If everyone stops believing than one person can make a difference, that's what will happen. I refuse to buy that. I'm stubborn, I'll admit but my heart's in the right place.
So, if I was paid 40-60, I would probably be more rebellious. Ideas run the world, not money and fear (like the media of America believes). And I would have handled the Ray situation about the same. Sue me.
I have to agree with Katie. You can be a good teacher without breaking all the rules. You can be all the things that Katie said and adhere to the rules at the same time.
Nice debate; I like to read the back and forth commentary between a good debate and its participants.
I'd like to see how much your opinion has changed in five years. I hope you are as fulfilled as you believe you will be.
One thing I think might add shed some light on the situation is input from Dr. Franklin. Did she think she was going to cause change, be that "one" teacher, make a difference? Why do people begin teaching and leave for the higher education system?
I would like to think that we will all make some change in our careers. Some of us will last until retirement, some will leave for the mainstream careers in society, and some will be fired after their first semester, like Michael.
Good luck to all.
~Stan
One of my favorite books of all time is called "Teaching to Transgress" by bell hooks. Mike, I think you would like it.
Being a revolutionary in the classroom may not make you popular with fellow teachers or students for that matter. Doing things "differently" or "revolutionary" can cause fear in your students and colleagues.
That never really stopped me.
You will soon be the expert in your classroom. As you teach, you will continue to read and learn so much about teaching. I think what I have learned over the years is that the first year you'll probably want to follow along with the department. But as you teach with what they give you, you'll be taking notes and figuring out how you want to change it the next time--the next week, the next month, the next year.
The other main piece of advice that another teacher and I decided on was that it is important not to shake the boat too much the first year. Listen. Take it all in. Take notes. Figure out how you want to do. Find research that supports what you do.
I've never been good at following the advice about not shaking the boat the first year. I'm constantly changing and trying to figure out what works and it's hard for me to follow along with the crowd when I see something that might work better.
But, like I said, what's surprising is that students don't like change or revolution. I remember introducing contract grades to a sophomore class. Kendall sat in the back of the room, and she was so mad at me. But, I had good research support about why contract grades worked, so I was ready to explain to her and to any parents.
Two years later, I remember her coming to me and telling me how much she learned and she apologized for getting mad in class that day.
Sometimes it takes years for people to figure out the importance of what they learned or to figure out whether they learned at all.
If you are a revolutionary, you are willing to take the anger of students who want you to lecture and tell them EXACTLY what to do. You are willing to find ways to support your beliefs about teaching and learning. You are willing to talk to your colleagues and ask, "isn't there a better way," or "what if I tried this?" When everyone disagrees, the real revolutionary tries it any way.
About six years ago, I took an Educational Leadership class. I thought about staring the doc program in Ed. Leadership here. It wasn't for me, but I learned so much from that course. Did you know it takes five years for change to actually become part of an institution? Also, it takes about five years for new knowledge to actually be fully integrated into someone's thinking.
You might only get one note a year or none at all, but that doesn't mean that you didn't change the world.
Thank you Kevin for being the voice of reason within this debate and takign th middle road rather than an extremist side, I agree we need to stay middle of the road on this issue. Personally, I love movies where the teachers change lives and students are eternally gradtful, but that doesn't mean I want one written about me.
Mostly I want to do my job and connect with students as much as possible without pissing anyone off, maybe that make me a wimp, or maybe it makes me an adult. There comes a time when we all have to accept that picking our battles is okay, it doesn't have to be me against 'the man" or administrator or whatever...
I just want to be a good teacher, and do my job, which is teach! I'm not getting my degree to be the next ghandi or MLK, personally I like making a difference while teaching tolerance and appropriateness as well.
I'll fight if I think something needs to be fought for, but I'm not gonna put my fists up everytime someone maintains the status quo.
In Mike's defense, I don't think you're being too idealistic, I think you just have a dream that could be a great thing, I just also hope you're careful about it. But Stan himself said it's different when you're supporting others, so while you're on your own with only you to worry about, enjoy!
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