Education Is My Life | Teachers: This is what we've learned.

Does this work?

In a time where everyone references PISA scores to evaluate American students, I cannot help but disregard articles like ?Teachers: Will We Ever Learn?? in the NY Times. I respect the NY Times and their ?Learning Network? series, but denounce the rhetoric aimed at teachers in America. In fact, many of the points in this article are SPOT on, but why is the title directed at teachers? The quote ?so much reform, so little improvement? is right, but none of the reform efforts have been developed by teachers? Have teachers been involved in any of the political changes? Have their opinions been asked or valued? Have students? opinions been asked or valued?

17 yr-old Nikhil Goyal is the author of the upcoming book, One Size Does Not Fit All. He says:

As a society, we aren?t realizing the true purpose of school?becoming lifelong learners and active, engaged citizens in democracy. Conformity and sticking in your shell is no longer the shortcut to success. What separates the best from the average in the world is grit, uniqueness, drive, and resilience.

For some frame of reference I point to Joe Mazza?s great piece on the Finnish school system but more importantly their culture. Too often I find myself in conversations with non-educators asking why ?we can?t just be like Finland?? Finland of course is a top nation in the vaunted 2009 PISA scores. However, what we can learn from Finland has so much more to do with lifestyle, culture, and priorities than longer school days and testing.

So, what have we learned as teachers during the NCLB years and current administration?s Rise to the Top initiative?

We?ve learned that many of our low-income students struggle, and their schools struggle to achieve high scores on these standardized tests ? and many more schools are ?in need of improvement? in 2012 than in 2001. Great schools and great teachers have been proven to take any student (regardless of background) and help them succeed. We need to care for these students and give them multiple chances to succeed, not judge them on one test taken every three years.

We?ve learned that our suburban students are tops in the world in many categories of testing, although these schools rarely actually ?teach to the test? like many of the struggling schools are forced to do. What can we do to move some of our best teachers to our struggling districts? We should be focusing on what works so well in these schools (hint: it?s not teaching to the test) and applying it elsewhere. Many of our districts have modeled what we should do, is anyone paying attention?

We?ve learned that great schools have nothing to do with public, private, or charter set ups. Instead they have to do with the leadership, teachers, and community/family involvement. Again, it starts with caring about our students, and putting them first.

We?ve learned that teaching is an evolving profession that needs professional development. But what do many schools choose to cut when finances gets tight? Professional development of course.

We?ve learned that many politicians really don?t understand our profession, and rarely ever ask us for help in making decisions that impact our system. What would happen if politicians completely overhauled the medical profession without consulting doctors, or the law profession without consulting lawyers?public outrage???

We?ve learned that bonuses and results based compensation does not work in education. Daniel Pink also points out that it doesn?t work in most other professions as well?

We?ve learned that our teachers are collaborating and working with each other more than ever. Thanks to social media and the web, our profession has never been more connected.

We?ve learned that the most corrupt people in our profession are the ones worried about test scores. They make irrational decisions because of a false pressure.

We?ve learned that most decisions in education are not left up to US, but we will continue to do the best we can given the resources and time that is provided. We don?t want bad teachers in our profession as much as we don?t want bad doctors. But we have to give them an opportunity to improve before firing. Some will not take this opportunity and will deserve to be fired. Others will take the proper training and become better teachers. There has to be training available.

We?ve learned that Randy Pausch knows what he is talking about in ?The Last Lecture? when he says: ?If you can?t learn and have fun, then I?m not sure you are clear on the definition of either? of those words. Learning should be fun. It should be challenging. It should be be inquiry-based. It should be time well spent.

I?m all for accountability, but that?s been the focus on the past fifteen years and look where has it gotten us. Maybe it?s time we start with making learning fun and meaningful, then watch how our students succeed.

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