Paul Thomas taught high school for nearly two decades befor he became a professor at Furman University in South Carolina. He understands the dilemma of teachers caught between Scylla and Charydis, now known as a rock and a hard place. The dilemma arises when federal and state mandates require teachers to act in ways that violate their professional ethics. Thomas has specific advice to help teachers navigate the rough waters created by unethical, unprofessional demands.
What I have often said to teachers, echoing what Thomas advises, is to comply if you must but hold on to your values. Stay true to what you know is right for your students and have faith that this dark night of test abuse, child abuse, and teacher abuse will end, as it must. It will end because it is fruitless and punitive and antithetical to true education. Become a BAT if you dare.. Join the Network for Public Education. Do not jeopardize your livelihood but find allies and do what you can to hasten the day when reason, evidence, and professionalism are once again ascendant in education.
The sad thing is … All kinds of kids, teachers, professors lives have been and will continue to be ruined. Careers, hopes, dreams, debts, dedication, direction…dashed to bits by the “power” of money from deluded sources.
I won’t let be long enough to see it turn around.
“Comply if you must” is what causes many young teachers to accept what they think they can’t change. This thinking reinforces their denial and perpetuates the abuse. Participating in hurting children is child abuse. This chronic guilt and shame for teachers is as harmful to them as the children’s shame from being victimized.
Research has shown that adult bystanders who witness child abuse suffer as much psychological damage as the victims and sometimes more. Their guilt and shame for not intervening continues to grow and create greater denial until they can perpetuate cruelty without guilt, since they will become emotionally desensitized as a natural means of survival.
The only moral and ethical choice a teacher has is to refuse to participate in the bullying and try to stop it. When their own choice is Fight, Flight, or Freeze…they must choose Fight! The only helpless victims in this evil drama are the children who need their help.
No job is worth a mental illness or giving up one’s spirit to the Dark Side.
Do not Flee…Do not Freeze….FIGHT!
Those in the trenches are the ones who must stop following orders that require they give up their souls to torture children for greedy politicians.
It is time for teachers to recognize how they are being used and manipulated by deviant politicians and school administrators and stop being bullied themselves, so they can stop bullying children. Get Angry Teachers. Refuse to Participate. Fight for the Children!
My wife is a teacher living through this hell. I am an education professor who sees my students reeling under this stupidity. My advise to her and others is to engage in guerrilla tactics. Keep your head down, your flack jacket on, and choose your battles carefully. We can outlast the deformers if we are intelligent and do what we know is right. In the meantime, read the classic The Art of War.
My grandson’s 3rd grade teacher in Brooklyn is an exemplar of how to deal with testing: he announced to parents at the beginning of the year that he was not going to teach to the test. In effect, he has confidence that his ability to reach each child will yield the results the school expected.
It’s a psychology game as well. If you are a nonconformist by nature it will save you from the self helplessness mindset. When they throw some new at you, analyze it then change it to fit the needs of your students.
For instance, when engageny was adopted, I looked at it like any new curriculum and said “this sucks” for many reasons. No pd was given, it spiraled so much front loading was necessary, it needed additional supplementation, unless you give your kids the script expect to be dissapointed, etc. Engage ny is free which lures any fool to adopted it.
So I’ve supplemented w/other curriculum and used the models to give the observer an optical illusion.
Sorry Professor Thomas but I must disagree with you from a mental health standpoint:
“Comply if you must must but hold onto your values” is not an option. “Comply if you must” gives permission for teachers to deny they are participating in abuse to children. This denial leads to emotional desensitization and allows them to perpetuate the abuse. It is not possible for teachers to remain in public elementary schools and hold onto their values, since they are working in a system that abuses children. Adult bystanders to psychological abuse of children also suffer psychological harm. Teachers are being forced to repress their own emotions to be able to function in an environment of institutional abuse. This should not be encouraged. Teachers must NOT Comply with expectations of cruel treatment to children! The teachers and parents should unite for a “group Opt Out” at each school in the US. This should send a “shot heard round the world” to the corrupt and delusional politicians and school administrators who enforce this cruelty to children. Our school communities in Texas are uniting to have one form letter in the format of a petition stating they refuse to allow their children to test since they consider it abusive:
Our Group Opt Out for Parents & Teachers in Texas is called:
DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS CHILDREN
A master teacher will be able to tweak common core. A newly minted teacher won’t have the experience or skills necessary to supplement the curriculum. All teachers will have to deal with the testing. And the process of high stakes testing is not the only abuse. The ill conceived, inappropriate questions plus the crazy grading rubric is what causes the ultimate harm.
What teacher would ever create a test which is designed to fail 2/3 rds of the students?
That’s why the parents, teachers, and administrators in NYS have been strongly expressing their concerns. That’s why the people in authority, such as King and Arne, have been dismissing our voices and calling us names.
But I certainly hope that someone, someone with the authority to correct this disaster, is listening with a discerning ear.
The words from over 100 teachers that I have personally spoken to..
“I have no interest in teaching as it is now an assembly line of Test Prep”..They are getting out..fast…Nothing there to keep them…Some are going Private…
It all starts at the top! I think the issue is ONE of incompetence (at “our” STATE DEPARTMENTS of EDUCATION). Incompetent state employees are the real FAT CATS! Collecting BIG Bucks (i.e. salaries) for doing essentially nothing. (sharp statement–But, TRUE) Let’s focus “our efforts” to stop the … madness (upon) REFORMING “our” department(s) of Education. It is where the $$$ is managed by incompetent personnel (yes, most of them are incompetent–but, NOT all). See? what Pearson’s and others see! Our Achilles Heal.
My vision of school reform? Visit My Blog @ http://kennethfetterman.wordpress.com -AND-
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/kennethfetterman
May I add to the above comments? We must get “our” … into STATE positions! Best Wishes DR. — KEN
THANK YOU DR. YOU MUST spend many hours … (for the cause)–KEN
Ironically as a high school teacher at a Title One school, I have witnessed the poorly thought out teach to the test mentality which in simple terms has taught students not to think but to learn how to take tests not solve problems. Critical thinking was abandoned twenty five years ago when we decided to eliminate for the most part vocational/trade curriculum for the program. These classes were part of graduation requirements and allowed many not interested in going to college the opportunity to find their strengths. Music, art drafting etc help contribute to those who were seeking other ways to further their talents. I have an exchange student from Finland and she mentioned to me that a lot of students in my junior/senior students would have already been opted out of the academic world and put elsewhere where success was offered to trades/vocational talents. Those students not in academics of course were not tested on state tests hence higher test scores across the board. No pattern responses as all of those students were at their maximum effort. College is not for everybody and the United States is way behind those countries that think differently. The classes I have with 9th graders have trouble developing a paragraph. Early preparation and poor parenting have contributed to this dumping down of public education as well as some poorly prepared teachers.