Monday, September 23, 2019

Both Grateful & Struggling with the New [School] Year

We are 3 weeks into the new school year. It was a bit of a rushed start for me with a lot of adjusting - learning D2L Brightspace to help with the ILC/Credit Recovery section I have this year, settling into married life and continuing to work on striking a work-life balance, missing my friend and colleague who was forced to change schools by the circumstances created in Ontario, and continuing to try to learn and grow as an educator while circumstances force us to deal with variables that we are not used to having. Regardless, I am grateful for my new husband, my job, and the innate love I feel for my chosen profession.

Some of the struggles I am alluding to have been in the media - an interview here and there with a grade 12 student expressing their frustration with missing courses in their timetables. For most people in Ontario this is something they hear about, maybe even sympathize with, but it is not something they are experiencing themselves. Perspective has a lot to do with how you interpret a story you hear and with the decisions you make.

Here are some perspectives on public education in the current climate...which one do you connect to right now? Can you put yourselves into the shoes of the others? In the end, what do you value? [*what follows is of course based on generalization and is not meant to depict any particular person, just to provide some of the perspectives I see]

Government/Tax Payers-at-Large
Education is an expensive major item in the budget that we like to say we invest in the future of others but that has been around publicly for so long that most of us do not really see the benefit in day-to-day (if you grew up in an educated circle, it is all you have ever known, so do you really understand why public education is so important?). The $$ value of what is invested into the system is the primary concern. [And depending on political beliefs] saving money on education and putting money in the pockets of private-sector folks benefits "the working citizens".

Parents of Elementary-Aged Students
(There is, of course, a variety of perspectives here but I will choose what I suspect is a majority.) Education is an important part of my child's life that is helping them have a future. It also serves as a place that my child has to go every day that is safe and allows me to afford a life-style that my family can enjoy (imagine if everyone had to pay to send their child to private school). Public education also exposes my child to a lot of things they would not otherwise get to experience and gives the opportunity for equity. I want my child to get the best education possible and need educators who care, resources that matter, and buildings that are safe.

Secondary School Students/Parents
Education is a means to get to a higher level of education and/or to a apprenticeship/job. I need marks that will get me to the next step and that is what matters. I have a specific goal in mind, which requires a certain mark in a certain set of subjects. I want to learn as much as possible but know that the system is built based on the number on my report card. I want to have teachers that care about me and have the opportunity to do as well as I can. If my classes grow, these opportunities decrease and I am forced to choose alternative options like night school and (if my family can afford it) private school to get my credits. (And if my family cannot afford it, I work my butt off and this year might have to be in online classes that make learning difficult for me or go to night school on top of day school and gave up something I loved to make the time for it).

Public System Educators
Education is an integral part of our province and country that can provide opportunities to students from all means and walks of life. We know that the system is not perfect (in fact is far from it) but we work hard every day to move it in the right direction. We care deeply about our students (even if we do not have children of our own) and want to see each of them succeed. We are fortunate to have stable jobs and be compensated with other benefits that allow us opportunities to keep ourselves healthy (though many of us are bad about it, putting so much of ourselves into our job and neglecting our own needs), but every fight we decide to engage in politically has a foundation in wanting what is best for students.

Of course there is probably some bias evident in the above paragraphs, but I am also trying to portray that I get there are different ways to look at a situation. My biggest personal struggle is pinned down roughly through the following connections:

1. Students seek marks --> marks provide entry into further education
But marks are a very capitalist way to determine achievement and were derived in a system where we want to "graduate" people who could follow instructions and be cogs in a factory wheel.

2. Marks are like currency --> students/families seek marks in whatever means they can --> too many private schools to "police" + expectation that "credit is paid for" --> credits granted to students with less integrity

3. Current/future job force needs require more well-rounded skills (including critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication) --> a need for courses that focus on these skills --> "marks" are more murky, they don't paint a real picture of a student (arguably they never did)

Needless to say, I find myself as an educator pinned down in a system and fighting against a current that sometimes feels much too swift to continue to want to try. I continue to believe that integrity matters, that preparing students for the unknown future is the best service I can provide and that we are in a huge system that is based on a "currency" that is out of date and does a disservice to our children.

Will you fight with me to build our system up, instead of tearing it down?

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