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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Education Issues Effect Educators Of Young Children As Well
Cat Herder 08:59 AM 10-01-2012
I stumbled on this article a bit ago. I found it to be a familiar theme. I reminds me of how I struggled with the changes being forced upon myself in my own childcare business over the years.
I'd be curious to know your thoughts on it.
The Exhaustion of the American Teacher
September 12, 2012 By John Kuhn
http://theeducatorsroom.com/2012/09/...rican-teacher/
This is an excerpt: (Moderators: feel free to remove if without hurting my feelings it is not allowed. I don't know all the laws pertaining to this, I just think it is interesting and worth sharing.)
“Waiting for ‘Superman’” told teachers they were terrible, callous, and incompetent, that only magnanimous charter school operatives could save victimized children from their rapacious clutches.
NCLB told teachers they would only be considered successful if 100% of their students passed 100% of their tests.
Condoleezza Rice told teachers they were so ineffective that they were a national security threat.
Chris Christie told teachers that when two or more of them gather, they are thugs. Suddenly, the apple-themed knit sweater is a symbol of American menace rivaling the leather biker jacket.
“Won’t Back Down” actors Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhall, Ving Rhames, and Holly Hunter used their art to communicate that teachers only want union protections so they can lock poor children in closets, and that the only way to protect children from the plague of heartless unionized miscreants mal-educating them across this land is by letting their parents hand over local schools to wholly benevolent charter school operators led by the friendly Mother Teresas behind Parent Revolution.
Teachers learned from Bobby Jindal that public schools are so lousy that Louisiana is better off paying for its children to attend private schools that no state official has ever visited, that teach any curriculum whatsoever, and that are exempt from any accountability mechanisms at all because, you know, the free market will ensure their quality. (Though choice will allow children to vote with their feet by leaving public schools too, you can bet that arcane accountability measures will remain firmly in place for them.)
StudentsFirst told America to distrust its teachers.
Eric Hanushek told America that larger class sizes will improve education and, gee-whiz, they’re cheaper too, so why wouldn’t we grow them? Bill Gates seconded the motion.
Barack Obama told teachers he hated teaching to the test, and then he built Race to the Top of Test Mountain.
Please read the rest of the article. It is very informative and will be worth it, promise.
I'd be curious to know your thoughts on it.
The Exhaustion of the American Teacher
September 12, 2012 By John Kuhn
http://theeducatorsroom.com/2012/09/...rican-teacher/
This is an excerpt: (Moderators: feel free to remove if without hurting my feelings it is not allowed. I don't know all the laws pertaining to this, I just think it is interesting and worth sharing.)
“Waiting for ‘Superman’” told teachers they were terrible, callous, and incompetent, that only magnanimous charter school operatives could save victimized children from their rapacious clutches.
NCLB told teachers they would only be considered successful if 100% of their students passed 100% of their tests.
Condoleezza Rice told teachers they were so ineffective that they were a national security threat.
Chris Christie told teachers that when two or more of them gather, they are thugs. Suddenly, the apple-themed knit sweater is a symbol of American menace rivaling the leather biker jacket.
“Won’t Back Down” actors Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhall, Ving Rhames, and Holly Hunter used their art to communicate that teachers only want union protections so they can lock poor children in closets, and that the only way to protect children from the plague of heartless unionized miscreants mal-educating them across this land is by letting their parents hand over local schools to wholly benevolent charter school operators led by the friendly Mother Teresas behind Parent Revolution.
Teachers learned from Bobby Jindal that public schools are so lousy that Louisiana is better off paying for its children to attend private schools that no state official has ever visited, that teach any curriculum whatsoever, and that are exempt from any accountability mechanisms at all because, you know, the free market will ensure their quality. (Though choice will allow children to vote with their feet by leaving public schools too, you can bet that arcane accountability measures will remain firmly in place for them.)
StudentsFirst told America to distrust its teachers.
Eric Hanushek told America that larger class sizes will improve education and, gee-whiz, they’re cheaper too, so why wouldn’t we grow them? Bill Gates seconded the motion.
Barack Obama told teachers he hated teaching to the test, and then he built Race to the Top of Test Mountain.
Please read the rest of the article. It is very informative and will be worth it, promise.
Heidi 11:32 AM 10-01-2012
Hey thanks for sharing that! I needed to post an article for one of my classes, and since you so kindly provided this one, I am sharing it there.
A lot of what the author is saying is spot on!
A lot of what the author is saying is spot on!
Cat Herder 11:47 AM 10-01-2012
Originally Posted by Heidi:
Hey thanks for sharing that! I needed to post an article for one of my classes, and since you so kindly provided this one, I am sharing it there.
A lot of what the author is saying is spot on!
I am glad you enjoyed it too! Hey thanks for sharing that! I needed to post an article for one of my classes, and since you so kindly provided this one, I am sharing it there.
A lot of what the author is saying is spot on!
I know the author is a little heated, but the topic is one that is spoken of here almost daily as well.
It was humbling, to me, to see the correlation of what they deal with as it applies to my every day as well.
Heidi 11:48 AM 10-01-2012
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
I am glad you enjoyed it too!
I know the author is a little heated, but the topic is one that is spoken of here almost daily as well.
It was humbling, to me, to see the correlation of what they deal with as it applies to my every day as well.
no kidding!I am glad you enjoyed it too!
I know the author is a little heated, but the topic is one that is spoken of here almost daily as well.
It was humbling, to me, to see the correlation of what they deal with as it applies to my every day as well.
Sunchimes 12:51 PM 10-01-2012
It isn't a new thing, I think it's just heard about more because of the internet. I left teaching over 20 years ago-a job I started planning for when I was 7 years old. No ballerina, or vet, or nurse for me. I never had a goal beyond teaching. And all of the things mentioned here finally drove me out.
When I lost my business 2 years ago, the one thing I never considered doing was going back to teaching. Which may be why day care is such a perfect fit for me. I just wish I knew more about teaching toddlers instead of bumbling through. Thanks to the internet and you guys, I seem to be doing ok with it though.
When I lost my business 2 years ago, the one thing I never considered doing was going back to teaching. Which may be why day care is such a perfect fit for me. I just wish I knew more about teaching toddlers instead of bumbling through. Thanks to the internet and you guys, I seem to be doing ok with it though.
Blackcat31 01:05 PM 10-01-2012
I liked the article but on the same note, I have some mixed feelings about the whole teaching in the school system as well as the concept/idea of grading teachers based on their students test scores.
I have several teachers as DCM's and a few of them have actually said to me that now that they are tenured, they can relax and not work so hard anymore.
THAT attitude makes me feel sad but at the same time I completely understand how many teachers can work and work and work with kids but still can only do so much thanks to the changes in parental roles and societal norms as far the whole public education thing goes.
Right now, I prefer to be in a bit of denial about the fact that what is happening in the Early Childhood Field is exactly what went wrong in the world of public schools and public education....too many government rules and policies and not nearly enough personal responsibility for ALL involved.
I have several teachers as DCM's and a few of them have actually said to me that now that they are tenured, they can relax and not work so hard anymore.
THAT attitude makes me feel sad but at the same time I completely understand how many teachers can work and work and work with kids but still can only do so much thanks to the changes in parental roles and societal norms as far the whole public education thing goes. Right now, I prefer to be in a bit of denial about the fact that what is happening in the Early Childhood Field is exactly what went wrong in the world of public schools and public education....too many government rules and policies and not nearly enough personal responsibility for ALL involved.