Yesterday
I composed an article entitled “5
Stress Reduction Strategies for Teachers.” It was written with the
specific intent of helping teachers who may be feeling overwhelmed by the job,
and looking for strategies to address their stress. That being said, I
was somewhat surprised when I received comments and emails which questioned
what teachers had to be stressed about in the first place? I always
welcome the feedback from people on my blog posts as the blog is designed with
the objective of being a learning tool for all. Therefore, I was not
insulted by the comments…far from it. Instead, they reinforced one of my
missions for writing this blog, namely, educating the public in general as to
what teachers actually do, and why they need and deserve public support and
respect. This in turn helps this entire generation of students as they
will be provided with a top level education by a satisfied and respected
teaching force. One of the methods used in achieving this mission is to
clearly outline the many challenges which teachers face on a daily basis and
work diligently to overcome. I have composed some (not all by any means),
of the main challenges teachers face in their job on a daily basis.
Lack of
Funding/Resources:
There
is little doubt that education funding has suffered greatly since the economic
downturn in countries across the globe. Even with an improving economy
which has seen purse strings being opened up for many areas, such has not been
the case for education. In fact, in a report by the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities:
“States’ new budgets are providing less per-pupil funding for
kindergarten through 12th grade than they did six years ago — often far less.
The reduced levels reflect not only the lingering effects of the 2007-09
recession but also continued austerity in many states; indeed, despite some
improvements in overall state revenues, schools in around a third of states are
entering the new school year with less state funding than they had last
year. At a time when states and the nation are trying to produce workers
with the skills to master new technologies and adapt to the complexities of a
global economy, this decline in state educational investment is cause for
concern.” (1)
Lack
of proper funding by the government has a number of negative impacts.
Facilities begin to deteriorate, teaching resource spending is curtailed, less
teachers are hired and consumable budgets are slashed. Essentially,
teachers are asked to achieve top level results with inadequate funds for tools
and resources. It gets so bad that teachers often draw from their own
personal funds to properly equip their classrooms.
Emotional Turmoil:
Watching
children grow and develop is the most rewarding part of teaching.
However, it is not always sunshine and roses. In fact, as teachers we can
often see some very sad cases with our students who experience significant
loss, neglect or instability in their personal lives. This can be heart
wrenching to watch and it will fill a teacher with a feeling of emotional
upheaval and helplessness. Teachers care greatly for their students and
want the best for them, when circumstances beyond our control make this near
impossible to achieve, it can be devastating.
Lack of
Time:
For
most teachers I know, if you asked them what they need the most to do a great
job, they would say time.
Indeed, they will often come to work with a carefully planned “to do list”, and
by the end of the day that list remains virtually untouched. What
happened? There are numerous demands made on a teacher’s time each
and every day. From planning lessons and units, meeting in professional
learning teams, marking student work, performing administrative tasks, running
extra-curricular clubs, meeting with parents and of course…teaching! The
demands really are endless. Also, since the vast majority of a teacher’s
day is spent with the children (which is their favorite part of the job I may
add), most of the other tasks have to be done during personal time. The
reality of the job is that everyday is different and the expectations are
huge. Despite the best of intentions, there just does not seem to ever be
enough time to tackle that “to do” list and not only is this challenging,
but it is frustrating and demoralizing at the same time.
Engaging
the Students:
Awesome
teachers want their students to learn! In order to do that, they must
differentiate their instruction and tailor it to meet the many diverse learning
needs and preferences of the students. These lessons need to be powerful
and engaging as in this technology driven era, attention spans tend to wane
much quicker. True learning is all about student engagement.
Considering the sheer number of students, various needs, management and
discipline concerns and the complexity of planning, this is beyond challenging
for educators. Nevertheless, they do rise to the challenge in order to
provide the students with what they need.
Lack of
Respect and Support:
Education
is constantly changing…it is a dynamic entity. It is also often under
attack as latest “trends” or “crises” appear on a somewhat regular
basis. As with any profession there are areas which need improvement and we
rely on our front line workers to implement them. I would contend however
that in education the front line workers, namely teachers and educational
support workers, are consistently bashed in order to justify taking measures to
fix the crisis of the day. In fact, there is an actual term called
“teacher bashing” which is used quite often. This is the polar opposite
of what should happen. Only by rewarding and encouraging our teachers can
we hope to fix any ills which exist in the system. Teachers
are leading the charge to address these challenges and the politicians, parents
and public in general need to work with the
education system and not use the front line teachers as a scapegoat for the
ills of society. Teaching
is a very difficult profession and
it is often cursed by the fact that everyone thinks they know how to do it
better. By validating, recognizing, respecting and celebrating our
teachers and educational workers we can produce a better system for all.
I
by no means have addressed all the challenges teachers typically face.
For instance, there are the issues of cyberbullying, scheduling, parent
engagement, ever changing initiatives and self care. However, I have
included some top challenges which have far reaching effects upon teachers and
the education system in general. This article is not meant to be negative
in nature. Quite to the contrary in fact. It is designed to outline
the challenges which teachers face and overcome on a daily basis. If this
is not a lesson in positivity…then I simply do not know what is!
