“Mischievous Apple” by fernando.
In my conversations with education groups last year, I would often quip, “It is a great time to be a teacher, just maybe not the best year to be a teacher.” Public education in British Columbia — in fact, across Canada, North America and around the world — has become increasingly challenged. I am concerned about what I am beginning to hear from friends and colleagues who entered into the profession full of hope, passion, with the dream of bettering their community, but who are becoming disillusioned about teaching.
A new report presented by the Canadian Education Association and the Canadian Teachers Federation — Teaching the Way We Aspire to Teach: Now and in the Future, is a key document with a Canadian perspective on the aspirations of our teachers. With much attention paid to reports on the pivotal role teachers play, like John Hattie’s Teachers Make a Difference, it is crucial that conversations around education change (reform, transformation, or whatever word might best describe what we are currently undergoing), is not only about engaging students, but is also about engaging the passion of teachers.
The Canadian view is important, because it is easy to be influenced by some of the deeply concerning directions in some parts of the United States, and assume they are also happening here.
The 25-page report is well worth the read whether you are a student, teacher, policy maker or engaged citizen.
Three Highlights in the Research:
1) A signficant proportion of teachers have experienced teaching the way they aspire to teach, at least occasionally
2) Although teachers are able to teach the way they aspire to teach on occasion, this does not always happen on a consistent and system-wide basis
3) There was significant agreement among teachers around the personal attributes of teachers that are the most important. They are:
- passion for teaching and a commitment to students
- caring for children
- knowing their students, and
- flexibility to use one’s professional judgment and expertise to make sound pedagogical decisions in the interest of students
An important area of interest was the elements of an ideal teaching environment (click on graph below to enlarge):
While there is nothing on the list that would be stunning to any of us in the education system, in many cases, a huge financial investment in the system is not required. It was also reassuring to read that the “alienated teacher does not appear to be a common feature of education in Canada.” That said, there is no doubt we have work to do.
A quote from Sam M. Intrator (in the report) led me to reading his 2002 book Stories of the Courage to Teach: Honoring the Teacher’s Heart. As someone who comes from a family of teachers (my mother continues to teach in the BC public education system, having started in 1968), so much of what he said resonated with me:
. . . . if schools are to be places that promote academic, social, and personal development for students, everything hinges on the presence of intelligent, passionate, caring teachers working day after day in our nation’s classrooms. Teachers have a colossal influence on what happens in our schools, because day after day, they are the ultimate decision makers and tone setters. They shape the world of the classroom by the activities they plan, the focus they attend to, and the relationships they nurture.
If we want to attract and retain intelligent, passionate, caring teachers, we had better figure out what will sustain their vitality and faith in teaching. Education depends on what teachers do in their classrooms, and what teachers do in their classrooms is shaped by who they are, what they believe, and how vital and alive they are when they step before their students.
I am saddened when I see comments from teachers that if they had it to do over, would select a different profession, or would never encourage others to follow them into teaching. And, at times, our profession is our worst enemy — we do a better job of dividing ourselves than others might — we label each other by the level we teach, our employee affiliation, the community we work in, or a variety of other markers which fragment the far more powerful unifying features we share like improving the quality of public education to increase the life chances and opportunities for the young men and women we are so fortunate to work with each day.
Hopefully this report will help stimulate some important discussions.
cultureofyes.ca 
Chris,
The quote from Sam M. Intrator really resonates for me also.
Teachers come into the profession full of good intentions and passion and sometimes get frustrated with the infrastructure of education: rows of desks, rigid timetables, standardized testing, and inequity around access to resources either staffing or technology.
In high schools, we teach in our respective caves “faking it until we make it” when we start our careers. In the past year when I worked as a Helping Teacher in Surrey, I saw teachers working in teams with students, students teaching other students and teachers and teachers working with learning teams. I really envision our libraries as innovation labs where staff and students can learn by constructing knowledge through experimentation. We need spaces where they can tinker and try things out that interest us. Check out the hash tag #geniushour where educators give structured time to students to explore their passions. Instead of the one off workshop, teachers need to do continual professional development throughout the year and my PLN on Twitter inspires me everyday to innovate our library.
I really enjoy working closely with new and student teachers as they need our continued support as they embark on their careers. Students can read us right us right away if we love our job or not. If I ever start the school year counting down the days to summer vacation, it is time to pack my bags and find another job. Our students deserve our best effort! It is sad when teachers reconsider their career choice but this reflects our reflective nature. I believe the teaching profession is the most honorable profession as it is about service to others and this is why I continue to work as a teacher librarian.
Thanks for your post,
Lisa
@librarymall
Thanks Lisa. We had the chance to hear Jennifer James speak last Thursday in West Vancouver and she spoke about us all being sure about our purpose before we walk in the classroom door – why are we there. She also reminded us that our students keep us connected to the world.
Have a great year!
I think a couple of things have to shift and as you state, they aren’t necessarily cost prohibitive but rather cultural.
1. Bringing the professionalism back to teaching. Increased bureaucracy and lack of autonomy are the main culprits. My thoughts here: http://ideasandthoughts.org/2012/06/11/keeping-the-professionalism-in-the-profession/
2. The passions of teachers as your title indicates is central but often overlooked. Tied closely with my first point, it is the shift to having teachers see themselves as learners and researchers every day. It’s why blogging resonates so much with many folks because it’s the acknowledgement and opportunity for them to research and pursue their passion. Just as passions and interests for students vary, so it is with adults. PD rarely acknowledges that and few districts make tangible steps to demonstrate to teachers that their learning and passions matter.
I know that at West Van, you’re already working hard at this. Thank you for that.
Thanks Dean. I am very interested in how the current review of curriculum in BC may assist in helping bring increased opportunities for teachers to share their passions, and allow students to share go deeper with their passions – it is a movement away from the prescription that has been the trend of the last 20 years + in BC. I do think we are at the early stages of the post-standardized world in education (at least we see that in Canada) which creates opportunities for both teacher and student passions to flourish.
I agree with your comments re: PD. One of the reason I love blogging is that it gives me a place to think, contribute and share on topics that might not be part of “regular” PD.
Have a great year!
Thank you for sharing. Here are a few related thoughts:
You wrote, “It was also reassuring to read that the “alienated teacher does not appear to be a common feature of education in Canada.” That said, there is no doubt we have work to do.”
I am not so convinced that is as accurate in BC as it might be in the rest of Canada. I am a mid-career changer (from private tech sector to teaching) and I was shocked and disappointed how poorly new teachers are treated by the teaching profession in BC. It seems to be an aspect of the profession that is firmly embedded, perhaps cultural. And it is especially hard on new teaching couples. There have been some improvements over the last 10 years but I think there is a lot of work left to do. I think that the teaching profession in BC could learn many beneficial lessons from other professions in BC.
You wrote, “it is crucial that conversations around education change (reform, transformation, or whatever word might best describe what we are currently undergoing), is not only about engaging students, but is also about engaging the passion of teachers.”
Thank you for highlighting an important part of reality that is too often missing from discussions in BCEd. A Venn diagram for BCEd should represent a sustainable balance between the interests of service consumers and service providers such that the public interest is maintained. Realistically, BCEd can never exclusively be about either student interests, service provider interests, or government interests; it must be a sustainable balance of all three. The sweet spot is the middle of the Venn diagram. What’s best for students is not necessarily what’s best for teachers and is not necessarily what’s in the public interest. When we focus on common ground, however, we all win.
You wrote, “I am saddened when I see comments from teachers that if they had it to do over, would select a different profession, or would never encourage others to follow them into teaching.”
I am too. But those attitudes are a natural consequence, a symptom, of extreme conditions that exist in BCEd. Until we become better stewards of the teaching profession in BC, we will continue to see too much of that. Better regulation of teacher production is badly needed in BC; when we overproduce teachers we create an environment that damages individual teachers and eventually the profession itself. The government takeover of the teachers’ professional association is just one more associated problem. Many other systemic problems exist that need to be addressed in BCEd.
The BC Education Plan may enable some improvements in BCEd, but there are chronic and systemic issues in BCed that need to be addressed by a more independent process. BC needs an independent Royal Commission on Education to identify those issues and recommend ways to address them.
With available technologies, more individual citizens would be able to participate directly in such an independent process, creating a Royal Commission on Education like never before.
I think that an independent Royal Commission on Education, utilizing modern online communication, collaboration and decision-making technologies for individual citizen and group participation, should be seriously considered as a badly needed step in the right direction for BCEd. If we don’t take such steps to address these BCEd issues, we’ll just see the same old problems over and over again. And is that the kind of learning we want exemplified by BCEd system itself?
Thanks Richard for the thoughtful response. Have a great school year!
Hi Chris,
I believe there are some very serious philosophical differences between teachers which account for a significant amount of the frustration and antipathy in the teaching profession. Many of us are proponents of direct instruction, and take pride in well-planned lessons, units and assessments. We don’t see our classrooms as caves, nor our schools as factories. We do provide some lectures, but we prefer class-based discussions and questioning techniques that engage as many students as possible. Frankly, we watch and read Ken Robinson, and wonder what he’s talking about, because his worldview doesn’t really resemble our reality. [For a “progressive”, he sure lectures a lot.] We think that “personalized learning” might seem like a noble, albeit curious blend of Rousseauian idealism and neo-liberal utility, but it is deeply unrealistic given our province’s level of funding. It might also be theoretically wrong-headed, as it leaves far too much control to young people who, given their lack of experience, are likely to pursue very narrow interests. This in turn contravenes the liberal arts ideal of a broad, exploratory education that many “traditionalists” believe should be at the core of public education.
If we are unhappy with our work, it’s usually because of “mundane” issues like class size, composition, resources, school discipline, pop culture’s rampant anti-intellectualism, and the MoE’s reductive obsession with completion rates. Nevertheless, “traditionalists” also worry that we will become targets of those who have an almost religious fervor for “progressive” educational policies and practices, a fervor that that contributes greatly to “dividing ourselves”. If we don’t agree with 21st century learning, it’s apparently not because we have deep-seated philosophical objections. We are “dinosaurs” who resist “change”, as if change is necessarily positive. [It isn’t.]
A final thought: progressives in the social media echo chamber ought to realize that a great number of teachers do not engage happily with social media, and often reject it because its underlying ethos seems so contrary to what many believe is the best approach to public education.
Thanks Colin – I think the profession is and should be a big tent . . . with a range of approaches. That said, we should look to research for guidance over what works and what doesn’t work in our classrooms. I think too often we (regardless of whether we classify ourselves as a traditionalist, progressive or something else) go to “gut feel” for all of our decisions. We can be better than that – and should be open to different and better ways. I think we also need to see our profession as continually evolving – we will teach different in five years than we do today – our world will be different, our kids will be different, and what we know about what works will be different.
I appreciate the thoughts – you pushed my thinking.
Hi Chris,
The first day of school is over and I thought I would take advantage of the time for a quick follow-up; I appreciate the effort you’ve spent in response to my original letter.
Of course, what some people call “gut feel” might also be called “decades of experience” by reflective practitioners. This experience often tells us that research in education needs to be treated with caution. Often what advocates say is “based on research” really isn’t. Today’s editorial in the Sun by Michael Zwaagstra, for example, does a nice job of refuting the “evidence” against zero grades.
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Opinion+Give+school+zeros+policies+zero/7183607/story.html
Moreover, much of the education research I see focuses on elementary students, and is then extrapolated to students of all ages. As a result, I see a lot of “evidence” that doesn’t generally reflect the tendencies and personalities of the adolescents I’ve worked with in the last 20 years.
Finally, there is a good deal of credible research that supports direct instruction and criticizes the various flavours of “21st century learning”. Here is a taste:
……….
Bowers, C.A. (2005) “Is Transformative Learning the Trojan Horse of Western Globalization?” Journal of Transformative Education 3 (2) 116-125. Online. Accessed July 25, 2011: (http://cabowers.net/pdf/Transformative%20theorist-Commons.pdf)
Kirschner, P. A., J. Sweller, and R.E. Clark (2006) “Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: an analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching”. Educational Psychologist 41 (2) 75-86. Online. Accessed July 3, 2011: (http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/kirschner_Sweller_Clark.pdf)
O’Neill GP: Teaching effectiveness: A review of the research. Canadian Journal of Education 1988, 13(1):162-185.
Simon, B. (1999). Why no pedagogy in England? In J. Leach and B. Moon (Eds.), Learners and Pedagogy. London: Sage Publications.
http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/387/OpenModules/Engelmann/evidence.shtml
…………
In any case, I’m looking forward to a new year and a new year of possibilities. I’ll certainly keep coming back to your blog! Cheers.