Teachers, We Need To Talk...
Education has stopped being about the students
If this insults you
and you think we should apologize for our rudeness
Then we are glad we have grasped your attention
because there are some things we’d like to mention
A few issues and areas we have found lacking
and we know we are not alone with the opinion
that the system is slacking
Your efforts we are not downplaying
There are just some things that need saying
Competition has spiraled out of control
emphasis on outdoing others has taken a toll
on the meaning of school
a place we thought was meant for teaching and learning
is now an institution under tyrannical rule
of evaluations and reputations
and tests, standardized and otherwise
Sadly, we have seen too many simply conforming
to this new rule
all the while losing everything wonderful about school
So we say to you,
Teachers, we need to talk
We’re not proposing we break up
and we know there are some changes
students should seriously consider
and follow up that consideration
with sincere implementation
but all relationships are give and take
Teachers possess many gifts
We believe those gifts can be used to
make education about the students
even as new pressures, requirements, and restrictions
steer the focus toward ratings and rankings
Bestow upon us your passion
for teaching, for learning, for helping,
for new ideas, for your specialty
a specialty you eat, sleep, breathe, live
yet somehow it seems you have
no inspiration, motivation, advice to give
gift us with an educational experience
that will spark our intellect and create
a perpetual flame hungry for
knowledge and understanding
present to us a view of the world
not weighed down and clouded by
bias and bitterness
but a view of possibilities
a view that does not put
limitations inside of restrictions nailed to
constraints around our minds
avidly attempting to convince us
that it is all for the best
a view that still allows our
minds to
wander
forget what we think we know
toss out logic
see beauty
expand
Now we are not requesting
rose-tinted glasses
we have a hope that
cultivating gloom and doom
will not longer pervade classrooms
Students are our future everything
We have the opportunity to
cultivate our future
not control it, but at least
guide it
without proper attention and investment
we are either
possessing an attitude of negligence
or
trying to obtain a hold so tight
that all of those efforts
will cause our allegedly good intentions
to slowly crumble to nothing