Teaching: The Profession That Teaches All Others! Long ago, my grandfather was a teacher. Now my mother, his daughter, is a teacher. Their experiences in this profession have been very different. My grandfather taught during the “golden age” of teaching, during the 1950s through the 1970s. Usually, students behaved themselves, parents and kids respected teachers, and educators were not overwhelmed by paperwork. They simply reported to school, shared their knowledge with students, and gave weekly tests. Boy, have things changed! While my mom would be the first to tell you that teaching is a wonderful profession that she enjoys tremendously, I have observed that teachers today have a much tougher job today than they did in the past. Increasing demands on their time and talent put teachers in an almost impossible situation. Nowadays, teachers are expected to act as counselors, policemen, social workers, and more--all while covering the GLEs and Standards required in the curriculum they teach, completing tons of paperwork, differentiating instruction, incorporating new technologies, attending lots of training classes, etc., etc.! My mom says that sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day to get it all done. I believe that there are several major areas that make teaching such a difficult job today and I will explore each of them below. Discipline is probably the area that teachers have the most difficulty with today. Various studies have shown that students who act up in school do so for a variety of reasons—some good, some bad. Regardless of the reason, discipline is needed in schools. As one high school
Thomas 2 student stated: “If there were no discipline, the school would not be distinguished from the street.” (Bowen) Why are kids so disruptive these days and what can be done to remedy the situation? According to Bowen, several reasons given for the bad behavior include:
Enforcement—Because of internal administrative problems or lack of procedures, many school officials fail to enforce the rules or punish students for infractions. Some fear lawsuits from parents; others just do not care, or they are “burned out.”
Self-Esteem—Many schools have emphasized self-esteem over and above everything else. Some teachers are afraid to discipline or demand good behavior because it will hurt the child’s self-esteem. The result? Now we have ill-behaved, rude kids—but they feel good about themselves.
Legal Procedures—Because of the raised awareness of the civil rights of children, the law requires adults to go through expensive, time-consuming and confusing procedures in regards to school discipline. These legal procedures do protect the rights of children, but make it very difficult to stop school discipline problems. According to The Master Teacher, a leading provider of continuous professional development for teachers, the primary causes of misbehavior are Attention, Power, Revenge, and Self-Confidence. Teachers are expected to identify the type of misbehavior an unruly student is exhibiting and be trained and prepared to intervene before it becomes a classroom distraction. (Discipline Help) Teachers are being asked to take care of a problem that really should be addressed at the administrative level and reinforced at home. Long ago, students were fearful of being sent to the “principal’s office,” where the administrator made it perfectly clear that misbehavior would not be tolerated. The students were usually even more fearful of facing their
Thomas 3 parents afterwards. Not so today when parents are more likely to question a teacher on discipline issues rather than support her/him. No wonder kids act up! Standardized Testing—Teachers are facing increased pressure to “teach to the test” these days. High-stakes standardized tests are becoming the main, if not sole, indicator of not only a student’s capability, but also a teacher’s effectiveness. This is just crazy. We are the