Arne Duncan, Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, and the National
Council on Teacher Quality think they know what makes a great
teacher. A great teacher is the one whose students got higher test
scores this year than last year. A great teacher, they think,
brooks no excuses. In the no excuses charter schools, the teachers
snap their fingers and demand immediate compliance with commands.
Nicholas Ferroni, who teaches teenagers, decided to ask his
students what they think make a great teacher. He wrote about what
they said on Huffington Post. Here
are their answers. The answers that occur most
frequently are “caring,” “dedicated,” “kind.” No one mentions test
scores. Who do you remember as your greatest teacher? What did he
or she do that made them the best?
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Based on my observations over the years, I’d say that Gates, Rhee, et. al., believe a great teacher is, first and foremost, a cheap, temporary teacher.
After those requirements are fulfilled, a great teacher
– jumps when told to jump.
– grovels when told to grovel.
– unquestioningly obeys every mandate, no matter how absurd or harmful.
– parrots the mandated jargon of the moment.
– swears fealty to the panacea (i.e. profit center) of the moment.
– forgets that panacea ever existed when a new one is imposed.
– leaves their professional autonomy, self-respect and dignity outside the school door
every morning.
Well said, Michael! A perfect description of what the deformers want for today’s teacher!
A Teacher From Georgia – please stop teaching in this state
I feel sorry for you Michael Fiorillo
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
I agree with the sentiment of this post, but you seem to be unnecessarily attacking discipline. if you ask my kids what makes a good mom, they’ll be sure to leave out compliance with commands, too! Discipline isn’t what kids want, but surely you’re not suggesting they don’t need it?
Excellent point- sometimes it takes a great many years for a teacher to be thought of as great. Especially those that are disciplinarians. At the time, they are thought cold, hard or mean and even unfair. Afterward, students mature and realize how much they learned. BUT, these same students are being polled on their CURRENT teachers- the ones they currently think are mean, unfair and cold and that is being used as part of a teacher’s professional evaluations.
It can mean the teacher can be fired based on hose evaluations if these same student’s test scores are also not great VAM for the teacher.
Defiant student, or even just misbehaving student, gets polled on their teacher and this student could be one who disrupts the learning environment for the class there by bringing down the VAM score for this teacher.
Why would any self-respecting teacher tolerate this?
Being a friend is not always developmentally appropriate for a student- sometimes they need a guide and mentor. Teenagers and younger students don’t always know what they need.
What is universally something that they do not need is more test scores determining both groups value..
These sound similar to some of the things the student survey revealed in the MET study: http://www.metproject.org/downloads/Asking_Students_Practitioner_Brief.pdf
My greatest teacher was probably my Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Clark. This was in Grandview Elementary (which is no longer there) in Catskill, NY, 1956. Mrs. Clark was a disciplinarian, but I don’t remember much of that. I just know that we behaved. She loved to have us do all kinds of things. I remember play, friends, fun. We had a rodeo and dressed up, activities where our parents came to watch, a Maypole we danced around, art we created, a graduation ceremony at the end of the year. I think we behaved, because she kept us so busy and interested in what we were doing. She had been a teacher for years, so she had experience. Something we are losing today. I have never forgotten her or her name. I hope that her grandchildren know what a wonderful teacher she was.
We danced around a Maypole in NJ in in the same era although I think it was first grade. I wonder if those northeast teachers had the same manual!
I think you are correct! I know we had fun, unlike the elementary children today.
My best teachers motivated me to do my best work… and, as a result, I did well in their classes… but they got to set their own standards for performance, write their own tests, and give me feedback on the test results quickly.
Mr. Schimezi, in fifth grade at Fairview Elementary, Steve long at University High School, Don Gray in my undergraduate program at Indiana University. Three models of what it was to be a leaner, to be passionately intellectual and intellectually passionate. In the presence of these people, one thought, “Wow, that’s really cool. I want some of that. I want to be like that.” One picked up the windfall of their enthusiasms. And then they showed you what to do with those discoveries. They took an interest, in their subjects and in you.
My best teacher was a catholic nun whose name I don’t remember but I do remember her enthusiasm. She was an English teacher and she was so interested in all the books, articles etc that we read, it was infectious. I felt the books come alive in the way she explained them. Yes, this teacher’s enthusiasm is what I always remember.
Mr. best teacher was Mr. Griffin, whom I had for ninth grade Civics, tenth grade World HIstory and for Drama in 12th grade English. He wanted all of his student to learn to think. He wanted us to learn to read texts critically. He helped to expand my world.
A great public school teacher isn’t a barking, brutal Marine Corps drill instructor. I’ve been a public school student, a public school teacher and a U.S. Marine and I know the difference.
Imagine what would happen if five/six year old kindergartens were taught by a traditional Marine Corps drill instructor their first day of school. The PTSD nightmares would be rampant.
I just created this at petition2congress.
Petition Title is, Dump Duncan
Please sign. It will be forwarded to all Senators, Congressmen, and President Obama as well.
http://www.petition2congress.com/14914/dump-duncan/
I like “Petition2Cognress”. That was well done. Simple, easy, and I sent mine in seconds. :o)
signed
Can you proofread it? It really looks bad when teachers sign a petition with errors in it.
Agreed. I was under the impression that I would be able to edit it before it was finalized. However it can be edited by individuals before they sign it.
I sent it. Then, I posted it on Facebook on my page and shared it asking people to sign it.