"Teachers must be better compensated, freed from bureaucratic harassment, given a role in academic governance, and provided with the best possible methods and materials. But not of that will transform education if we fail to cherish - and challenge - the human heart that is the source of good teaching (Palmer, 2007, p.4)."
Feeling valued by the world in which we live certainly impacts our ability and even our desire to be people of our heart. There is something terribly wrong in our society and in the way we value who people are and what they do. When someone can make tens of millions of dollars for running an oddly shaped ball down a field across a big white line and teachers have to fight for a decent wage, there is something wrong! (I realize that my own Congregation's most visible ministry, the University of Notre Dame, only adds to this issue by celebrating and merchandising itself around sports) It's easy to say that money doesn't really express our admiration for something or someone, but that argument falls a bit flat in this type of free market economy. We're more fascinated with shallow, amoral celebrities than we are with fourth grade teachers who are changing lives! I was in the grocery store yesterday and I just didn't see any magazines at the check out line dedicated to celebrity teachers! I read an article earlier this year that gave data that supported the claim that we spend less per capita on education than several third world countries. We need to put our money where our mouth is as a nation.
Perhaps what Palmer is highlighting here is some advantage we've had in Catholic education. We too, the Church, needs to put our money where our mouth is relative to paying teachers, but yet a reality flies in contradiction to what I suggest above (and even to what Palmer suggests about resources). We've seemed over the many years to gain less for our buck in Catholic education. Our students do better long term; they more often than not test higher than their public school classmates. Our drop out rates are lower and God knows the per capita expense of our educational system is far less than the publics.
It's about heart. Catholic schools have always been about more than the books and the test scores. Teachers have historically chosen to be in a Catholic school (certainly knowing they will be paid less) for matters of the heart, not matters of money, prestige or high tech, modern classrooms. Somehow we've been able to convey admiration to our teachers and, I believe, more often than not to achieve what Palmer envisions. For us, when we speak of the heart, we speak of life as transcendent; of seeking something that in the end will never appear on a test score or a report card. Palmer is talking about the very mission of Catholic education.
I appreciate your perspective and Palmer's as well. I'm glad he was able to put NCLB in its proper perspective and you spoke of the irrationality of it in your final paragraph. Teachers routinely get hammered in the press by politicians and editors with no mention of the circumstances which bring today's students to our charge. No miracles proceed from any number of standardized tests given to 'test takers.' On the other hand, little miracles occur every day when we engage people.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, your photo selection sparked a memory for me. It made me think about my own K-8 experience at Stuart Hall for Boys, a Sacred Heart school. The kids are in uniform, sitting, and laughing. That was a common experience at Stuart Hall.
ReplyDeleteIf it is about heart, my parents would certainly testify that Stuart Hall shaped my heart. They are so grateful to the school for how it formed me.
It's so common to say nowadays that one can stand on one's own ~ it doesn't matter what others say or if those folks recognize another's value. Well . . . . as Walter says, recognition is vital to our functioning. We need validation.
ReplyDeleteAs Walter also points out, the media is often askew in this. The negativity of the reporting, and the misplaced emphasis on celebrity (will someone please explain to me the fixation on Kate plus 8! Please! Help! What have we done to deserve this?) obscure the people who are truly accomplishing excellent feats, such as teachers.
Thanks for invoking not only reflection in me Walter, but also reflection and perspective on vocation, athletics, and teaching intertwined and in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI'm an avid sports fan and a teacher so it's interesting to think of our relative pay scale versus not only the athletes making tens of millions of dollars while teachers eek out a living doing God's work, but also those in the corporate world who are handed multi-million dollar bonuses in rough times in jobs they got from "knowing someone."
It's hard to have society "put their money where their mouths are" when those with the power to control those decisions don't necessarily want the disenfranchised to be fully educated, vote, and be a member of the discussion and decision-making table
It makes me so angry when I hear reports about teachers and/or schools not doing this and that, when I think it's pretty clear that the demands placed on us seem to be ever-growing. Not only do we have to teach kids skills, but we also have to teach them about self-value, what it means to be Christian, and, often times, battle the disorder in their lives. I mean, let's be honest, many Catholic families heavily rely on schools to shape and form the spirituality of their children. It's difficult, and schools have got to find better, more effective ways of partnering with parents in the education of their children.
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