In my last post, there was a big conversation in other areas about this idea of “bad teachers” and whether I should have paid more attention to discussing “bad teachers.” Cameron Diaz notwithstanding, the term “bad teacher” is a super-sensitive topic, one I don’t wish to treat with kid gloves, but a fine-toothed comb, because it merits serious discussion, especially through a racial and class lens.
But let’s this out of the way: there are bad teachers.
There’s not any one definition of “bad teacher,” but bad teachers persist for a plethora of reasons, many of which can be found in unionized and non-unionized districts. Having a union probably makes this a harder conversation to have due to collective bargaining agreements and the like, but that’s not a bad thing either: good teachers need this imperfect protection more so. I just think when we have this discussion, it’s always in the context of urban epicenters and not through the lens of school itself, regardless of where your school is.
Everyone has the conversation in school, too. Who are the best teachers? Who are the worst? Why? In a staff of 40 teachers, people generally agree on one or two colleagues who could and should transition to other means of employ. It’s no diss, but they’ve either never been good to start, or lost the passion to do so wholeheartedly along the way. You may catch them sleeping in the teacher’s lounge not grading anything, or squawking at another kids to sit down for the life of them. They might be cursing at the kids, telling them to shut up and not to move a muscle, or cutting down colleagues for no other reason than giggles.
Teachers who deserve to get fired right on the spot.
But then there’s another level that merits discussion. There are the teachers who consistently tell kids that they’ll work at McDonald’s if they fail their classes, as if serving someone’s albeit plastic food is some sort of dishonor in a tough economy. There are the teachers who see a kid sweeping floors and determine that it’s because they’re destined to be janitors, never worrying how their schools stay clean. There are the teachers who consistently give their student low grades on an English paper because there’s no way the child knows how to speak that well given their upbringing and skin color. There are the teachers who advise their students not to go to the same college they attended, even when they had a perfect GPA and scholarship offers from the school, because these teachers don’t want their own institution to change from the way they remember it.
This happens far more than you know.
There’s a host of unreasonable behaviors, some of which don’t get addressed on any teacher framework that’s currently used to evaluate teachers. There are perfectly rated teachers who are perfectly racist teachers. They have great test scores, great pedagogy, great classroom management, and great animus towards the students in front of them. Are they bad then? This also makes me add multiple caveats to the diversification of the teaching profession too. This piece is a double-edged sword because people of color might want more teachers of color in classrooms, but what happens to teachers of color who teach in predominantly white institutions? We don’t have to go far back in history to see that, once administrators saw diversity in schools, they started to fire teachers of color in droves in retaliation against integration mandates.
Never mind that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep teachers in classrooms where the schools don’t function well. Who’s gonna fill those spots? Oh. Right.
Which leads me back to this idea of environment because, no matter how we slice the bad teacher, the environment in which they work mostly allows for it, either through lack of support for the teacher or helping the teacher transition towards another profession, either through self-realization / identification or administrators pinpointing. Then again, each school has to define what teacher qualities make a difference for their students, which would make the idea of “good” vs. “bad” relative from school to school.
For the rest of us who range anywhere from fantastic to working towards competent, we have to ask ourselves to reflect harder on whether our students see us as good or bad. Even those of us who think we’re absolved may not be.
I’ve said Donald Sterling was the best thing for professional sports, because now wherever you see a perpetually bad sports franchise, a franchise that makes yearly dumb decisions and fails to field a competitive team, lift up that rock and you’ll find a Donald Sterling running/owning it.
Schools are the same.
Show me bad teachers and I’ll show you a poorly led school. Show me an environment that chases away quality teachers but allows bad ones to fester and metastasize then I’ll find poor leadership at that school. That poor leadership may include the Union rep, for in a traditional school the union rep wields almost as much influence as the principal.
I am sick and tired of teachers being degraded in America. I am sick and tired of the newest words in education, ineffective, effective, bad and good teachers. When are parents blamed for some of the problems that are occurring in public schools, especially in the cities. The cities public schools are where the federal and state government claim are failing schools. Cities are where crime is the heaviest, along with parent neglect, joblessness, homelessness and single parrot homes. The inference by the federal government with the NCLB law has caused so many problems in education. Charter schools being allowed to take needed money away from public schools has also caused enormous problems. So people need to stop blaming teachers and unions because if the federal government didn’t interfere in public education and parents did their part public education wouldn’t be in the mess it is in now.
Why is it that when teachers (very understandably) get tired of being bashed they turn around and bash parents? Don’t you see this is all an intended part of the divide and conquer strategy? The blame that you are seeking to place should be placed on the structural systems of wealth/income inequality and systemic racism, both of which, in turn, can and should be blamed on the billionaires who have created and perpetuated these structures.
I’ll grant you that there are lots of parents who do lots of things that I don’t agree with. But very often when you actually talk with these parents, you’ll find they have their reasons and it’s not because they don’t care about their kids (which meme, by the way, stems from slavery days when selling slaves away from their children was justified on the basis that “they don’t love their children like we do anyway”). And even in cases where “not caring” does seem to be part of the equation, it’s not that they don’t care about their children, it’s that they’re so beaten down that they don’t care about much of anything – that’s one of the side effects of toxic stress and trauma. Berating them and further beating them down is not helping the situation. A little bit of compassion would go a long way.
What a great point.
“Each school has to define what teacher qualities make a difference for their students, which would make the idea of “good” vs. “bad” relative from school to school.” I love the power in this. Each school’s mission and culture call out for different characteristics in its teachers, and as long as respect for all members of the community is a given, I would absolutely support each school coming up with their own definition of “good” and bad” (though I far prefer the terms “effective” and “ineffective” as they seem to judge not so much the core value of a person but rather their actual performance).
And you know I support diversification of the teaching profession and equitable (as opposed to equal) funding and support for all our public schools, that I view these goals as not merely important but absolutely imperative if we are to improve our schools the way we (as a country) *say* we want to. And of course, individuals honestly reflecting on their practice are another important element of that improvement.
Myself, I do reflect, constantly. I try to always be painfully honest about my shortcomings, and certainly don’t think of myself as “absolved” of anything for one split second. But the more I realize to what extent social justice work should and does infuse my teaching, the more I grasp how absolutely imperative it is that we serve each one of our students to the very best of our ability, the greater the gap I perceive between my expectations of myself and my actual results. It’s goes far beyond a “the more I learn, the less I seem to know” mindset and straight to an “OMG am I screwing up my students for life and is there any hope for me?” mindset. It’s really seriously discouraging.
Anyway, thank you for this post. As you must know by now, I deeply appreciate the reflections you inspire and the vision you hold up, and I deeply believe your work is positively affecting students you’ve never even met.
My best friend is an older teacher and she is excellent. She told me the other day she was retiring because she couldn’t take anymore bullying because she is a teacher. She told me things, such as massive amounts of paperwork they are making teachers do is pulling them away from actually teaching their students effectively. She said the new evaluations are not helping to improve teaching but it is designed to tear it down, bully and harass teachers. She said she was retiring although she wanted to do a few more years because she sees the hand writing on the wall for older teachers, black teachers and urban public schools. She works in Philadelphia where they are selling urban public schools to charter school organizations. Urban teachers are losing their jobs. I told her this is happening in cities because parents are allowing it to happen. She stated that parents in urban public schools need to address the behavior of their children, help them with their homework, feed them breakfast in the morning and instill in them the need and desire to learn. My friend said she is tired of being blamed for the failure of the parents. Then I thought to myself I guess most teachers are tired of society bashing them so why not retire. And for those teachers who can’t retire I am keeping you in my prayers. I am sorry my friend is retiring, Philly is losing another great teacher.
“…parents in urban public schools need to address the behavior of their children….”
Ah, I see, you’re racist.
This isn’t a racist statement. It is the truth. And only when people can accept constructive criticism constructive changes will occur. Urban parents must address problems they created that has contributed to what the government wants to call failing schools. Yes we all know some of what the state and federal government is doing to urban public schools is questionable and wrong. And we all know not every teacher is good or cares for their students but still the government and parents needs to ask the question, When are parents going to be made accountable for their children’s education. Accountability starts at home, teachers reinforce it in school. This isn’t a racist statement, it is the truth.
It’s getting a little heated,ladies. May I suggest that we simmer down and try a productive discourse that might render helpful solutions. Everyone: parents, teachers, students, government, the communities at large( I don’t have any children ) that includes me as well, have failed public education in some shape, form or fashion. The systemic issues some ( not all) urban parents are dealing with are so tramautic (illiteracies, substance abuse, domestic violence, poverty and much more) has devastated the future of generations to come. Some have entered a zone of no return and unfortunately have taken the educational future of their children with them. This indeed is a heavy burned for any one group of people to handle…any suggestions?
Robin, first you say it’s everybody’s fault, then you say why the parents are overwhelmed. Parenting is hard; I can’t imagine it in a locale with little hope and much hardship.
As a teacher ever learning and citizen with eyes open, it is as obvious as humanity that politics -both demonizing and campaign contributions- has made the poor and public educators the enemy.
In politics- “They[the poor] are lazy. We shouldn’t waste our money on them. They don’t deserve it.”
For teachers, obviously, we’re a cut in profits for charters- as well, our unions.
Unfortunately, the all-encompassing sentiment “parents of poor students” is human nature because our brains naturally focus on the negative- but it’s a minority of students that are troublesome even in high-poverty schools. In my experience, the majority- meaning 60% or more of a school population- of students in a high-poverty school are willing to do work.
Right now, the political pendulum has swung away from urban public education both economically(poverty is growing) and politically(resources are diminishing). If that were to change, there is little doubt that the public schools in urban areas could become enriching elements of their communities.
But currently, a deadly battle for the life of public education must be fought.
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