In my heart I believe every single teacher went into the
profession with the intention of changing lives and inspiring kids. I truly
believe this because the alternative is too horrible to contemplate. Yet, every
single one of us can name a teacher or two in our building who seem to have
lost their desire to do amazing work with kids. On the surface you may think
these teachers are “sucky” but I think we are being a bit shortsighted and
missing the larger picture when it comes to less effective teachers. It is my
belief many teachers are simply experiencing symptoms of educational erosion.
Just as cliffs along a coastline erode and shrink, I too think teachers suffer
a similar fate. There are many variables, which impact the rate of this
erosion.
Water Pressure
Just as cliff sides around the world experience different
waves, storms, and tides, teachers have different pressures put on them as well.
These pressures come in the form of testing, evaluations, initiatives,
administrators, parents, legislation and the laundry list of things, which
ultimately stand in the way of teachers doing their jobs. While a teacher may
have stood tall on day one of their first year, the job and the stressors
eventually erode away the tough exterior.
The number of initiatives, programs, and new
responsibilities being placed on teachers is increasing to a monsoon level in
some schools. Teachers’ very fabric of being which they started their careers
with is being blasted out to sea.
Type of Rock
Cliffs can be comprised of different rocks determining the
erosion rate and the same can be said of teachers. Some teachers are
emotionally and mentally more prepared to withstand the years of teaching with its
onslaught of emotional and physical waves. The reality is, some teachers are
built differently and can handle all that is tossed at them. Yet, just as it is
with rock, they all have a breaking point.
The hardest rock can withstand the strongest Mother Nature
can throw its way. However, over time the rock changes and erodes into
something different. The inspired and passionate teacher from day one evolves
and erodes in the same manner. When you see a “sucky” teacher, stop and wonder
what they have experienced to make them the way they are. While this is in no
way supporting poor teachers, it is to say sometimes people have been beaten
down so much they can’t stand back up enough to return to that person they were
on their first day.
Supports
As a trail runner I see places where erosion is being
stemmed and even reversed through supports such as walls, barriers or other
assistive measures. Teachers need support to survive the waves of standards,
assessments, initiatives, meetings and everything else wearing them down. This
is not to say teachers are pathetic and can’t handle the rigors of teaching.
However, I fear we will have a generation of teachers leave the profession
because teaching itself is eroding into purely data management and assessments
rather than relationship building and learning as a joyful act. I have yet met
a teacher who says they are tired of teaching. Yet, they are tired of
everything else asked of them, which ultimately gets in the way of the job of
actually teaching.
Administrators who step up for their staff to push back and
protect them from the storms of our educational systems are to be commended.
They are the ones who can help stem the erosion of our teachers so as not to
lose them. In addition, fellow teachers need to be able to support one another
and help weather the storms cropping up seemingly more and more regularly.
Shelter
Just as harbors and bays provide shelter from the storms,
teachers too are seeking shelter. In some extreme cases, they seek shelter by
simply leaving the profession all together. The feelings of stress overwhelm
them to the point of exhaustion and they leave. It can be argued some of these
teachers should leave but I argue we are losing the good ones too.
Another shelter teachers are taking is through leaving for
positions of less accountability and pressure. Instead of teaching tested
subjects they head into the waters of electives and other roles where there is
shelter from high expectations in the form of rigid standards or high stakes
testing. This is not to say these teachers are hiding from accountability but
they need a space where they can interact with kids in a positive way without
the pressure and stressors looming over them brought on by over standardization
and testing.
The final shelter teachers are taking is holing up and
shutting down in their rooms altogether. They ignore the new initiatives and
everything new being asked of them. For them it is about survival and getting
through the day.
Educational erosion may be a made up idea but the reality is
teachers erode over time. Most if not all teachers walk into their first
teaching job with the best intentions and a good heart. Yet somewhere along the
way the system batters them into a shape or form almost unrecognizable to where
they started. We must be better to our teachers, especially our new ones, if
want them to withstand the weathering of a career in education. Erosion over
time can create smooth and polished masterpieces if it is controlled and
nurtured. However, if unprotected it will ravage and destroy all in its path.
