Also, why I may not teach much longer…
Pristine stacks of fresh paper, ample supplies of pens and pencils, and books unexplored all suggest days of learning and discovery to come. Now we also have shiny keyboards, glistening computer screens, calculators, and a dazzling array of modern communication tools. The delicious anticipation is the same.
As a child, I always loved school and the worlds hidden in books and the mysteries within words. Before I could understand sentences, I puzzled over words. Before I could decipher words, I admired the curves and strokes of letters.
I was convinced at an early age, by some sweet collision of environment and inborn belief, that within language live the secrets of knowledge and humanity. I became a devourer of words.
Now I am a teacher, still learning and searching, on my quest for an elusive holy grail of knowledge.
While our courts and legislature debate the purpose, financing, and structure of public education, those of us within the current system continue with the daily business of learning and teaching. Valid concerns about funding, class sizes, testing, and curriculum abound, but I have felt compelled to step back and consider what education is and should be, and where we are in that larger analysis.
To do that, we must understand how America’s schools got their start.
The United States Constitution did not specifically address education; the education of children fell to private citizens and the states. Texas enacted its first public school law in 1840, with many modifications since.
Traditionally, the federal government has become involved only when education affects individual rights, as in the desegregation ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in 1954, or the passage of Title IX in 1972, designed to end sex discrimination in education. A conglomeration of local, state, and federal court rulings and laws have developed into a huge and entrenched public school system.
It wasn’t always so complicated.
Schools in the 1800’s often served the local needs of the people, designed to provide students with the education to function well as adults within that community; a one-room school house in a remote agricultural area might emphasize different content than a larger one in a more urban, industrialized area. Technological developments of the 20th and 21st centuries have transformed the world, and as a result, education. The capabilities of mass communication and a more mobile population have had a leveling effect on the needs of students in different locales.
An adequate education now demands consistency and relevancy in all parts of the country. Both the child in Kansas and the one in Los Angeles need to acquire computer literacy, basic mathematical and scientific concepts, and world and national history. But without the ability to interpret and analyze all the information now available, it serves no purpose.
Can the education of children only be addressed in the traditional model of public or private school? Perhaps we confine education too much within the walls of those institutions instead of also valuing the experience of living, working, and coping within the broader world.
When my classroom hums with activity, when students prod and argue while finishing a project, or when papers rustle quietly as they confront a written task, we are learning, and school is what it should be. Education is no less evident when young people organize a fundraiser, deliver meals to the elderly, or face the challenges of a first job.
Operating from the premise that human nature has not fundamentally changed over time, and from my own experience, I believe some other platitudes still hold true:
Everyone learns better in a safe environment. Life is not fair all the time in every case, but integrity has its own reward. We learn by doing. Kids are people too. We don’t teach subjects; we teach children.
If we hold to these underlying principles, we can free our children to think for themselves, to be literate, and to treat others with kindness. They will have the tools to live and live well in this complex and sometimes baffling world. Education is the right hand of liberty, but it demands constant exercise to retain its strength.
When I step back from the day to day flurry on my desk, computer screen, and smart board to look at the children, I realize why I am still here. The stuff of education may change, but the underlying principles do not.
When a 13 year old realizes that she can write, and that her thoughts are worth keeping, her smile can outshine the sun. When a visiting graduate stops in for a hug and update on his new life as an adult, the warmth lasts for a week. When a little one grabs me around the knees on the playground and gives me a playful greeting, I see the promise of what she will become in her eyes.
We are not preparing them for life; they are teaching us to live.
I am a confessed bibliophile, but I am beginning to realize that the essence of knowledge is beyond words. I will continue my search for a holy grail, but it is the children who have my loyalty and dedication. Maybe I already have what is most precious and worthwhile right here.
Note: I wrote much of this piece quite a few years ago. On a good day, I still feel that teaching in public education is worth the struggle. However, in recent years I am more often exhausted by playing a game with the cards stacked against us. Students will not win until we all–parents, educators, and policy-makers, play on the same team.
© 2024 Joyce Martin. All rights reserved
Note: None of my content is AI generated. Ever.
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