The Role of Teachers | Suite101.com

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Top 2. Oct 21, 2001 9:45 AM

» Axiomlogic - Re: Redefining Education (Rebuttal)

You probably consider yourself very involved in your child’s life. In fact, I am certain you do. I have met your type many times. Let us be frank. If you were surprised with your son’s progress report, then you were not involved enough. A six-week progress report should only affirm what you already know.

I am a teacher and a parent. As a parent, I know what my son and daughter are doing. It is now less than forty-five days into the semester, and my wife and I have had two parent conferences with my son’s teacher because we were concerned about issues regarding homework. We knew we needed a conference because we are very involved in the lives of our children. We know what they are studying and how to enrich it. We share knowledge with them, and our children share what they have learned with us. We spend no less than two solid, uninterrupted hours every school night reviewing homework and enrichment activities. Involvement means entangling your life with your children. If we want them to read, we do not simply direct them to a room with a book. Rather, we all read for the same amount of time in our living room. Too many parents want teachers to act as surrogate parents. You are apparently one of them, asking teachers to protect your son from the consequences of his own actions.

As a teacher, I resent the implication of incompetence. Of course, I believe that incompetent and uncaring teachers are secured in the profession. I also believe, however, that there are incompetent doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. Perhaps, those who teach your son are truly incompetent or uncaring. Nonetheless, I am disinclined to believe your case based on what you have written.

Consider the following for a moment. Suppose you inform your lawyer that you no longer have the resources to pay for his services; however, if he does not complete the project for which he has been procured free of charge, you will consider him an uncaring cad and will strive to ruin his professional reputation. Now just put yourself in the position of that lawyer. Except, instead of just one client, you have two, three or maybe ten making the same demand, hoping that you will work without pay. You have a client base of 180 persons. So what do you say? If you are honest, then you will know what a teacher sometimes think when more is ask of him.

Teachers are paid professionals. When we are absent, our paychecks are docked. When we do not work (i.e., holidays and summer), we are not paid. Our hourly-based paycheck feels like a salary only because the hours worked are averaged into a monthly check in order to make financial management easier. We are just like the lawyer or accountant or even a house painter or plumber. We can have passion and pride in our work, but that does not mean we like to work for nothing.

Yet, the public in general believes that we are missionaries. We are not. In my district, I am paid for seven hours and fifteen minutes of work per day by an hourly rate. As with other hourly wage earners, whatever is unfinished at the end of the day can wait for tomorrow, unless overtime is offered. For the teacher this practice would include planning lessons, grading papers, calling parents, etc. Nonetheless, every teacher I know spends more time working in order to enhance the educational experience of his or her students. I do it all the time.

Let us turn the table around. Be honest. How many of you will work for your employer without pay on a regular basis for the sake of improving the quality or quantity of work? Teachers work for unpaid overtime quite often. How many of you will spend your own money to relieve the expenses of your employer? Teachers often spend their own money for the benefit of the children. I have already spent over $300 in everything from notebooks to printer cartridges. I usually average about $1500 per year. I know teachers who average $3000 in expenses annually. Instead of spending the money, we could simply pull back the pace or quality of instruction, using the resources that the district can afford to provide.

Every time a parent makes a personal request from a teacher, the teacher will have to pay for it in the form of time. It takes time to re-administer or to reconstitute an exam, for instance; it takes time to tutor a student after school. It takes times to call every parent that wants to be informed about his or her child in some manner. I have 180 students. I spent three hours last Wednesday just to call 14 parents. Who paid for the extended daycare of my own children while I was making those calls? I did.

Does it sound as if I am being fed up? Well the truth is that I am. I spend an hour after school helping students with their homework four days a week. In another words, I spend an hour of my time being a surrogate parent to my students. No one pays me to do it. I do it because I care. I call parents and send letters home because I care. I spend my own money because I care. However, I am tired of being perceived as uncaring and incompetent. Fewer parents say thank you nowadays. Most parents just want more.

Perhaps I will not be so accommodating in the future. Perhaps, I will think of the joy of my work less and the joy of being with my own family more. After all, my sacrifices are not my own; rather they are sacrifices borne by my own children. In light of this, the next time a parent ask me for a special consideration that will cost me some time, perhaps I will deny the request. And if the parent accuses me of being harsh, I will simply remind them that the standards have been met by many in my classroom. And if the parent accuses me of not caring for their child in particular, perhaps I will simply shrug my shoulders and go home to spend time with my own children.

-- posted by Axiomlogic

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