I had to blog about Confessions of a ‘Bad’ Teacher from this past Sunday’s New York Times… everyone needs to read this article so we can stop and think about how our federal and state policies are affecting teachers and kids in our classrooms.
I will be joining BAA teachers and many others in Washington, DC at Occupy the DOE (Department of Education) at the end of March for a teach-in to underscore how limiting and short-sighted so many of our current policies are. They are based on an “I gotcha” mentality- on how we can “improve” education by punishing teachers and kids.
I know it’s complicated to create a system of accountability that actually trusts teachers, but we must try. As Johnson points out in this NYT article, the messages we are sending teachers are confusing and contradictory, and the ways we are assessing kids and teachers are ludicrous.
We cannot hope to have engaged students and young people who want to participate in our fragile democracy with such backwards policies. We must be the change we want to see. Let’s organize and go to DC!
I just sent the same article to all of my teacher friends, one of the best articles I have ever read about the realities of teaching in public school systems.
Thanks, Carolyn- I agree!
It’s really good to see teachers being active and advocating for students and good education, instead of being silent out of fear of losing their jobs. Here are some of my ideas for school reform which I think are in alignment with Occupy goals: http://daisybrain.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/a-teachers-perspective-on-school-reform/
Thanks for sharing! Will you be at Occupy the DOE in DC March 31? I’ll be doing a teach-in!