- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Being good at something often times means not following the rules. You have to think outside of the box, find loop holes or often time bend regulation to fit your needs.
Being a good teacher is no different.
On my first day of teaching, I already knew the odds were stacked against before my students even came through the classroom door. I was teaching in a low-income school on the border of Mexico. 100% of my students received free lunch. Most of them didn’t have running water and if it rained hard, they couldn’t even make it to school because there were no paved roads from their shanty style houses.
But there was one battle of which I was unaware. Teachers versus administration. In this matter, I was completely naive.
I assumed that my adminstration had the same goals as I – to provide the best education possible to students. I quickly realized this was not so. Students equal funding. The poorer the better. Test scores were gold and the only mark of achievement.
Soon I found that a black market education was the only way my students were going to get what they deserved.
Within a few short weeks, I was handing in one set of lesson plans to my administrator, while stashing the true lesson plan in a giant binder in my classroom. I formed strategic alliances with the libraries and computer lab supervisors, so that instead of my students doing remedial work on lessons they already didn’t understand in math and science, they learned to research and think critically.
Teaching novels was a waste of time. Students didn’t need to enjoy reading – they just needed to know the strategies that would (hopefully) lead them to the correct answer on the state tests. So I snuck novels in during long testing days, having them write short summaries as they waited for their classmates to finish.
A quality education shouldn’t have to be hidden. Teachers should not have to resort to sneaking around administration to teach the classics, or create a project that is original and uses technology their students enjoy.
Teachers are fighting their own underground war, trading in forbidden knowledge. It’s beautiful and yet, tragic.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Looking Beyond the Digital Divide (radar.oreilly.com)
- What Do Students Know? (coolcatteacher.blogspot.com)
- Programs Train Teachers Using Medical School Model (computinged.wordpress.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ebdd76af-145c-4bad-a5d5-8758a8fd6f8e)
Katie, your actions were absolutely commendable. We desperately need more teachers like you. Those willing to fight (and subvert) the system. I taught high school for a year and couldn’t handle the administrative bureaucracy and left. My wife had the opportunity to teach elementary for several years as well and was great at it, but she ran into the same problem (at least she would still be teaching if she weren’t helping raise our kids).
So to all of those great teachers out there. Keep fighting. And then let’s find a way to change the system.
I wrote an article related to my own efforts to spark up a renaissance and included you and another Arkayne blogger as the inspiration for the story.
http://anti-vigilante.blogspot.com/2010/05/monday-edition-black-market-teaching-in.html
This is the template article that I wrote to introduce the topic:
http://anti-vigilante.blogspot.com/2010/05/centrifuge-power-propaganda-and.html
Your story fit perfectly into that template.
I’m curious if you have a moment so I could get more details on your adventure in taking charge.
Thanks for your leadership.
Hi Katie,
Wow, thanks for sharing. I just read that public school teachers are more likely to homeschool their children than any other profession… because of consistent situations like the one your mention here!
Have your read John Taylor Gatto or Rafe Esqueth? They have some great insights into public school (JTG: why not to send your kids and RE: What teachers/parents can do to make it more effective)
I have so much to say on this topic… mostly that our schools are not teaching critical thinking/learning or a love for knowledge and learning – and how can they really? Children aren’t getting enough free time, they are too scheduled and parents aren’t involved enough in communities and in the home to teach fundamentals.
Loving your blog! Congrats on the new job!