“When we grew up and went to school, there were certain teachers who would hurt the children any way they could…”
Those lyrics by the band Pink Floyd are ominous, filled with pain, and hard to fathom. Why would teachers want to intentionally hurt students? What is harder to believe is that the song, though fictional, reflects a truth about some educators and the education system as a whole that has been a taboo to talk about for far too long. I wish I could see you all as I ask this next question: How many people had a “mean teacher” during your elementary, middle, or high school career? How many of you had more than one during that time? I know I had a few – not many – certainly not the majority – but a few. And as a grown up and a parent now, I like to think that those teachers are a thing of the past, that being mean to students is no longer condoned, or accepted, or practiced anywhere by anyone in the education field. I like to think that administrators, and school boards, and the public at large no longer tolerates this behavior, that it went out with spanking and giving kids a good whack with a ruler every now and then to “keep them in line.”
Sweet naïveté. Lovely denial. Wrong answer. I began my tour of duty as an elementary teacher three years ago after going back to school to earn my Master’s Degree in Education. One of the last things I needed to do for that degree was to be a student teacher for a semester in two different elementary classrooms. One of those classrooms was amazing. A real testament to what teaching can and should be. A loving, nurturing, challenging class for all students. A teacher who truly appeared to love what she did. Classroom management seemed to come naturally, and the feeling, the overall tone of the classroom was one of respect and caring for all. These were all of the reasons I was getting into the field – to be a part of that climate for kids. The other part of my semester was spent in what can best be described as hell. The teacher was in his last semester on the job. He was there – at least physically – but had checked out of his role to those kids emotionally and mentally, and I saw first hand all of the problems that exist within our education system come front and center in that classroom. He yelled at the kids – often. He demeaned them, some more than others, but everyone got a daily dose – a bitter taste. There was one child in particular, a boy that would be labeled as “troubled,” who took the brunt of the attacks. The teacher’s main focus with that child seemed to be to get him out of the classroom and into the principal’s office each day. Some days this would happen within the first 5 or 10 minutes of the class. On those days where the boy was allowed to stay in the classroom, he rarely if ever was doing what the rest of the class was. He was in his own world, in a desk next to the teacher’s desk, daydreaming or drawing pictures. If this teacher could have gotten away with it, I am sure he would have sat him in the corner with a large “Dunce” cap on. And here is the most disturbing part to me – this child was in no way a dunce. In fact, he always had one of the highest scores on all the tests that were given. I know now that he was most likely gifted – and bored – and this young man probably saw very clearly that the teacher was simply riding out his time until retirement in this classroom – and he wasn’t having it. I actually bonded with this student over time, and when I raised the bar of learning for him, he stopped misbehaving and began working.
Before I go on, let me reiterate my profound respect and admiration for anyone who choses to go into teaching. It truly is a “tour of duty” in many ways. I have blogged before about the overwhelming expectations facing educators everyday: from budget cuts, to test scores, to annoying or completely clueless parents, to the everyday, every minute challenge in the classroom of trying to balance behavioral management with educating kids. I have never, ever, seen time go as slowly, nor have I seen things go from really good to really bad as quickly as can happen in a classroom. Let me remind you that I have worked with many, many groups of what would be termed “problem adolescents – and adults, for that matter,” in my work as a substance abuse counselor. I have worked with hundreds – maybe even thousands of people who simply did not want to be there in the group – and they let us all know in every word, action, and conceivable way they could muster that they did not want to be there. But I have found that effectively managing and educating an average, garden variety elementary classroom is far more challenging than any of those groups I have run. So I get it. I understand what teachers are up against. And my hat is off to every educator who has been in the game for an extended period. The amount of changes and accommodations they are asked to make is astounding. Each year the playing field seems to change in some way, and they can not effectively use the tools or resources they had in the prior school year. One of the saddest parts for me during my experience in student teaching hell was seeing pictures of this teacher from many years ago around the school. He looked so much happier in those pictures to be doing his job. And his students in those old classes looked happier to. I wished I could have met him back then. I really believe that at one time he had all the right reasons and the motivation to be a good teacher, maybe even a great one.
And this is the part of our current educational situation where the opportunity and the hope exists within what appears on the surface to be a crisis. Educators, especially those who are newer to the field, have a much lower hand in what is a tricky and somewhat loaded game of cards. For years, teachers who are just maintaining an “adequate” teaching status – let’s give them a “C” as teachers, have been able to maintain their teaching careers under the golden umbrella called “tenure”. And that doesn’t really seem right. Or fair. It certainly is not what is best for the children – for our children, who wind up in their classes. But let’s lower the “adequate” bar now and talk about the teachers who are near or at the failing level – “D- and F” teachers. That same golden umbrella has also protected them and in essence endangered our children for too many years as well.
If you think I am exaggerating about the damaging, even abusive conduct of these teachers who remain on the job, consider these examples from my limited personal experience: first is the teacher whom I have already mentioned. Every day, after lunch, his “lesson plan” included sitting in a rocking chair and reading a book to the children for 30 – 40 minutes. The books were varied, and were sometimes appropriate for the grade level “some were below level,” but the overall educational effect of this practice was a big, fat nothing. The kids were bored to tears but petrified to say anything. So were the two paid aides that were in the room. I forgot to mention them before, but they were also in the classroom – every day. Usually surfing the web or reading the latest edition of “People” magazine in the back of the room. And so that made four of us adults, educators, sitting in the room with little to no actual education taking place for 40 minutes while the kids doodled or stared out the window. Another example is a teacher in my children’s school. She simply does not much seem to care for children. In fact, she doesn’t seem to care for people in general, but this attitude comes out at the children she is paid to instruct and care for and to be a model for good character skills and life skills. During our one school year of contact with her, we have heard stories of comments she has made to children which range from sarcastic to verbally abusive. Rumors? Well, the source of these accounts has been trusted kids and parents that we have known for some time. One of the kids was our own. And one of the stories, one of many, but one I will retell to make the point was this teacher’s comment after my daughter had worked long and hard on a report. She went above and beyond for this report. She spent hours researching on the internet and at the library. We looked over the final product before she handed it in, and it was good – really good. The one comment the teacher made when my eager daughter asked if she had read it was: “Oh yes, it was like reading War and Peace!” And then, just to make sure my daughter soaked in the scathing remark, she made sure to explain that War and Peace was a really, really, long book! She neglected to say anything positive about the quality of my daughter’s assignment, or the fact that she had taken a real interest in the subject, and had done a very thorough job. She was just annoyed because it was long, and it took time for her to read it, if she even did. We have spoken to other parents whose children have come home in tears because of similar sarcastic or nasty remarks, and I could relate more stories about this teacher, but my blood pressure is rising and the keyboard is suffering from the hard banging that comes with my rising anger, so I’ll stop. Suffice it to say this – she should go. She needs to go. She gets an “F”. Rumor has it that she is not ”going” though. We hear that she is doing what many schools are forced to do with these inadequate and abusive teachers, she is moving from place to place and grade to grade within the district – spreading the poison around so everyone gets a little. Next year we hear she is going to be a Kindergarten teacher – for Kindergarten children – who have never been to school before – and need extra amounts of everything that she does not appear able or willing to give. Interesting choice of a placement for her.
And the sad truth is that these stories are not as rare as I would like to believe. I am sure many of you have similar experiences to share. It shouldn’t be like this. And my hope is that it will not be like this for much longer. I read somewhere that revolutions should occur every 50 years or so. It helps to keep things moving and to generally keep everyone on their toes. I’m sure there was a much longer explanation of the positive benefits of revolutions, but they escape my memory. I do remember thinking that the concept really applied to schools, and to education in general, though. Schools are overdue. Many are outdated and impotent when it comes to providing what students really need to be successful in life. Change is coming, slowly but steadily, and the entrance of more internet access, computer labs, and technology in every classroom is imminent. Money is always an issue. Priorities of where every dollar should go, especially in these tough times, need to be considered. And there is also the issue of training teachers to use the new devices. So many hurdles to cross, so many tough decisions on what, and how, and when to teach our children all they need to know. The answers are not simple.
But my concept for today is simple. Teachers need to be kind to ALL students ALL the time. Period. Beyond that, teachers must be enthusiastic about what they teach. It should be a job requirement. Enthusiasm is priceless. It is one of the reasons my wife and I have been to “The Magic Kingdom” so many times. Walt Disney knew the value of enthusiasm, and it has always been a hallmark of his company. People seem genuinely happy you are there. They seem to appreciate you. They appear to be happy with their jobs, and they are eager to help you. Don’t these all sound like qualities that every child deserves from a teacher? I truly believe that teaching is one of the most important jobs in our world right now, at this moment in time, when kids desperately need guidance, and help, and stability, and constant kindness. It is completely unacceptable to provide them with anything less – and yet it is happening in too many schools, every day, by unhappy, burnt out teachers who do not seem to recognize or to acknowledge that their discontent is toxic. These teachers need to go. They need motivation, persuasion, and accountability for every word, every action.
Back to the opportunity in every crisis. Times are changing. Revolution is in the air. There are many, many great teachers, circling the walls of the schools, sharpening up their resumes, waiting for a chance, a change in the rules, a final tipping point at which the true focus of education will become clear to all, and the impenetrable wall which has protected failing educators will be ripped down and thrown out for good and forever. It certainly cannot come soon enough for me…
You have no idea how timely this article was for me. Steve and I just had a meeting on Friday with our 7th grader’s teaching team at the middle school. We have listened to story after story throughout the year that suggest the middle school is replete with the types of teachers you discuss. We have also learned that these teachers show little to no respect for the kids, even though they demand it for themselves and the word “RESPECT” is tiled into the wall as a mantra for all to see when walking into the school. Every time I see it, I feel nothing but disgust at the hypocrisy. We attempted to convey our concerns, but were met with quite a high level of defensiveness and resistance. Every time I shared a story, each teacher started the “that wasn’t me” head shake. Only two of the four teachers even seemed engaged in the meeting; the other two just stared down at the table and said absolutely nothing. One of these two didn’t even bother to introduce herself as she walked past us in the conference room. These were the more senior teachers on the team, and their apathy couldn’t be more palpable. They had their sights on the exit door and we’re just “phoning it in” until the big day arrived. Our expectations for affecting change were low going in, but it still was hard to see such close-mindedness in action.
Just a couple of examples, last year a particularly tired social studies teacher was frustrated at her class and reminded them that she doesn’t even like them but she gets paid to like them. (She got paid very well too — I looked her salary up on line.) We met with the principal about that one, and fortunately, she retired at the end of the year. Unfortunately, there are still many more left just like her. Another example, a math teacher decided that one of his students had been at the bathroom too long so he locked the door to his room. When she returned and tried to get in, he ignored her while the other students in the class laughed and pointed. She was crying and knocking hard on the door, and he told the class to not let her distract their learning. After fifteen minutes of this, he let her back in and proceeded to publicly berate her for taking too long in the bathroom. I also understand this girl to be from a bad family situation and broken home. One parent’s take was that he was pretty confident he could get away with this behavior because her parents were not the type to come to her defense. This teacher remains at the middle school. In addition to being tenured, he has a disability which makes it virtually impossible to fire him. That might lead to a discrimination lawsuit, even though his disability rendered him incapable of proctoring the state test (despite the fact that he was in the room) and the students were completely unsupervised for at least a portion of it.
I could write a book about the exploits of the health teacher… One time a boy raised his hand and asked if he could open the window because the room was hot. She told him he was annoying her and kicked him out of the class for the rest of the period. She also hit a child as he was passing through the hall while she was holding class out there for some odd reason. She claimed he was in her way and interrupting her class, when all he was doing was trying to get from Point A to Point B using a vehicle designed for exactly this purpose. My daughter saw this happen with her own eyes, and was so disturbed by it that she and some friends went to the principal to report the occurrence. Mind you, she is a very shy, “blend into the background” kind of kid, so if it upset her enough to take action it must have been pretty bad. The principal told the group that they must have misinterpreted what they saw and that the health teacher had just accidentally bumped into the boy. My daughter was there and saw her grab the kid by the shoulder before she hit him. It was no accident.
Kids are being pubicly demeaned for their intellect and physical appearance; kids are being targeted by teachers who decide they need a “punching bag”; there are ridiculously stringent policies designed to keep all the bad apples in line but also serve to convey to the good kids that they too aren’t to be trusted. I can go on and on… I don’t mean to scare you, but at the same time, forewarned is forearmed.
Wow! Thanks for the story, Deb. Let’s hope that more parents start putting in their two cents for the “Tenure Revolution” It is time for yearly reviews for ALL teachers…