Many times when discussing professions with friends or family there are a few referenced more than others. They range from doctor, lawyer, educator and most recently investment banker. A big difference that separates teaching from these others is the level of accountability these professions have compared to education. Doctors obtain a license, lawyers must answer to the bar, and investment bankers have strict laws enforced by the FCC. While teaching is up there with these household industries it is different in its lack of accountability. While peer review over laps in these professions, teachers are much safer than doctors or lawyers.
We can easily retrace the history that brought this about in the education world. As Brill describes there was a time when, “Everywhere, teachers were subject to the whims of principals often as tyrannical as the worst stereotype of an old-time factory boss”(pg.33). During a time when education was one of the only professions women were encouraged to partake in, they were yet again treated as second-class citizens. In some areas it was required that women upon knowing they were pregnant were forced to take time off so not to burden students with the distraction and questions that surrounded pregnancy. In other districts, the rules went so far as to never allow women to teach again after becoming pregnant. Supporters of these hennas policies had their own reasons for them but the problem was these social issues were being acted upon in the education profession.
As a result over the years teachers banded together to establish policies that would protect them from the wrong doings they had experienced. The problem is the reforms made to protect teachers were taken to far, where today it is seen as impossible to fire a teacher who deserves to be. The major culprit is tenure and one of the most widely talked about issues in education today.
Looking back on how we got here, I ask myself what are unions and teachers reasons for holding onto their impenetrable job security? This may sound like an idealistic question but one that is important for the education world to talk about. Much of the time reformers, politicians, teachers and unions are more focused on fighting over who has the control. What I like most about Brill and his book is that he has identified that many of the arguments in education are more about the adults than the kids. Politicians are more concerned about keeping the unions happy, while unions grab at any benefit they can get their fingers on. The third party in this dilemma is charter schools, KIPP, TFA and other programs that are showing that education can be better. Excited to have my own class one day, I struggle with the question: Why the people I aspire to work with have lost sight of what being an educator is all about, the kids?
Comments
3 responses to “Teaching- The Broken Profession”
Interesting post. I think it is important to think about the elements of a profession. I’ve seen criteria such as:
1. Public obligation
2. Specialized knowledge used to provide a specialized service
3. Bound by an ethical code
4. Special relationship between clients and practitioners
In some ways teachers clearly make up a profession and yet the kinds of wages they earn and the degree to which they are monitored by others make it more like other forms of blue collar labor. Should someone have to take a vow of poverty if they want to be a teacher? While it is true that teacher’s have been protected to some degree from the wage and benefit loss experienced by workers in the U.S connected to the great depression, is this really detrimental to kids? I might argue the opposite — that greater stability in the teaching force is important for kids. This is the argument made by the unions — that what is good for teachers is also good for kids. Brill doesn’t seem to think so.
Beyond the debate over the nature of the field as a profession, I think it is also worth questioning the focus on teachers as the most important key to educational reform. There are other factors at play here — maybe even as important as teachers that impact kids. We will explore some of these later in the class.
It is surprising to consider that in some countries and cultures, the teacher is held as an elite profession. We consider teachers to be teaching the future of our country and the future generations to come, yet have little respect for their position. They are held to higher standards and responsibility, yet still barely make a living wage. We think that those who can’t “do”, “teach.” The nature of teaching is hearing our countries knowledge (or what we consider important) with younger generations. I consider teaching a very important profession. It has the power to make change for our future, and should be treated as such. I still have to hear discontent and discouraging comments when I tell people I am considering teaching as my future career.
This post touches on the subject that I think if addressed properly, would help in solving some of the issues we have regarding the lack of good teachers. Why is it that the act of teaching which influences and shapes the lives of generations who are going to run this country is not held to a much higher standard than that of a mere babysitter? In the U.S. there are so many complaints regarding the lack of qualified employees. Instead of investing the money and time to intensely train teachers who can thoroughly teach each subject, we hire scholars from other countries and place them in the workforce and then complain that there are too many unemployed Americans. Why not make the teaching position a profession that way our children can have a profession?