We all have them about each other - about who we are as people, about what our jobs entail, what our families are like - sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. It seems that the more we are able to share those misconceptions with other people, and through that, gain support and acceptance for the skewed way we view each other, the less we care about correcting them.
I've talked before about how in Idaho, if you hold a K-8 All Subjects Certificate, you are legally "highly qualified" to teach all subjects in grades kindergarten through eight. Period. The end. Your college coursework is deemed enough to prepare you for any and all of those positions.
I can't even begin to cover the countless flaws I see in this system. But I can bring your attention to two specific specialty areas covered in that certificate that are not what they seem.
PE.
Technology.
(You thought I was going to say Music, didn't you? Pshaw. That would be so obvious. Hang in here with me.)
I come from a place where a few things happen in PE:
One, teachers who are nearing retirement and need to be (forgive me) "put out to pasture" until they reach the age of retirement are transferred into PE.
Two, younger teachers who yearn for something (forgive me) "easier" than a classroom of their own transfer into PE.
Three, teachers who hold degrees in Physical Education teach for a few years and then leave for the neighboring state where the pay is higher and there's respect for their degree and expertise.
Let me tell you about how one of my dearest friends, a fourth grade teacher - one of the really good ones - yearns to wear sweatpants to school and throw off the tyranny of grades, so she looked into getting a PE endorsement because she "wanted to do it right." (She's heard many a rant from me about being a second-class teacher.) She was thunderstruck that it would be 37 credits and only 4 would be available online. I was patient and kind and didn't "I told you so" about skills classes, anatomy and physiology, and statistics. I "mmm-hmmed" about how a Gifted and Talented endorsement was only 20 credits and available entirely online and "there were no rules there either." And I smiled endearingly about how "people who get PE degrees must really, actually want to teach PE."
I'm used to hearing stuff like this. If you're a classroom teacher, you know how people know everything about how to do your job because they were a student once upon a time, right? This is that. Except it's classroom teachers knowing how to do your job because they know teaching and really like to work out. Or played an instrument in high school band. Or paint in their spare time.
It's a huge misconception, isn't it?
Is it a huge misconception when it comes to teaching Technology/STEAM/Makerspace/those new subjects that are appearing every day?
These, to me, are subjects that are developing as they're being taught. There aren't "skills classes" like there would be for Music, PE, or Art, because as soon as you took them, they'd be outdated. The teachers need to be willing and able to learn alongside their classes. And maybe, rather than a specific endorsement for these subjects, there is a specific kind of teacher who is successful in teaching these subjects. At risk of using played-out EduJargon™, maybe it's not a skillset, it's a mindset.
- - - - -
I believe teaching is innate. There are people who are astounding teachers by nature. Every conversation with them is a lesson, but you don't realize they're teaching you until you can reflect on all the things you didn't know before you started interacting with them. These people are so passionate (usually about everything) and need to know things themselves - and then they're so eager to share what they just learned... I get excited just thinking about talking to people like this. They're Technicolor. Stereophonic High Fidelity. Umami.
I also believe that there are great people who work really hard to be teachers. They wind up being terrific educators, but it doesn't come naturally to them. They are passionate in their commitment to education, to doing well at being teachers. They learn and grow, and watching them become better and better at what they have chosen to do is inspiring.
To me, this is where the misconceptions arise. We don't take, and often aren't given, the time to talk to each other about what we really do in our classrooms. Some of us may be afraid or ashamed to talk about what is happening in our classes because of what we see, and therefore imagine, is happening across the hall. We become so comfortable with what we know that we view everything around us through that lens - our abilities and beliefs tint and taint our perceptions of our colleagues and their positions.
If we were all brave enough (or in my case, gentle enough) to help people understand how what they think they see isn't exactly the case we'd understand each other much better. If we were more able to communicate with each other the way we communicate with our students* there would be far fewer misconceptions.
The vast amount of misconceptions aren't willful ignorance (current politics excepted), they are misunderstandings. Let's plan to clear them up. To understand. Maybe we can educate each other too.
_____________
*Mini rant: Why, why, why, are we as teachers so unable to do this? If we are so committed to the idea of "life-long learning" why do we not treat each other as learners? It's one way or the other with us - either we treat each other like imbeciles or instructional deities that we fall all over ourselves not to offend. We'd never treat our kids like this. C'mon people.
I've talked before about how in Idaho, if you hold a K-8 All Subjects Certificate, you are legally "highly qualified" to teach all subjects in grades kindergarten through eight. Period. The end. Your college coursework is deemed enough to prepare you for any and all of those positions.
I can't even begin to cover the countless flaws I see in this system. But I can bring your attention to two specific specialty areas covered in that certificate that are not what they seem.
PE.
Technology.
(You thought I was going to say Music, didn't you? Pshaw. That would be so obvious. Hang in here with me.)
I come from a place where a few things happen in PE:
One, teachers who are nearing retirement and need to be (forgive me) "put out to pasture" until they reach the age of retirement are transferred into PE.
Two, younger teachers who yearn for something (forgive me) "easier" than a classroom of their own transfer into PE.
Three, teachers who hold degrees in Physical Education teach for a few years and then leave for the neighboring state where the pay is higher and there's respect for their degree and expertise.
Let me tell you about how one of my dearest friends, a fourth grade teacher - one of the really good ones - yearns to wear sweatpants to school and throw off the tyranny of grades, so she looked into getting a PE endorsement because she "wanted to do it right." (She's heard many a rant from me about being a second-class teacher.) She was thunderstruck that it would be 37 credits and only 4 would be available online. I was patient and kind and didn't "I told you so" about skills classes, anatomy and physiology, and statistics. I "mmm-hmmed" about how a Gifted and Talented endorsement was only 20 credits and available entirely online and "there were no rules there either." And I smiled endearingly about how "people who get PE degrees must really, actually want to teach PE."
I'm used to hearing stuff like this. If you're a classroom teacher, you know how people know everything about how to do your job because they were a student once upon a time, right? This is that. Except it's classroom teachers knowing how to do your job because they know teaching and really like to work out. Or played an instrument in high school band. Or paint in their spare time.
It's a huge misconception, isn't it?
Is it a huge misconception when it comes to teaching Technology/STEAM/Makerspace/those new subjects that are appearing every day?
These, to me, are subjects that are developing as they're being taught. There aren't "skills classes" like there would be for Music, PE, or Art, because as soon as you took them, they'd be outdated. The teachers need to be willing and able to learn alongside their classes. And maybe, rather than a specific endorsement for these subjects, there is a specific kind of teacher who is successful in teaching these subjects. At risk of using played-out EduJargon™, maybe it's not a skillset, it's a mindset.
- - - - -
I believe teaching is innate. There are people who are astounding teachers by nature. Every conversation with them is a lesson, but you don't realize they're teaching you until you can reflect on all the things you didn't know before you started interacting with them. These people are so passionate (usually about everything) and need to know things themselves - and then they're so eager to share what they just learned... I get excited just thinking about talking to people like this. They're Technicolor. Stereophonic High Fidelity. Umami.
I also believe that there are great people who work really hard to be teachers. They wind up being terrific educators, but it doesn't come naturally to them. They are passionate in their commitment to education, to doing well at being teachers. They learn and grow, and watching them become better and better at what they have chosen to do is inspiring.
To me, this is where the misconceptions arise. We don't take, and often aren't given, the time to talk to each other about what we really do in our classrooms. Some of us may be afraid or ashamed to talk about what is happening in our classes because of what we see, and therefore imagine, is happening across the hall. We become so comfortable with what we know that we view everything around us through that lens - our abilities and beliefs tint and taint our perceptions of our colleagues and their positions.
If we were all brave enough (or in my case, gentle enough) to help people understand how what they think they see isn't exactly the case we'd understand each other much better. If we were more able to communicate with each other the way we communicate with our students* there would be far fewer misconceptions.
The vast amount of misconceptions aren't willful ignorance (current politics excepted), they are misunderstandings. Let's plan to clear them up. To understand. Maybe we can educate each other too.
_____________
*Mini rant: Why, why, why, are we as teachers so unable to do this? If we are so committed to the idea of "life-long learning" why do we not treat each other as learners? It's one way or the other with us - either we treat each other like imbeciles or instructional deities that we fall all over ourselves not to offend. We'd never treat our kids like this. C'mon people.
Comments
Post a Comment