I've watched NBC's Education Nation reports, viewed trailers for the new movie Waiting for Superman, tuned in to interviews with the people involved in creating the movie, read blogs, newspaper and magazine articles and every day I show up to work prepared to save the world.
This might sound sad, but I have actually been wondering if I am a "good teacher" lately. The media is so powerful and this is what scares me. If I am wondering if I work hard enough, or if I have the natural teaching talent that a lot of these reports refer to, then I am certain that some of the parents of my students are also wondering this. Any of the general public that view these news segments or this new movie will most likely be thinking about this too.
On the other side, I do realize that the system is broken. I work in a public school, and hope to continue working in public schools throughout my teaching career because this is where I have chosen to work. I don't have anything against private schools, but I think the public school system is one of the foundations of this country. I want to be a teacher of all students. I'm not sure if I totally agree with tenure, but I do belong the NEA, MEA, and my local union. I appreciate what they have done for me and for many other teachers across the country. In terms of employment, teachers have come a long way because of the union. But, I know there are some teachers out there who shouldn't be teaching. I agree that teaching should be like every other profession; if you're not doing your job, you get fired. I think in order for this type of process to work, however, the entire system would have to be revamped or maybe even reconstructed.
So, for almost two weeks I have been going back and forth and back and forth in my head about what should be done. How do we fix this broken system? Well, I'm still not sure about this. All I know is that everyday I have to show up prepared to deal with all sorts of issues and problems that are definitely not mentioned in any of these reports about how I, along with all the other teachers in public schools, are failing this country's children. So for for my mental health breather, I turn to Lewis Black on the "Back in Black" segment from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart because the only thing that can get me to smile about these circumstances is good old fashioned sarcasm.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Back in Black - Education Crisis | ||||
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1 comment:
Well, I'm anxious to hear your comments about Waiting for Superman if you saw it this weekend. With all the hoopla this fall about our educational system, most of it inaccurate, we are all a bit skittish about what we do.
But, this is not unusual in this day and age, when people are questioning just about every institution in this country.
While it would be nice if people would read the research, believe people who know education from the inside (er...the actual educators), and NOT depend on their own school experiences for the way every school should run...the reality is that we need to take charge of the discussion. We need to co-opt the notion that schools are failing...and begin to tell the truth about our schools.
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