My
Sunday Gratitude, today, goes out to AFT President Randi Weingarten, who appeared on CBS Sunday Morning today, and began the task that all teachers should be mindful of right now; teaching the nation about tenure.
I have been noticeably silent about teaching on my blog, even though it is my profession of 17 years. That is mostly because this blog is really an escape from the day to day, for me. It is a place to express the other parts of myself, and it has allowed me to grow as a person and as a writer. I would argue that anything that enriches one as a person naturally translates into better teaching, but, conversely, this blog could be something that could lead to me being dismissed from my teaching job if I did not have tenure.
Now I am not on here doing elicit things, but I do express views. I do express frustrations. I mention books and movies that are important to me, as a person and as a teacher, but could be unpopular or controversial to some. Goodness knows I, at times, mention that I enjoy wine. I am originally from the Finger Lakes, after all. In a world without tenure, if a community member, or board member, or an administrator, suddenly started reading my blog, which is public after all, and decided that they just didn't like those aspects of me as a person, if they didn't like my habits, if they didn't like my politics, or my family, if they didn't like my writing style for that matter, I could be fired.
Tenure is a part of our profession and it exists for many reasons. It protects teachers' academic freedom, and being married to a biology teacher who navigates the waters of evolution, intelligent design, and creationism each and every year, I know full well why we need that. It deters arbitrary firing, which no one, in any profession deserves. Due process is simply a fancy way of saying fair, documented, legal procedures of dismissal. Tenure is not a "job for life" as many might argue, and it is only awarded after a probationary period of three, sometimes four years. And, for the record, tenure is awarded to a teacher by administration and Boards of Education, not by the union that is, so often these days, being portrayed as "the bad guy" of education.
Tenure is something that exists for reasons. It was a long and hard fight by our predecessors to get us the protections that tenure ensures, and it is something teachers should take seriously, and be proud of. At the same time, we should teach others why it is there, and, similarly, through our good teaching, show why we deserve it.
Are there problems in education today? Yes, there are, just as there are problems in Washington politics, on Wall Street, in the myriad industries that are taking their business out of our country, and in each and every small town that is struggling to stay afloat in America. In particular in a bad economy, where jobs are precious, no one, in any profession, wants to work with bad colleagues. I can't speak to how to fix every profession, but I can speak to teaching. Teaching is highly collaborative in nature, and when we see fellow teachers struggling, we should offer help. We should mentor each other. Principals should play their part as the leaders, facilitating advancement and assisting in the continuation of the education that is forever needed by those they lead. They should, at all times, be very much present, monitoring what is happening in classrooms, each and every day. Administrators, Parents, and Boards of Education, in tandem with teachers, should be seeking to, at all times,support teachers, and students, in the ways that will produce the best results, in every aspect of their growth as human beings. Evaluation, for teachers as well as students, should be based not on singular high stakes tests, but on multiple measures, and should be ongoing, to spur growth throughout a teacher's, and for that matter, a student's, career.
Unions, and more specifically tenure, do not stand in the way of any of those things. Unions want good working conditions for their members and for the students their members strive to serve, in the best ways they possibly can. They want better pay, and fair agreements for said workplaces, knowing that happy workers, workers who's basic needs are met, produce more and better product. And our product, after all, is a very important one...human beings. Tenure, in fact, can support what is needed in education. It can make a teacher feel safe enough to take a risk, to try something new, to INNOVATE. And innovation, above all, is what we need in education right now. We need to stop criticizing and pointing fingers and talking about what might be broken, and instead build up, collaborate, and take action for a new generation of teachers, and students. We are all learners, throughout this long life, after all.
In short, and frankly, it is TIME for us ALL to TEACH. Thank you, today, for beginning to teach America about tenure, Randi Weingarten.
