One Man’s Opinion: Let teachers focus on teaching – Petoskey News-Review

I am beginning my 24th year writing this column. I often end my column with the words “as usual, this is only one man’s opinion.” In my years I have never written about the subject that is nearest and dearest to my heart — the state of education. It will not be difficult for any reader to sense the bias included in my opinions in this article. Just wanted to warn you and just thought inquiring minds would want to know how this former educator feels about what is going on in education.

I sincerely believe teachers get into education because they like to work with kids. That is to say, they originally got into education because they liked to work with kids. Somewhere along the line, for a variety of reasons, teachers sometimes lose focus on their students, and negativity rears its ugly head. Sure, there are a few bad apples, but don’t judge the whole by the few.

There are so many things that teachers do in today’s educational settings, that it is very easy to see how they lose focus. Instead of focusing on what is good for their students, teachers are now dealing with state-mandated testing, federal “no child left behind legislation,” accreditation processes, portfolios, proficiency, committees, sub committees, sub- sub committees, teacher and student mentoring, computers and computer software, assessments and new assessment strategies, attendance, litigation, reading and writing across the curriculum, fund raisers, spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts, attendance at sporting events, academic and athletic banquets, new policies and procedures involving everything from dress codes to attendance, from drug use to weapons, from use of cell phones to technology use policies. This is only a small list of disruptions and interruptions that can cause a teacher to turn just a little negative.

So much of a teacher’s day has to do with non-classroom-related issues. It is little wonder why so many beginning teachers are dropping out of the field of education after only a few years. Longevity used to be much more common in the profession. Teachers are simply tired of it all. They studied to be teachers. They were trained to be teachers. In reality, very little time is actually done teaching.

In reality, if you ask a teacher how much quality time is spent on the learning process you would be amazed at their response. I would estimate that the answer would be less than 40% of their time. So much emphasis has been put on teaching to the state-mandated test that little time is given to actual teaching.

Everyone who really knows anything about the educational process knows that the best way to teach students is let them become involved. Provide them opportunities to solve problems, make decisions, work as a team, be creative, and learn by the merits of their own work. The problem, once again, is time. A great deal is required in order to involve students in the process in any substantial way, and teachers simply don’t have enough time at their disposal. Good teaching is going by the wayside, and mountains of paperwork – mandated to improve the educational process – have frustrated many of our best teachers.

Who is driving the education bus? The drivers must know what they are doing — right? The testing will make teachers more accountable; the bureaucrats tell us. Teachers will be forced to come up to a standard that heretofore never existed. It’s a standard that changes yearly and is recalibrated every time a teacher thinks they have figured out what the state is asking of them. It’s a standard that has taken most of the teaching out of teaching. Teaching has turned into regurgitation. Figuring out how to help students pass the mandated testing is now the standard way to teach. Maybe the drivers need to take one of their own tests. They would be hard-pressed to find much meaning, significance, or application in what they are requesting of today’s students.

So much pressure is put on school districts to perform. The threat of monies being withheld or state takeover of a school system that it is little wonder why teachers end up teaching to the test. This is now their job.

Teaching involves so much more. Ask yourself who the best teacher was that you ever had. What qualities did they have that you felt were important? The answers usually involve some individual that was caring, compassionate, fun, flexible, tough, organized, a good listener, and a friend. Most successful teachers model these qualities. There is not as much time anymore for teachers to be good teachers. The focus has switched away from what is good for kids. The focus is now on how we stay afloat in this political arena. Teaching is driven by what politicians feel is good for children. Pressure, pressure, and more pressure and students end up being the ones who suffer.

If you are a student, it is not hard to figure out that your teachers are confused on exactly what they are doing. These students sit in front of their teachers for 12 years and are well aware of the games that are being played with their education. They adapt. They learn how to play the game and all the new games that are thrown at them. After all, they have been raised on computer software games. Students are adaptable to most anything. The question is not whether we are teaching them to be adaptable.

Rather, the question is if students are learning in the best environment possible. I am positive teachers will give this question a resounding NO! Teachers know the focus has changed in education. Teachers know they must spend more time learning to play new games created by outside agencies. (Usually the politicians). Teachers know that they are being required to teach what someone else thinks are important. Is it any wonder that teachers, who were once enthusiastic about teaching, are now becoming a little more negative about what they are being asked to do?

The answers to creating a great educational system are not easy, but no one is asking for input from those who have the biggest stake in the entire process — the students and the teachers. What goes on every day inside American classrooms behind closed doors is the single most important educational catharsis. Many students say to themselves, “LET ME LEARN WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT!” Teachers feel like screaming, “JUST LET ME TEACH.” We need to trust our educators. These teachers are the lifeline to tomorrow. No one wants to work in an environment where they are not trusted to do the job for which they were trained. Let teachers focus on what they got into education for in the first place — the love of working with kids. As I said at the top of this article, as usual, this is just one man’s opinion.

— Jerry Donnelly is a Petoskey native who was an educator downstate. His column, One Man’s Opinion, appears monthly. Donnelly can be contacted via email at jerry.wheepapa.donnelly@gmail.com.