A Sense of Urgency is MIA
I went to a meeting this week about the future of a project that is about 8 years old. The project, working with teachers to organize staff and improve schools by introducing key readings, new protocols and practices, and networking with one another, is at the beginning stage of planning this year’s program. At the meeting were union people, policy people, some private sector folks and an assortment of others interested in bettering public education.
I’ve been thinking this over for some days now because I left somewhat dissatisfied. And here’s the crux of it for me. I’ve always liked the phrase, “Think globally, act locally.”. Here we were thinking of doing a program around the theme of learning communities when I said, “How the hell are we going to build learning communities if we lose 50% of new teachers in the first 5 years? And have you seen the figures on what losing teachers costs the districts in recruiting and other services to replace those departing teachers?”
We know that attrition can be reduced greatly with support. So, in every school there is a program to help new teachers acclimate, find resources, help with routines and listen—right? And the answer from my colleagues was a resounding “No! Such programs are the exception, not the rule.” It’s incomprehensible to me why this is the case. It borders on malfeasance or malpractice. If we did help new teachers and cut the rate of leaving teachers locally, wouldn’t we save money (to allocate to learning), cut the national rate of teachers giving up, and enable (at least possibly) the development of learning communities?
The answer to me is clear. And there are other answers that would accrue to the profession, learning experiences, finances, and morale if we began to think more forthrightly about schools and the context we’re in nationally and internationally.
I discovered in the process of thinking about this, however, a much more troubling attitude. And I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow.
Special thanks to Bill and our conversation this morning for getting me going again.
In the meantime, let me know what you think. Why do we educators act so passively about problems we know how to solve?
Nameste.
I had to laugh to myself after reading your post. When I was a new teacher in California, I had to go through something called BTSA. It stands for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment. It supposed to help new teacher get plugged into the school and learn from a veteran support teacher. In reality it is a big box of paperwork that makes struggling new teachers spend their time filling out forms and going to meetings.
It’s sort of like handing a person who is learning to swim a 25lb weight. Far from making me feel plugged in, it made me want to quit teaching. Sadly, the process got even more complicated and difficult in the years after I finished it.
Glad you got a chuckle—so much for support.
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