I read an analogy that put things in perspective about the blame game. It is (unfortunately) our culture to find a scapegoat rather than recognize many parts of the system can break, making the puzzle hard to fit together. So here's the analogy summary (read full statement at this link):
Teachers are on the front lines, and inner-city teachers in particular witness the plight their students are going through. They see violence, hear raging parents knock down their children, are belittled by administration, etc. As this quote reminds us, teachers are trained to do what they do, but they can only do so much when they have a leader who authorizes every move in a manic way.
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Teachers are fighting an uphill battle and will benefit from appreciation for what they are doing that's making things go right. Thank a teacher today.
"WHEN we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition.
And yet in education we do just that. When we don’t like the way our students score on international standardized tests, we blame the teachers. When we don’t like the way particular schools perform, we blame the teachers and restrict their resources." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html
When a war goes wrong it's not the soldiers that we blame.
This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Teachers are fighting an uphill battle and will benefit from appreciation for what they are doing that's making things go right. Thank a teacher today.
"WHEN we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition.
And yet in education we do just that. When we don’t like the way our students score on international standardized tests, we blame the teachers. When we don’t like the way particular schools perform, we blame the teachers and restrict their resources." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html
No comments:
Post a Comment