Teachers: Watch Your Language?

Interesting piece by Jonathan Zimmerman in the New York Times about the need for teachers to better police their remarks about students in the public sphere, whether in a coffee shop or online. He writes:

A similar sense of restraint is needed in class as well: although I would fully support a teacher’s right to voice an anti-war view, I would not want her to tell the class that it is the only appropriate view. That’s indoctrination, not education, and it inhibits the critical thinking skills that democracy demands.

Outside school, meanwhile, teachers must also avoid public language that mocks, demeans or disparages the children they instruct. Cruel blog posts about lazy or disobedient students echo the snarky smackdown culture of cable TV talk shows. And they’re anathema to a truly democratic dialogue.

Zimmerman’s argument really resonates with me. Surrounded by students and other teachers all day, it’s understandable that teachers spend time talking about their students—and at times, those conversations probably do become too personal and too specific. Moving forward, it’s certainly something I need to reflect on for myself.

While some commenters seemed upset, believing that Zimmerman was singling out teachers for criticism, his broad argument, that while the rights of teachers are under assault across the country we can’t afford clearly unprofessional speech and behavior is an important one.

Effective instruction depends on free discussion between teachers and students and to protect our rights in the classroom, we’d be well-advised to watch our discourse outside.

What Should Every Teacher Be?

I had the opportunity to sit in on some job interviews for high school English teachers today and one of the questions, as simple as it was, led to some thought-provoking answers from candidates and interesting discussion with some of my colleagues. The question asked candidates if the could require one characteristic of all teachers, what would it be?

Thinking for myself, I suspect that ten years ago, I would have answered “intelligence.” Five years ago, I probably would have said “a strong work ethic.” Today, if I had to pick one it would probably be empathy. As important as I think the first two still are, the evolution in my answer got me thinking about the kind of teacher I am and the kind I want to be.

I’m curious what others would say about teachers. Thinking back on your experience in school or the experience you’re having now, what would want every teacher to have?

Fascinating Video

This video is an intriguing look at some of what ails modern education. Thought-provoking ideas combine with excellent production values on the video. Check it out.

Schools Shouldering Unfair Burden

It’s not really news that America’s income gap is getting worse.  And the Washington Post’s Samuel Robinson believes students are suffering shrunken motivation.  I don’t think this is a coincidence, and I don’t think it is fair that schools are expected to get better results out of relatively lower income students.  I say relatively because it is a matter of the structure of society more than a lack of overall wealth.

The top ten percent of Americans make nearly four times what the median American does.  The relatively poorer median families have fewer resources to devote to education – they can’t pay for tutors or expensive SAT study guides, or pay to take the standardized tests repeatedly, or pay 40+ dollars per college to apply to a dozen colleges.  Knowing the odds are unfair is a huge disincentive to investing in ones education.

This is one place where simple macro-economics does work – students who see well paying median income jobs available for doing well in school will invest the resources to get those jobs.  Students who see median income jobs as substantially inferior to the top income levels that are out of their reach will be less motivated to reach out and get those jobs.  The opportunity cost of a good education has risen or stayed the same – losing time doing things you want to do, and losing time to earn money to use now.  The benefit, however, has shrunken considerably.  Getting to the really ideal income brackets, those that have actually seen growth in the past decades and have actually seen recovery in the past months, is not accomplished in high school, anymore.  It comes from much less egalitarian sources – luck, innate ability, inheritance, or success in college and graduate school.   The first three are random and don’t do much for motivation; the last is heavily slanted towards the rich and is anyway too distant to serve as a motivator for most high school students.

The bottom line – public schools can and have go  a long way towards promoting economic mobility, but they can’t be expected to motivate lower-income students when the economic structure itself is stifling economic mobility.

Home and Grades – What’s the Goal?

I have a theory that the way homework is treated is having the net effect of distorting students’ perceptions of what school is all about.  I recently worked with a student who has less than a 50% in his math class.  He’s only taken one quiz, but on that quiz he received a 70%.  Nonetheless, he will in all likelihood fail the class, even if he continues to pass the tests.  What does this say about the purpose of a given class?

I’m sure to him it divorces the concept of ‘class’ from the concept of ‘learning’.  After all, it is immaterial how well he learns the material – if he fails to write it down 25 times a night, he won’t get credit for that knowledge.  This only reinforces a perception that school is a required hoop to jump through, not an opportunity to expand ones potential for learning (and earning).  Moreover, I think it gives an inaccurate idea of what any job he holds will be like, because most jobs your performance from 9-5 is all the boss cares about; anything you do outside of that is merely in preparation for being able to do ones best during those hours.  And having been a student with terrible handwriting, I have to say that to some kids writing things out is a hated task that sucks the fun out of the best project.

My point is, I find daily, repetitive homework tasks to be useful for some students, but incredibly unhelpful for others.   My question is, is there a better way to promote learning?