The Problem with Education

I see a lot of commentary that starts with something along the lines of, "the problem with education is" or something to that effect. We've been talking about how to improve education for MUCH longer than I've been a teacher so. . . . what is the actual "problem" we keep coming back to? I did a bit of a "down the rabbit hole" webquest to see what folks are currently positing as the issues facing public education. I did notice some commonalities across the web such as:

1. Equity issues

2. Lack of parental involvement

3. School spending issues (usually that the spending is stagnant)

4. School closures due to lack of funding

5. Overcrowding in schools (see #4)

6. Technology issues

7. The pernicious achievement gap

8. Teacher burn out and shortages

Of course, there are lots of other reasons cited but these 8 things seem to arise more than others. As a teacher, It's interesting to see what others think the problem is and compare that to how we are actively (or not) addressing them in schools. So, I'd like to continue by doing exactly that--at least for the areas to which I can actually speak. (Disclaimer: this is based on my experience alone and is, in no way, universal.)

1. Equity: We started talking about "Equity" about 10 years into my teaching career. It started as a sort of conceptual discussion (with accompanying cartoons for the graphically inclined). We've had speakers come and tell us how to connect with students. Some folks are on board with this and others aren't as enthusiastic. My general feeling is that "equity" in the classroom and "equity" on a district or systems level are two very different things. I don't know what the people are doing to make our district more equitable. . . other than telling teachers we need to practice equity in the classroom.

2. Parental involvement: At the building level this looks a lot like administrators telling teachers to reach out to parents often for both positive and negative reasons. It means--if you're me--sending updates on student progress in intervention, asking parents to remind their students to stay off their phones, sending out invitations to parent/teacher conferences, trying to find out why students aren't attending class, and things like that. I'd like to think I'm pretty "on top" of the parental communication game but I don't think this is going to solve our systemic issue of lack of parental involvement. I mean. . . I only see about 5 parents out of my whole case load each PTC round. 5!!!! That's dismal, if I'm being honest. And. . . you'd think if your child was in an academic intervention class you'd be all over what they are up to but. . . you'd be wrong on that count. I don't know what the answer is but we DO need more parental engagement across the board.

3&4. School spending issues: Now. . . based on my highly non-academic pseudo-research (read: perusing the interwebs), when folks are talking about school spending, what they are usually talking about is school funding. I find that teachers see more of the school spending part and only deal with the funding part when we are made aware of it. . . .you know. . . things like, "oh, we're facing a (fill in the blank with some sort of horrible number) dollar shortfall so things are going to suck for the foreseeable future." In terms of spending I am often confused about why we spend money on some of the things we spend money on. I don't always understand the logic behind the decisions. For example, why do we spend money on "programs" and not people? How many teachers could we hire with the money we spend on curricula? Yeah, yeah. . . I know that often money "must" be spent on certain things but that's a mystery to me as well. One way that school funding/spending is obviously an issue is when districts have to close schools. My district is doing that right now. With each school that closes (in any district), classes become larger and teachers become more burdened. This also means that students might have to travel further from their neighborhoods to attend school which, in turn, leads to a sense of disconnectedness from their school communities also. I'm not sure there's every any "up side" to closing schools.

5. Overcrowding (usually as a direct result of 3&4): All I'm going to say on this is CLASS SIZE MATTERS and anyone who cites John Freaking Hattie to justify increasing class size has, OBVIOUSLY, never taught in an intervention setting or in a small school. I'm so, incredibly lucky to have small classes because I'm an interventionist. I can actually build the kind of relationships with my students that regular teachers simply cannot. It's not because they don't want to or are incapable of doing so. It's a matter of time versus obligation. If you have 30+ kids in a room, you cannot get to know them all as well as if you have 20 or fewer. Overcrowding is how students feel left out, ignored, invisible, and. . . why. . . eventually. . . they disengage from their own learning.

6. Technology issues: Hmmm. . . I definitely think the "issue" is a matter of perspective. Many non-teachers will espouse the wonders of 1:1 education and how technology can transform education. Most classroom teachers, on the other hand, will probably cite issues with connectivity, focus, appropriate usage, a deterioration of memory capacity, a lack of stamina for "analog" activities (pssst. . . . it's the reading problem but that's for another post when I'm really feeling melancholic), and a whole host of other, unfortunate side effects of ready access to technology. For years we were told that we had to, "teach kids how to use technology appropriately." I've been working on this for-bloody-ever as have many of my comrades. It's going. . . . . poorly. Should we go back to pen/pencil and paper? Well, I don't see that happening but something has to change. Maybe the capacity for technology hasn't yet caught up to our needs in schools? I'm not really sure.

7. The Achievement Gap: This is a post for another time. I don't have the emotional fortitude to tackle it right now. Really. It's behemoth. It's my life. It needs it's own post.

8. Teacher burn out and teacher shortages: People aren't going into teaching at the rate they once did. Teachers are leaving the profession at a much higher rate. When I first started teaching, we were told that 1/4 of all new teachers would quit in their first five years. Now the number gatherers are saying that rate is close to 50%. So. . . almost doubling in just over 20 years. There are a lot of reasons why teachers quit and, if I'm being honest, I've hemmed and hawed about doing so myself--numerous times. The thing that's kept me in the classroom really is the students. I love being a reading interventionist (most days!). Having said that, in the time I've been teaching, I've seen a real uptick in folks quitting, breaking contract, or relocating districts.

These are some of the reasons I've heard my former colleagues give first hand:

* Too many curricular changes too frequently

* Too many "things on the plate"

* Feeling unheard, under-valued, and unsupported

* Tired of being micromanaged

* A feeling that outrageous student behaviors are not adequately addressed

* Skewed work/life balance

There are more but I think the point is clear. You'll notice that I don't have anything on here about money. Being underpaid for one's level of education and experience is a major drag. However, that's usually NOT what drives teachers out of the profession. We might not like our rate of pay but no one goes into teaching not knowing that the pay is problematic (thanks patriarchy. . . for nothing).

So. . . there you have it. In my bubble of the universe, this is what the "big problems" in education look like. Most of the teachers I know or have known are dedicated, passionate, and willing to go the extra mile on the daily. I'm still absolutely convinced that if we were left to our own devices (and supported), we'd be able to "fix" most of the "problems" with education that happen within our sphere of influence.

#education, #teachers, #teachershortage, #schools