They arrived in pairs. Teachers. Teachers of five-year-olds, nine-year-olds, twelve-year-olds, seventeen-years-olds. Teachers of the handicapped and the gifted. Teachers from public and private schools whose combined experience was well over a thousand years. Teachers of the Year. Christa McAuliffe Fellows. Presidential Math and Science Awardees. Hard workers. Professionals. Dedicated.
But they didn't come to be honored this time. They came to be heard. These teachers came at the invitation of Secretary of Education Richard Riley who asked them to let their voices be heard, voices which would meld into a synergistic symphony. This document is their song.
Their prompt? The National Education Goals. These goals were formulated in 1989 by the nation's governors under then-President Bush when it became apparent that the United States might lose its foothold in the global community. Our nation's schools could no longer compete with the educational systems of other nations. Higher expectations for students in terms of content and assessments were needed if the United States were to reclaim its tradition of excellence. The goals were written to help reform an educational system developed in the late 1800s around the only working model available--an industrial one.
The goals are visionary--the work to implement them, difficult. It is for this reason that Richard Riley invited teachers to let their concerns, hopes, frustrations, ideas, and dreams be known to federal officials. The people that will ultimately make the changes necessary, that will lead the way to establishing an educational system unrivaled in the world are the nation's teachers. Teachers will turn these ambitious goals into classroom realities.
The Goals 2000 Teacher Forum, held in November 1993, was a start in giving teachers a voice in educational leadership and the impetus to become change-agents for this country. The Forum teachers started by facing challenging questions. How can all American children achieve success in the classroom? What kind of systemic changes are needed so that all students are challenged by and meet higher expectations? What must policy makers and society as a whole pledge so that this educational system is competitive in today's global society?
Then they set about the task of answering those questions. What they found was that although their experiences were as varied as material on a patchwork quilt, their ideals and frustrations were as consistent as the pattern. Together they found and formed a voice.
To increase America's competitive position in the world, to return our nation's schools to their rightful place of prominence among all countries, and to revitalize American schools, society must make a commitment to children as our number one priority.
The Forum teachers had much to say about how we, as a nation, need to rethink our educational system. With passion and a sense of urgency, the Forum teachers made the following recommendations:
If they said it once, they said it a thousand times in many different ways. "We need help." Not just from the top down, but from the circle around. From policy makers, parents, politicians, business people, community leaders, colleagues and the students themselves. "It is time," one teacher wrote, "we acknowledge that this job of educating our nation's children is the most important job a person can be given." Said another, "We can't do it alone. Parents, students, districts, state departments and the nation's government must work together to preserve our most precious national resource--our children."
Their plea was universal. Honor what we know. Listen to what we say.
They believe a mind-set exists that suggests that a teacher's input is only valuable when it has to do with what goes on in his or her particular class. "As a teacher of the year, I was honored and given plaques and parties. But when my year was up, that was it. Why wasn't I asked for my perspectives, advice, recommendations?" one former teacher of the year questioned. She likened it to a doctor trying to help a patient and never asking him where it hurts.
Even when teachers are asked to participate in policy decisions, they often feel relegated to the back row early in the process. "They appoint a teacher to a committee, then set a meeting for 11:00 a.m., meaning your kids have to be split up among classes, so you say 'no thanks'," said one frustrated teacher.
Another told this story. "I was invited to talk with legislators about state funding. I was excited that I was being asked for my opinion on something that would affect me and my students personally. Then I was told I had to be at the state capitol at 9:00 the next morning. It was either leave my house at 4:00 a.m. and drive several hours, or pay my own airline and taxi fees."
Stung by "silver bullet" reforms that come and go without adequate support, even reform-minded teachers retreat behind classroom doors "to protect their integrity," as one teacher put it.
It is obvious that teachers want to be valued for what they know. But unfortunately, three-fourths of these teachers have not had direct contact with education policy makers in their states. One-fourth know nothing or very little about the National Education Goals and the efforts to establish national content standards. Less than four percent know a great deal about either the goals or standard-setting. They are equally uninvolved in the activities of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, even though the Forum participants would be the most likely to be among the first to apply for Board Certification.
"It is not for lack of desire that I don't know these things," wrote a junior high teacher. "There are just not enough hours in a day. I face 150 students from 8:00 til 3:00. I go home with two to three hours of work a night."
An elementary teacher added, "I want systemic change in the way the day is structured. It is the only way I can be involved in the bigger picture."
Forum teachers strongly concur. In fact, their need for time to become more competent professionals and to become active in school reform was one of the strongest Forum affirmations.
Frustrated but determined, the Forum teachers are ready to act on their expertise and skill. However, they feel almost as ineffective at state and national levels as they assume their fellow teachers to be. "A real teacher-of-the-year honor," said another, "is not the plaque and the publicity. It's knowing that my expertise will be used to improve education. Now THAT tells me I am valuable." Another adds, "Use us as resources and sounding boards.
We have a perspective you can't get from anyone else."
We must rethink the factory paradigm around which the school system was developed. Said one middle school teacher, "Give us fewer students so we can have real relationships with them rather than moving them in and out like products on a factory line. To know our students' abilities and skills, to encourage and guide them to success, to keep expectations and standards high, a teacher must develop a strong relationship with his or her students. Processing them this way is contradictory to solid teaching and learning. We're using a 19th century model in the 21st century. And it doesn't work."
Another issue raised was the way teachers and schools are portrayed in society. "Why is it all we ever see on television is the failures of our schools?" one teacher asked. "There's a lot of good happening in many of our nation's schools."
"What happened to the idea that education was valued and teachers were honored?" another wondered.
"Kids don't want to be teachers anymore," said a math instructor, "because they know how little teachers are valued. It's not just a salary problem. They want jobs that will make people look up to them."
Yet, it is these teachers who say that they are responsible for modeling hard work, critical thinking, high standards, and responsible behavior. "But we can't be doing that in a vacuum," said one. "Society must place new emphasis on education and the value of teachers."
How? Teachers sounded off on this issue. "Give teachers a rightful place on all policy making, fund-appropriating committees." "Support reform efforts which lead to major systemic changes." "Start advertising campaigns that point out what we are doing right for a change."
"Put your money where your mouth is" echoed throughout the Forum hearings. A rhetorical question emerged. "Does an accountant have to have a bake sale if a piece of office equipment is needed?"
The participants agree. Funds need to be allocated for smaller classes, advanced technologies, and teacher preparation. Funding also needs to be equalized. Some teachers were in awe of the resources and advantages other teachers had. Beyond that, the Forum teachers want stable funding, recognizing that excellence requires consistent public support. If this nation actually makes children its first priority, "all the resource questions will fall into place," one teacher predicted.
"If society truly values children, then society must walk the talk," said a teacher from New York. Communities across the nation should be actively involved in the support of their public schools, and that means urging politicians to consider children the number one priority of this nation. As a first grade teacher with twenty- five years of experience, said, "It's so simple, we miss it. Children ARE our future. Everything we do to help them to achieve is an investment in this nation's security."
One Forum participant said "We must change the whole mind-set of what teaching entails. Americans tend to believe that the only legitimate use of a teacher's time is working directly with students. Schools here are always being compared to those in Japan with little mention of the time Japanese teachers have outside of direct teaching. They teach on the average of three classes a day, using the rest of the time to plan, confer with colleagues, work with individual students, and keep up professionally."
Gary Watts, Assistant Executive Director of the National Education Association, told the Forum teachers that "in China they are incredulous that we teach over three hours a day. One-half of their day is professional time." Bella Rosenburg, assistant to the president of the American Federation of Teachers, affirmed this saying, "We have to rethink how we do business."
Rethinking business as it relates to time is exactly what the Forum teachers desire. The issue is quality. Teachers need time to plan effective lessons that actively engage students. They need time to assess students in meaningful ways. Time to talk with and listen to students, many of whom have no support system outside the school. Time to confer with parents. Time to read professional journals. Time to watch other teachers demonstrate teaching strategies. Time to take in-depth classes. Time to engage in professional dialogue. Time to formulate their own questions and collect on-the-job data. Time for reflection--to analyze what worked or didn't work and why. Time for problem solving. Time for community forums. Time to work on programs which will guarantee success for children.
Time to be professional educators.
"People think our days end at three. Not mine", says a first grade teacher. "I am at school until 5, just correcting papers and organizing the class for the next day. Then I go home, work on the next day's plans and make materials, plus try to build in my family time. I keep going because I love this profession, but I am getting closer and closer to finding something else. I can't keep this up."
Keeping up with current research is another challenge. The Forum teachers are well aware that research findings are challenging traditional ideas about teaching and learning. But educational research is only useful to classroom teachers when they are able to take the time to translate it into useful practice.
The Forum teachers yearn for experiences that build collaboration. They frequently mentioned the need for networks, in their own environments and across the country, with like-minded colleagues. But professional dialogue with like-minded colleagues is often out of the question. Classroom doors are closed, and although three-fourths of the teachers have computers at home, only one-third of them use them to communicate electronically with other teachers.
"Single programs, more money, vouchers, new standards won't improve education by themselves," said Gary Watts. "We have to put an end to 12 years of silver-bullet thinking." And as Bella Rosenburg said, "We've got to turn around the notion that we have to do everything without being given the time to do it."
Nor should the commitment to teacher development end with preservice training. It should be sustained throughout a teacher's entire career. The Forum teachers were in agreement about the inadequacy of what most schools call "professional development." They recognize that the nature of teaching is changing. Teachers are beginning to see themselves as mentors and facilitators, rather than disseminators of facts. And as one teacher observed, "Teaching as a mentor is definitely more difficult and requires vast staff development." Staff development of a dramatically different kind.
One teacher compared teaching professionals to those in medicine. "Can you imagine asking doctors and nurses and technicians to acquire new skills in one-shot workshops? Teachers? We get to attend workshops after school. If we do take days off to attend workshops, we still have the teaching to do. Classes have to be planned, and then you come back to a mess. Our days ought to include our own continued learning." As another teacher stated, "Professional development is a process, not an event."
Societal changes have dramatically reshaped the role of schools and teachers. The result is a need for changing educational practices which require consistently strong leadership and a commitment from all segments of society--a commitment from the media, politicians, community groups, school boards, and administrators to inform people of the need for education reform. Teachers want the nation to know that school improvement is not just for the places that make the evening news. School reform is needed everywhere, so that all students can achieve at the same levels of our international neighbors.
"We have to think bigger than our classrooms," remarked one teacher. "We have to join with administrators, community leaders, and education professors and team-teach our nation."
***last updated 5/18/94 (pkickbush)***
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