A teachers group in Indiana has gained some attention in education circles for little black wristbands they have created. (LINK) On the wristbands is a simple request, “Just let me teach!” The wristbands are the brainchild of 35 year old Indiana teacher Justin Oakley. He is 10 year veteran of teaching and also the president of his local teacher’s association. He created the wristbands because he had grown tired of so-called school reformers telling teachers how to do their jobs. The “Just Let Me Teach” wristbands have become a hot item, leading to a Facebook page with 1,240 likes and sales of over 4,000 wristbands to teachers across the country. (LINK) So what has led so many teachers to snatch up these wristbands? The answer is a loss of professional autonomy.
Follow me for more....
When I started my teaching career 17 years ago, it was a much different world. Teachers were seen as professionals who were allowed to use their creativity to produce countless numbers of approaches to provide learning opportunities that fit the diversity of the children they served. I taught the same subject, Civics, but every year I took slightly different approaches based on what I saw as the needs of the kids in front of me. I created new projects and simulations, different assignments, and new ways to assess whether my students were learning. And in all that time, I was given the space and support from my administrators to create and grow. It gave me a sense of professional autonomy and skill that not only made me fall in love with my job, it also made for a great, dynamic learning environment for the kids in my class. Sadly, those days are gone.
Over the last ten years, thanks to education “reforms” like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top our local schools have reacted by standardizing and routinizing the teaching process in the hopes of increasing student achievement (aka student test scores). So called reformers will state that the standardization of education across this county is needed to ensure every child receives a great education but in reality the changes are leading to a thin, miserable gruel of an education with uninspired students and demoralized teachers.
Teachers are now being asked to teach math and reading from pre-approved scripted lessons. Some of these scripted lessons even tell teachers exactly what to say minute by minute. Reading teachers are threatened with being written up if they dare bring into their classrooms reading materials that diverge from the adopted reading program. I actually had a teacher complain to me they were told by an administrator that their students were not allowed to choose books about dolphins because the pre-approved reading program only listed books about jellyfish as acceptable.
The standardization continues as school districts far and wide become overly obsessed with standardizing the “data” that we used to assess whether students are learning. I used to be able to write my own tests and quizzes and once or twice I even took the radical path of giving my students a final tests where I interviewed them about what they learned rather than give them a multiple choice test. I found it interesting that many of the results of the oral exam were much better for some of my poor and minority students than they would have been with a multiple choice test. But now, assessments must be standardized so the “data” can be plugged into computers and create colorful charts and graphs that show what our students have learned. The assessments have multiplied and in my school district students are being assessed in every academic class multiple times every week…and nearly all of those assessment are multiple choice bubble sheet tests (creative projects and written essays don’t fit into a computer program so easily). Next up for the arts classes and physical education classes are their very own bubble sheet tests to make sure they have “data” too.
In order to enforce this standardization of the teaching profession, increased training (some would call it indoctrination) is needed. Thus, teachers are being swamped with extra meetings and professional development days where they are presented with their latest marching orders from on high. Teachers used to be able to select from a wide range of professional development opportunities that fit their needs and the needs of the unique kids in their classroom. Now professional development from area education agencies and local districts must conform to a narrow list of approved topics, most focusing on reading and math. The time it takes to indoctrinate teachers into this standardized world is eating away at valuable time for educators to check papers, write lessons, help students after school, collaborate with colleagues, communicate with parents, and have a life outside of their job.
And what are the effects of all of this standardization and falling in line? I have never seen the teaching staff in my district and across the country more demoralized and stressed out. Teachers have no autonomy, little chance to create, and dare not question the orders they get. What was once a profession has now become more and more a soul crushing, stress inducing trail of tears. Increasing numbers of veteran teachers are thinking about dropping out of the ranks. Newer teachers soon find their creative ideas smashed against the rocks of standardization. Stress and demoralization lead to teachers on the brink, yelling at their students and making unhealthy choices at home. This is no less than a silent, growing crisis.
We have two paths we can take to resolve this crisis. We can let our best and brightest drop out of the ranks and replace them with employees willing to follow orders or alternatively certified amateurs which might lead to a more standardized education system. That path will not lead to a rebirth of a love of learning in our students or the support for creative new approaches in education. Nor will it make teaching an attractive career.
The second path we could take is a return to the days when teachers were actually treated like they were professionals. To do this, we would have to trust that our teachers could make decisions about how they teach. We would have to allow teachers to create and produce lessons and activities that meet the unique and changing needs of the diversity of students that walk in their rooms. We may need to allow a teacher to bring in a book on dolphins when their students show and interest rather than stick to the district mandated jellyfish book. We might actually need to trust teachers with some time in their day to check those papers, share with their peers, and pursue professional development that they have chosen. We may have to give our teachers a little more space, a lot more professional respect, and in the end we may just have to “let them teach!”