Posted on 10/10/2015 6:28:40 PM PDT by 100American
Supporting psychological needs So, when significant numbers of teachers tell us they are considering leaving the profession, we ought to consider it a motivational concern. And one of our reactions should be to carefully consider the extent to which we offer them a working environment that respects their needs as human beings. We simply aren’t doing this. In fact, there is every reason to believe that current educational policy is systematically stifling people’s psychological needs. As an example, one study clearly demonstrated how a system narrowly focused upon pupil achievement and standardised testing had invaded teachers working lives so much that they had been completely robbed of any sense of personal autonomy. As one teacher suggested: I’m not the teacher I used to be. I couldn’t wait to get to school every day because I loved being great at what I do. All of the most powerful teaching tools I used to use every day are no good to me now because they don’t help children get ready for the test, and it makes me like a robot instead of a teacher. I didn’t need a degree to do what I do now. They don’t need real teachers to prepare children for tests and, in fact, I think they could just develop computer programs to do this. As a psychologist and educationalist, my greatest fear is that we have created a one-dimensional education system. It is so intensely focused upon standards, metrics, and a production line that it neglects to allow people to lead personally meaningful lives, to trust and value them for who they are, and celebrate what they bring to the classroom. For this, individuals pay a heavy motivational and emotional price.
(Excerpt) Read more at educationviews.org ...
I wouldn't put it that way. The question is whether or not they are being allowed to practice their profession.
Teachers have it awful. My neighbor is a teacher. She leaves at 0645 and doesn’t get home until well after 7 with a stack of papers with her. She also goes to work on most weekends. The thing is she used to be a Superintendent but left that because of the horrible politics. At least now with 30 students in the classroom, she doesn’t have to deal with stupid adults. Well the parents can certainly be a handful. By the way, another neighbor retired from teaching and gets 2400 a month.....hardly rich. I get 3500 from 24 years in the military and he did 35 years. I think the perception that teachers have it easy is wrong.
Mostly, they’re just lazy. That’s why they’re teachers.
I taught for 2 years. I was 22-24 years old. It was exhausting.
I then went into the business world,with 2 weeks off a year. I was never tired.
.
“So, when significant numbers of teachers tell us they are considering leaving the profession, we ought to consider it a motivational concern.”
The premise is a crock, and is the same as the “underpaid teacher” myth - to stop any attempts to match their compensation to what they actually do/produce. They also want to divert attention from their retirement costs, which are destroying state budgets (and taxpayers in the process).
It is a part-time, practically seasonal job, and in my state of NJ they have upper middle class salaries & benefits. I know a few public school teachers, and NOT ONE OF THEM is considering leaving. While they are furious that Governor Christie is forcing them to contribute for their health benefits, they know they have a great scam going and have no value whatsoever in the private sector (outside of maybe working at daycare centers). The only teachers I see leaving the profession have reached or passed retirement age, and only when the retirement benefits would be threatened did they hang it up - otherwise they would have stayed on forever (it is a job that could be done by retirees), and racked up even more automatic raises and more lucrative retirement packages. The re-negotiation of retirement benefits seems to be the only way to force out older, more expensive, ineffective teachers; unfortunately it doesn’t address younger ineffective teachers that have tenure.
Thanks for giving it a try. It is an honorable profession but it is hell. Most here think it is a breeze for some ungodly reason. I often wonder if they are jealous that they didn’t go into the profession. For most, they should count themselves as lucky.
Victims, All are Welcome, All are Welcome...
Scary stuff is it not
See # 6; here in NJ it is a dream job that few people under 65 leave voluntarily. One fellow I knew wanted to get on the taxpayers’ backs as a teacher, but there are so few openings he went back to school, studied nursing, and finally has a full-time job. Governor Christie put that one teacher (the one who lied about her salary) in her place when he told her she didn’t have to do this as a job. That summed it all up; once the Asbury Park Press released the salaries of all of our public school teachers (as public information), the debate was over and Christie was elected to his first term as governor.
I work close to a school, and see the exodus at 3:01 as the teachers sprint to their late-model cars and disappear. The teachers I know have never brought work home and never go in early.
Here in NJ they are viewed as parasites, not victims, especially since we lost so many good jobs that allowed people the luxury of ignoring what a huge scam public schools had become. Now taxpayers earning half of their previous wages are looking long & hard at what their employees (civil servants) are paid, and they are disgusted.
Teachers often have relationships with either other teachers or other government workers because they have become so estranged from the realities faced by the people who pay them (and have an enormous sense of entitlement to boot).
There is an adage in business I cannot dispute after 40+ years in the fight...
Those who cannot do...
Teach...
Too true, especially in math & science; my children have foreign teachers for those subjects because the American teachers don’t know them (even for elementary school). My favorite story was an American teacher who described adding fractions as adding the numerators and then the denominators; 1/2 + 1/2 = 2/4 (which is still 1/2).
She was a BIG fan of CC and we had some pretty heated battles that were sparked by merely asking why this versus how you learned etc.and being told how stupid I was for not Gettin IT
NPD came out and ALL who doubt the Majesty and splendor of CC are just ignorant peasants, me included..
Very very little hyperbole in my post, the Edutocracy is a clanny bunch...
I believe the most basic problem schools are encountering (which may be one of the main drivers of Common Core) is that they simply don’t have teachers with the knowledge to teach the way we were taught decades ago. They basically have to dumb down subjects not for the students (especially many of the children of immigrants - many of whom are bright & motivated), but for the TEACHERS.
I recall years ago playing Trivial Pursuit with other couples, and the one teacher playing would have shocked you with her ignorance. These are far from the best & brightest; I believe the graphs/charts FReepers have shown over the years indicating teachers come from the bottom of their college classes. Creating an “education” major was a huge mistake, as students now have these idiots attempting to teach them math & science (which terrified these same teachers in their younger days - hence the education degree).
Colleges make money giving their “version” of Education as well, no where near even across schools and a particular discipline
College is by and large all theoretical knowledge that never lands on a particular standard or reference of Expertise
Student Loan Debt is well over 1 Trillion and rising...
And no jobs for such low skill levels
H1B visa time, co$t$ le$$
What a mess
Safer that way, we just provide, they have to make careers of it...
My Enemy
I see some schools designated as “teacher colleges”, so I guess that is where the least learning is taking place. I’m shocked that parents are so apathetic about the horrible results of their school systems, though they may be completely ignorant about it; some seem to accept that their child “doesn’t test well” (an idea usually floated by the teachers that failed to teach anything). I couldn’t imagine hiring some idiot who explains his/her failure on some performance metric with such a canned, lame response/explanation.
I was also shocked when a teacher tried to couch her “expertise” in medical terms (that she was diagnosing young children’s disabilities); this of course collects a lot more money for the school district - and the teachers.
Any option to discipline children has been outlawed. Without discipline teaching is impossible.
Worse still the lil rascals can drop a dime on a teacher anytime (especially a particular racial group) and shout Discrimination and everybody starts dancin to avoid fallout
Sixteen weeks of time off a year doesn’t seem like having it easy to you?
Yep. I was in school back in the ‘70s and there was a huge divide between the older and younger teachers.
For example, the younger teachers all had problems with spelling, including young English teachers. However, the older teachers, including in math and science, were uniformly competent spellers.
Those who had completed college by the ‘60s were unquestionably better educated.
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