Over the past decades, it has become increasingly clear that society believes educators possess magical powers. These powers fuel the expectation that teachers can complete the complex puzzle of a student’s ability to learn even when several pieces are missing or just not accessible. The puzzle pieces mainly consist of what one would expect to help a child succeed in the school environment. The child’s basic needs are being met, the child’s psychological and emotional needs are being met, and the child possesses the ability and desire to learn which is being reinforced by their caregivers. Children that come to school without their basic needs being met, with emotional or psychological trauma, or have a learning disability or behavior issues, often come to school with the expectation from their caregivers and even society that the teacher’s job is to fix it. And, to fix it in some cases, without bothering the parent or caregiver and for very little pay.
From my observations and teaching experiences, schools can only be accountable for a small percentage of student success. Most of the observations, opinions, and research in this article are based on middle school students and experiences as I have spent the majority of my teaching career at the middle school level.
On social media, I see post after post, podcast after podcast, and video after video of teachers expressing concerns and sharing their daily struggles of trying to teach children and incorporating all the nonacademic demands that society expects. These demands include parenting, medical care, psychological care, and a host of other non-instructional duties. And, if the method the teacher uses does not match up with or offends a stakeholder, it is certain that the educator will be brought to task. This mainly occurs as the institute of education is a business with a public relations image to uphold. There is also a political stake. Politicians often run as part of their platform how they will invest in or “fix” schools. Since votes are not won by telling parents/caregivers that they are not doing their part in supporting their child’s academic success, the obvious scapegoats are the school systems and those employed within.
After thirty-plus years as a classroom teacher, and now a substitute teacher, I have taught quite a few students with missing puzzle pieces. I’ve spoken with colleagues and other professionals in the educational field about how to help children succeed whether their puzzle has all of its pieces or not, and I have received a variety of answers. These suggestions include smaller class sizes, more teacher training, fewer clerical duties placed on teachers, longer school day, shorter school day, longer class periods, shorter class periods, computers for each student, more testing, less testing, and a plethora of other suggestions. However, the commonality among all of these suggestions is that they lie within the boundaries of the educational/school system. It is physically, emotionally, financially, and structurally impossible to meet all of the needs of each student by the classroom teacher. However, it became brutally clear during the Covid pandemic that teachers had been expected to do just that for many years, up to the point where public schools were shuttered. Once schools were shuttered, there was a mad dash to find a method to continue to have educators possess those magical powers to fix the current and pressing problem of how to educate and still “fix” children that had the added burden of learning during a pandemic with parents working from home. During this time, my colleagues and I were no longer pulling 10-12 hour days, we were working 16-hour days trying to learn and incorporate online learning while verbally communicating with students and parents not only about academics but about student well-being. Educators were still trying to be all things to their students even when being physically present was not possible.
Gayle King clearly stated it on an episode of the Today Show. She said very frankly that schools are daycares and with the loss of that built-in “daycare” it is a huge problem for parents(King, Gail. Today Show). Now, we are in the post-pandemic learning years when students have come back to school with major learning pieces missing. And yet again, society is expecting teachers to “fix it.” But this time, teachers are saying, “No.” They are leaving the field in droves by finding other careers, opting for retirement, or just taking a break from education. Many schools are scrambling to fill vacant positions and obtain and retain substitute teachers and full-time teachers alike. In some schools, students on a block schedule are dispersed for two of their three academic classes on any given day. Yes, other teachers are trying to help and provide lessons and class coverage, but, this runs the risk of more teacher burnout and resignations.
Society must realize that teachers are trained in their academic area to educate children. They are not trained in medicine, counseling, psychiatry, and extreme behavior management, just to name a few job expectations. Society must also realize that it is not O.K. for teachers to be treated disrespectfully by students or their parents. One major missing piece for some students when they attend school is that piece labeled ‘respect” or “social/soft skills.” to use a current buzzword. Not just respect or skills on how to treat the classroom teacher but for other classmates, property, and other adults in the building. Educators have rights. They have the right to teach without being bullied, disrespected, or having the learning process and experiences of others disrupted by an unruly student. The sooner students and parents have this mindset ingrained as part of the school experience, the more success a student will achieve. Each school has its own identity but never should that identity be one of disrespect.
Now is the time for lawmakers and school boards to take a step back with mandates and blanket policies. For example, what may work in one middle school, may not work in another middle school. Based on test scores, a county where I was teaching passed a policy that all middle schools should be on a “block” schedule. Our school principal and staff knew that this mandate was not in the best interest of our student population. The principal held out as long as she could before changing our schedule as she stated, “We know what is best for our kids.’ But in the end, she lost out on the blanket policy. When lawmakers and school boards place stringent umbrella laws, rules, and procedures on a district’s schools, they are creating a recipe for disaster in some of their schools. School demographics and culture should be thoroughly and individually considered for each school. We wouldn’t place a size 10 men’s shirt on an infant so why would we place rules and guidelines based on the culture of one school on all the other schools in the district just because they are a “middle school.” With the current buzzword in education being “relationships,” wouldn’t it make sense to allow individual schools to decide how to further develop the circle of relationships between student/teacher/parent and build that societal respect that is so important and lacking toward many educators?
Again, society must let go of the misconception that teachers and the school system possess a magical power to “fix it.” Teachers are trained in their academic area/s. They do not possess the magical power to force a reluctant student to learn if the student is not willing to do so. Society must take a hard look at what is expected of teachers and make some very tough decisions. With the current lack of educators, students are in danger of losing more learning ground. Educators must be treated with respect, not expected to work for low wages or extra unpaid hours, and not held solely accountable for a student’s success. We wouldn’t blame a dentist for a patient that doesn’t brush their teeth, floss or have regular dental visits for the patient’s poor oral hygiene. Nor, would we expect that dentist to work for hours on that patient’s teeth for free. Why should we expect any different from our nation’s educators?
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