teach·er
[tee-cher]
Show IPA–noun
a person who teaches or instructs, esp. as a profession;instructor.
ok, so the basic of my job is to teach... wait, what does it mean to teach??? lets look that up why dont we...
–verb (used with object)
1.
to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in: Sheteaches mathematics.
2.
to impart knowledge or skill to; give instruction to: Heteaches a large class.
–verb (used without object)
3.
to impart knowledge or skill; give instruction.
ok, so by the basic definition of my job, i am to impart or provide knowledge to the kids that are under my instruction... now of course, districts give me additional responsibilities, like lesson planning, curriculum writing, morning duties, tutoring, etc... all of those are reasonable responsibilities, essentially necessary for the machine to run properly...
i have no issue with this... these are not irrational demands of someone whose soul purpose is to provide knowledge... the problem lies in the misunderstanding of the job....
there are parents, and administrators, and even state entities that have mutated the definition of a teacher, and misconstrued what it means to teach... what these parents, admins, and lawmakers expect for us is simple, yet reasonably insane... their definition of teacher looks something like this...
teach·er
[tee-cher] Show IPA–noun
a person that makes students learn.
and their definition of teach looks like...
–verb (used with object)
1.
to make someone retain knowledge.
2.
to create learning.
–verb (used without object)
3.
to make learn.
this is not reasonable at all... i can impart knowledge... i can present information... i can simplify difficult concepts... i can explain, and give real-world examples, and demonstrate, and design intricate labs... i can create the most inviting environment, capable of making every child in my class feel comfortable opening up and discussing all sorts of topics...
but i cant make kids learn... none of us can...
that responsibility should not be ours... unfortunately that responsibility fall on no one else but the student...
the key is this... parents must create a desire to learn in their children... one that can be fostered by us teachers in the classroom, with knowledge and good grades... those things should be rewarded... and there should be consequences tied to a lack of desire to learn...
i have more to say, but i want to know what you think... feel free to comment...
2 comments:
At your request, I've read your post...and I really don't have time right now to leave the lengthy response I might otherwise, so I will make it simple: parents cannot create this desire alone. They are not born with the knowledge and skill set it requires to help students understand the value of education. Not to say they shouldn't still try - they simply cannot do it alone. Teachers and parents are REQUIRED to work together to make students want to learn. Children cannot be solely held responsible for their own learning - it has to be developed in them, and we, as teachers, are required to do just that. There are millions of terrible teachers who turn kids off of amazing things every day. We have incredible POWER as educators. We can say one flippant thing, and destroy a child's life. We can say one encouraging word, and they will remember it forever. Our responsibility is far greater than to simply impart knowledge - blaming parents for a broken system is equivalent to me to making excuses. Jeralan, while I agree that you, I and all other great educators cannot possibly wave a magic wand and force every kid into the richness of the academic world we live in, but we cannot allow ourselves to make excuses for our students not learning, either. We've got to do our best, even in the face of terrible parenting, faulty systems, a bad educational foundation - and make sure that to the very best of our abilities we not only impart knowledge, but that we do, in fact, seek to make kids learn. If I wanted to leave it up to the student, I would go teach college.
After having said all of that - I realize that all of that is really easy for me to say, because my students truly ARE children, and yours are nearly adults. I recognize my potentially skewed perspective. =) I know that we all work our tails off - more than other people can possibly seem to understand - and do believe that others (including parents, admin, community members, etc.) typically need to pick up some of the slack.
And as it turns out - this is indeed a long response. Whoops!
Post a Comment