I'm not an expert on why teachers leave the classroom, but in my career of over 30 years I have seen many who have left, and believe me, they have not left because their talent has gone unrecognized.I've seen teachers become librarians so they can avoid marking papers and doing work at home. I've seen them become guidance counselors because they couldn't control a classroom of 34 students. I've seen them become administrators for this same reason, and for money and for power. Often, these were teachers were the most incompetent teachers in the building.
The real talented teachers I know never left the classroom. They knew the only ones who would ever recognize and appreciate their skills were the children they dealt with every day. The most they ever hoped for was a little respect from their supervisors.
Stories like this one, on Gotham Schools, make me sick. These indivduals are there for themselves, not the kids. There is nothing wrong with supporting teachers, but the idea that this is needed to keep them in the classroom is wrong. My guess is a program like this is only a resume builder for those who take it.
3 comments:
Great column, Ms. POd. It's nice to see someone, and there rarely is anyone, who really understands and appreciates classroom teachers. This really cuts to the heart of things.
I'd also argue that administrators who went after their jobs to get out of the classroom are among the worst there are. Only people who've done the job, well, and appreciate its difficulty and importance ought to be supervisors.
This piece from Gotham Schools makes me sick too.
It just gets better, PO'd!! The young lady who lead our tour at a college yesterday was telling us how she was going to grad school for ed administration, and she told me she really didn't like the classroom!! I told her that it used to be much different, and that quite a number of years of teaching were expected before one became an administrator. The pity was that this young lady had wonderful demeanor and presence, but unfortunately since she now has the undergrad-to-administrator-pipeline available, she's going for the latter. She will NEVER be an educator, just a paper pusher and will probably push teachers around as well.
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