Trying to Change Education? Focus on Learning

In the past week I found myself feeling out of sorts professionally and wasn't exactly sure what was going on until yesterday when I had a conversation with Drew Perkins and we talked about teaching and learning. You see, conversations about teaching and learning make me happy and all the other business discussed in education I find extraneous (but often necessary) to my bigger mission and sense of purpose in life. Subliminally, I must have known what was causing my despondency because when I submitted my professional growth plan for the year, it focused entirely on...you guessed it...innovative teaching and learning.

Sir Ken Robinson often talks about how children are born voracious learners but begin to lose the appetite for learning when we send them to school. Traditional school models can suck the love of learning out of students just as they can rob teachers of the autonomy they need to do what they do best--engage students in learning. I know I felt this way when I left the high school classroom six years ago. Since then I have immersed myself in work directly connected to supporting teachers because I believe great teachers have the power to create experiences that engage students and make them want to learn.

Fortunately, I'm surrounded by others who also care passionately about improving public education. My hope is that when we discuss what needs to be done to transform education, we never lose site of the focus on learning. Sir Ken Robinson articulates what I feel in this video around the 14:24 mark.

"...we can spend all day talking about education and never mention teaching or learning but if there's no teaching and learning happening, there is no education, so if we're going to improve it we have to improve that bit and everything else has to take place around it and not get in the middle of it or in the way of it."

As he occasionally does, my oldest son railed against me yesterday afternoon for my decision to be an educator. He feels my husband and I should have chosen more lucrative careers. When I grew quiet amid his chatter, he concluded "well, it's not a total loss because at least you and dad like what you do."

How can I not like what I do?  I have the opportunity to work with great teachers, great teachers who...

"...excite people, engage students, pique imagination, fuel creativity and drive passion"

My Teacher Preparation Program Didn't Teach Me Everything

"Are you sure you want to teach there--you should know they haven't had a teacher in months, only subs, and they've been turning over desks and not doing anything all semester."  Such was the comment uttered to me when I accepted my first high school teaching position.  "Absolutely" was my response.  I felt confident and prepared but also aware that I still had a lot to learn.

Teacher preparation has been on my mind for a few months.  Perhaps because a report this summer indicated many programs "have become an industry of mediocrity, churning out first-year teachers with classroom management skills and content knowledge inadequate to thrive in classrooms with ever-increasing ethnic and socioeconomic student diversity."  Perhaps because I taught a pre-service eight week course at the local university and will teach another course in the spring.  Perhaps because my state was one of seven selected for a new pilot program to transform teacher education.

 The teacher preparation program I completed 15 years ago did prepare me to enter the classroom, but it didn't teach me everything, nor could it have.  The most important thing I learned was the value of reflective and thoughtful practice.  Sure I learned theory (mostly constructivism) and pedagogy, but I also learned that I wouldn't know everything.  By situating myself as a life-long learner and accepting my responsibility to have a student centered classroom, I was well on my way to preparing my students to be thinkers and responsible community members who would be ready for life in the present as well as life beyond high school (the term college and career readiness had not yet been coined, even though the ideas behind CCR have been around for decades).

Pre-service teachers have an obligation, too.  It's not just the university or college that's responsible for their preparation.  You get as much out of a program as you're willing to put in, and if you are willing to be persistent, flexible, reflective, and student centered, you are more likely to possess the dispositions necessary in the teaching profession. 

Now don't get me wrong, possessing the dispositions to be an effective teacher is not all that's needed. In addition to teacher dispositions, I also needed to know how to listen to my students, how to have a classroom wherein my students helped create the classroom rules and helped to determine what we would learn, and how to adjust learning based on the individual needs of my students.

No, it (teaching) was never easy but I didn't expect it to be easy.  I expected, however, to be treated as a professional who was willing to learn and grow.   Sadly, that wasn't so much the case when I was in the high school classroom, and often still isn't the case for many teachers in America. 

What about you--did your teacher preparation prepare you to enter the profession? If you are a classroom teacher or were a classroom teacher--are you treated as a professional?

Why I Left Teaching

Yesterday I had an opportunity to interview students while on a visit to a high school in the eastern region of Kentucky. My colleague and I asked a number of questions to capture a snapshot of life for students at this high school. The students were very impressive, and they praised their teachers for providing challenging course work. They mentioned the research papers being written for English class; they emphasized the literature they are reading (Heart of Darkness); they conveyed the importance of studying literature to “better understand people.” They talked about the pig they were dissecting in science class and the challenging work required in pre-calculus.

 Following the interview with students and the subsequent conversation with our team, another colleague asked me: “Why did you leave the classroom— It’s clear you are passionate about teaching?” Coincidentally, I have been asking myself the same question and was even preparing a blog post on the topic a couple of days before her question. So, why did I leave the classroom?   Difficult to answer but important to ponder (and I ponder it often).

What I love about teaching

 Interacting with students
 Helping students make connections in learning
 Advising students about life after high school
 Designing and delivering engaging and effective instruction
 Collaborating with colleagues in other disciplines
 Establishing a positive and safe classroom with high expectations for all
 Coaching, mentoring, and learning with new teachers
 Reflecting and refining the art of teaching and learning

 What I don't love about teaching

 Lack of respect for profession
 Pressure to practice for “the test”
 Hoards of papers to grade
 Lack of time to plan, grade, meet with parents
 Rigid daily schedule (no time to sit, eat, use the toilet, attend events for sons)
 Constant interruptions of instruction from outside sources (walk-throughs, intercom requests for   students, etc.)
 Lack of funding for attending professional conferences and other events that invigorate
 Lack of time to spend with my own children because I spent so much time with my “other kids”

 No one item had any more impact on my decision to leave than another item, but after eleven years, I grew weary and needed a change. I certainly never thought leaving the classroom was a permanent choice, just an opportunity to try something new in the field of education for a few years.  I’m often asked if I will ever return to the public school classroom. It’s hard to say, but with many of the impending changes in public education I don’t imagine my list of what’s tough in teaching will become any shorter. That’s why I persist with a commitment made to myself when I left—I aim to raise the voice of teachers and students in public education.