The Professionalism Problem
Over the almost 25 years I’ve spent in education, I’ve noticed a growing problem. More and more I find that teachers do not trust their own judgment. I think that this is due, at least in part, to boxed programs, prescriptive curriculums, and the concept I dread most in teaching--fidelity to them. (See my diatribe against “fidelity” and other edu-concepts that I loathe here.)
As I see it, the erosion of teachers’ sense of self-efficacy began in the early 2000s with the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act. In those days, even more than now, schools were punished for test scores that were below the given state benchmarks.
In a panic, districts bought programs that claimed to guarantee success if teachers used it with fidelity. Some of those programs were carefully scripted and left many teachers, myself included, feeling more like trained monkeys than professional educators.
Unfortunately, not only did the programs generally not produce the desired results, but they also had the side effect of diminishing a teacher’s confidence.
More “Training”? No, thanks.
So often, I hear teachers lament that they never got any training on a new resource or that they need more training to make a new curriculum component work. It has always bothered me for two reasons. One, we “train” dogs not teachers, and two, we are professionals. While we might need more time to read manuals and explore resources, we likely don’t need “trainers” from big companies or consultancies coming to show us how to use their programs or processes.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying no to professional development that is creative, needs-based, and tailored to help us hone our craft. Similarly, I realize that my stance on the use of the word “training” is extreme and that professionals of all kind have “training” and don’t find the word offensive. But, folks in other professions are rarely as maligned as teachers are, so I’m sorry if I’m touchy.
What Shane Said
On page 3 of The Listening Leader, Shane Safir writes:
The test-and-punish era made it increasingly difficult for leaders to listen to their communities. Parent, student, and teacher voices receded amid a cacophony of well-packaged interventions and initiatives. As yourself and ask a colleague, When is the last time you felt truly listened to at work? To what extent do you feel seen, heard, and valued in your organization?
Those are great questions, and as I shared in a previous post, I plan to do a lot more asking next year. But, I can’t help but think that part of the reason that teachers are not heard is that they have lost their voices amid the “cacophony” Shane mentions. It’s hard to be heard when you feel you don’t have much to say.
What Hattie Said
As Shane puzzles through what it means to be a listening leader, she turns to the work of researcher Dr. John Hattie, who by now is likely familiar to most educators. She points to his findings from the metanalysis of more than 800 studies which names “collective teacher efficacy” as a critical factor in successful schools. Collective Teacher Efficacy is the belief by teachers that together they can positively affect students.
So, where does that leave us?
We know that there is still pressure for students to succeed on standardized tests and that the pressure continues to lead districts to purchase and insist on the use of boxed programs. We know that relying solely on boxed programs isn’t likely to positively impact student achievement, plus that it can have the negative side effect of decreasing a teacher’s sense of self-efficacy.
So, where does that leave us?
In a bad place. It leaves us in a place that listening leaders must help us move away from.
The Solution (or at least partial solution)
To move the profession back to a place where teachers feel like professionals and trust themselves to meet the needs of students, there are at least two steps we can take.
Listening leaders can work with teachers to find meaningful curriculums that allow for teacher voice and choice just as they allow for student voice and choice. That means, we can stop purchasing programs that overreach and make grandiose promises for results.
On page 18, Safir calls for us to “work to create a culture of local, peer-to-peer accountability for results.” This, in combination with shared responsibility for professional development, is likely to help teachers learn to trust themselves again.
Truly, Shane Safir’s entire book points to solutions and all of them hinge on the re-professionalization of the profession. That makes me grateful. Maybe in the next 25 years of my career as an educator, I’ll notice a trend in reverse of the one I described in the first paragraph.
In the meantime, teachers, I trust you. I am listening.
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