I am excited about this program and excited about teaching and being an educator. I have enjoyed my chances to teach whether they have been in a classroom or in another maybe less formal setting and I hope to be able to do more classroom teaching at some point. While I am excited about this profession I sometimes question our societal views of teaching. I think we’ve all heard some allusions to this in our classes and information sessions. Whether it be a discussion of how our friends and families view teaching, a suggestion that this profession for whatever reason can sometimes lack job security or support, or even the idea that some do not view teaching as a profession at all. I am left trying to work these ideas out. Are societies views of teachers that negative? If so, where do these negative ideas come from? Some have suggested that teachers are undervalued. Is this the case? If so, why? If teachers are indeed on the defensive about their professions then how does one cope with that? Any thoughts?
Also, a friend who went through this program last year showed me this slam poetry by Taylor Mali called What do Teachers Really Make? I quite liked it, some of you may have heard it or read it before but I thought I would post it anyways(or at least attempt to post it cause I'm still learning to blog, if you can't see it let me know!)
Also, viewer/reader discretion is advised the You Tube video/website may contain language that some viewers may find offensive. (just in case!)
http://www.taylormali.com/index.cfm?webid=13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw1MFobWD_o
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7 comments:
I loved this video! Thanks, Sam.
I especially liked the "I decided to bite my tongue instead of his..."!...
That video was pretty good. Thanks for the link.
As for your questions about teaching and views of teachers, those are difficult issues to tackle. I think the best that you can do is to approach teaching every day in such a manner that when you leave after work, you know you have given it your all. That is just my opinion.
I think that sometimes people undervalue teachers because they think it's an easy job. You get summer off, you get to hang out with kids all day, you get "school" hours, etc. In that regard, maybe the job would be easy if not for all of the other factors (one example: trying to engage a student who doesn't want to be there). Perhaps it's difficult for people outside of the profession to understand all the thought and effort required to successfully teach with all those other factors in place.
What a great inquiry! To be honest, I don't think there is an easy, one size fits all answer to why teachers often tend to be viewed negatively by the public. One possible cause is the media and its choice of coverage. Reporting of labor disputes and troubled schools makes the evening news and sells soap. But rarely is there counterpoint coverage of the good and hard work teachers do. So the public is left with this biased view of the teaching profession and that teachers only care about the next contract, and not the students.
What can be done about this? Open the schools to the public more often and show what great things are going on there and the hard work educators do. Promote Schools and how students and teachers are benefitting the community in local newspapers or on local TV. These things I think would go a long way to breaking down stereotypes and public attitudes against teachers.
Yeah, unfortunately the way the media works, everyone wants to hear about the bad things that are going on in schools, rather than the successes. I even have a friend who is an education assistant for special needs students and even she said she thought teaching looked really easy. I think that when people haven't experienced teaching they don't know how hard it is and how much work needs to be put in. Even before I started teaching I thought it would be completely different than it is. Thanks for the video!
I agree that the negative view of teachers does come from a lot of the "perks" associated with it, and the underestimation of work involved. A lot of the 'invisible' work (ie. prep work, mental struggles with a student) is easy to overlook. The teachers who work hard will be working many hours outside the ones they are paid for.
Also, I'm sure we've all had teachers who didn't seem to care about their job or work hard at all (I used to have one who "skipped" classes and went to the plaza, leaving and coming back just before each bell). Of course, this undermines the hard-working teachers, but they do exist. This would also give a negative image of teachers, since the ridiculous stories are often far more fun to pass around.
It's ironic and unfortunate though, because teachers play such an important role in the lives of almost everyone. It would be helpful if they were respected more in terms of getting along with the community!
To go off of what Maxine said we have to remember (and I am taking this from a business course) anytime someone has a negative experience they tell EVERYONE they can get their hands on. Whether this be a bad coffee buying experience or a bad experience with a particular teacher. People tell far fewer people about their positive experiences. And unfortunately the press doesn't help either. There are a lot of people who are anti-union and as teachers are in a union (of course not all are, but the public doesn't see that) that can also cause the negative feelings.
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