Just like starting over
A lot has been said about the coming year and what is happening with education throughout the country. There is a teacher shortage as thousands nationwide leave the profession. Some governors have attacked this sitting down by forming commissions and committees to study the problem.
Greg Abbot’s first commission included only one teacher. That notion would be like polling 50 white guys about the black experience or women’s issues. A number of people have mentioned teacher pay. Give teachers a substantial raise and I’m sure more would stay. No one is going to turn down more money. However, that isn’t the main problem. Most teachers knew they would never earn a lot of money. So, to say pay is the main problem is overlooking a ton.
I wish I could say that the problems impacting teachers are unique, but they aren’t. In essence, you have a group of people that are trained professionals but aren’t treated as such. Obviously, this can vary depending on local administration in the district and campus, but as a whole this is where things are. My wife is fond of saying two things about educators. First, we love to complain. It’s like an Olympic sport for us. Secondly, she has marveled at how poorly we are treated in terms of professionalism. We have to ask to leave campus. We get 25 minutes for lunch. If we miss multiple days we need to provide a note or ask for permission in advance. She protects our astronauts and still has far more freedom than we do.
What has happened in recent years has been a nationwide breakdown in how subject area experts are treated. Think about how Dr. Fauci has been treated. Suddenly, whether you place your faith in a specialist that has been doing it for 50 years identifies your politics. Do your own research. Here, watch this YouTube video. Listen to this pediatrician that may not even be accredited. Here comes somebody that’s an eye doctor. They know more than stupid Fauci. The obvious problem is that this distrust of subject area experts spreads to other subjects. Now, various states are changing curriculum to remove the parts they don’t like. Teachers don’t have the collective wisdom or skills to teach those things even though that’s what we went to school and hours of professional development to do.
There is a dark irony in watching people argue that we shouldn’t teach certain things because it will make their children feel bad or will be propaganda, but we should give those same teachers guns to protect those same children. Which is it? Are we qualified to be Clint Eastwood or Wyatt Earp or are we just baby sitters that can’t challenge our students to think?
The cold, hard truth is that people don’t do their own research. They never have. So, the question is who you trust for information. That didn’t used to be a problem. We generally accepted the word of experts. Sometimes they were wrong, but they were right more often than not. Now, there is an attack on intellectuals in this country. We happen to be a part of that group. People now look for someone that says something that echoes what they want to hear.
I have a great grandfather named John Caldwell Calhoun – he wasn’t that one but given the area where those southern relatives are from, I suspect we are related. I have no guilty feelings about the real one’s actions because I reject them. We send kids to school to learn their ABC’s but also to teach them how to think, how to question and learn nuance.
I was recently at a seminar about CRT and it was defined as the scholarly study and transformation of the unjust relationship among race, racism and power. We also discussed other groups, such as women, and the intersectionality of those groups with the powerful. We can’t improve things if we don’t understand the problems.
1It’s just a point of who we choose to listen to. You don’t go to a foot doctor when you need your appendix out. It’s a pretty simple concept. My wife has a PhD in bioengineering. She works in Physics at NASA. She is a subject area expert. I’m not asking Fredo down at the Stop n Shop his opinions on vaccinations and public health. They are practically worthless.
The problem isn’t that people don’t do their research. It is that they seem to think they can. As a subject area expert in education generally and my content area specifically I know where to find the latest research from people that actually know about this. I wouldn’t have the foggiest clue where to go for medical research. So, if I did “my own research” I’d likely go to YouTube, TikTok, or WebMD. The “information” I got there would likely be worthless, but since I’m not a subject area expert I wouldn’t know the difference.
2Nick, I was watching the news this weekend and there was a story about the teacher shortage nationwide. I was thinking about you when I was watching it. The solutions being tried were raising starting salaries, signing bonuses and hiring teachers that have yet to get their bachelor degree or teaching credentials. There was even one area hiring veterans without any education in the field which makes zero sense. I just read your piece above but don’t think you mentioned any specific solutions to the shortage. You did mention things like not being treated as professionals which is a broad area. Can you expand on some specific ideas that you think need to change to begin to address the shortage. Apologize if I missed that in your writing above. We watch our grandsons including after school (and monitored online schooling during Covid) and what’s happening is concerning to us.
3Some people want teachers to have the freedom to pick out any gun they want, to arm themselves and protect their students if there’s an armed intruder. For which they were not trained in college.
But not allow them to choose a book for their class, for which they were trained. Because citizens with torches and pitchforks did their own research and heard that one guy on the Internet say a book was bad. A book they won’t read.
4No, you didn’t miss it Steve. I’ll try to add a post tomorrow with common sense suggestions. I’ve had quite a few complaints about the length of my posts, so I’m trying really hard to reign them in.
5Thanks, Nick. You provide good information and this is an important subject. Look forward to your suggestions.
6“Are we qualified to be Clint Eastwood or Wyatt Earp or are we just baby sitters that can’t challenge our students to think?”
Sounds like red states just want prison guards.
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