George Laase
The quality of the teacher in front of a classroom, although very important, may not be the most critical of all factors in a student's learning. Other contributing factors include: (not ranked in any order) Parental expectations, parental involvement, parental education, home/family stability, older siblings, peers, socio-economics, ethnicity and culture, English-language proficiency, disability, motivation, political trends, and adequate state funding of Education.
Many of these cited factors cannot be addressed by a classroom teacher. Some, alone or in combination, even go well beyond the realm of the school community, itself; let alone, the influence of any single teacher.
Even skilled instructors, who are experts in their subject matter, have their own personal strengths and weaknesses and may not be able to achieve success with each individual student in their classes. In some cases, students may succeed, in spite of a teacher's personal shortcomings. Still, others won't achieve even basic subject proficiency, regardless of the herculean efforts made by intervening school staff and other teachers.
Despite all the other previous factors that can and do have significant effects on a student's learning, why the public still views the teacher's role as being "the one" that should be held ultimately accountable for a student's achievement is beyond me!
What about the student"s own attitude towards his or her education? That reminds me of the old adage, "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink." And its related spin on education, "You can make a kid go to school, but you can't make him think."
The role of the student's parent/guardian is of equal or greater importance than that of the classroom teacher in educating a child. Yet, it is still the teacher whom society is looking at to hold even more accountable for each student's success or failure in our educational system.
And that's just not right!
George Laase is a photographer for the CCHS athletic program, a graduate of CCHS, and the parent of CCHS graduates.
Dear Mr. Lasse-
ReplyDeleteYou are spot on about all the factors that affect a child's education. One thing that you fail to mention is the quality of special education. My child has had an IEP since middle school; it worked in the middle school, but has totally failed him in high school. The high school has expected him to be more self-directed, but he isn't. He has been put in classes that were too advanced for him despite the fact that I didn't sign off on those placements. Now, in his last year at the High School, he faces the possibility of not graduating despite the fact that he only needs 20 units; unfortunately those units are in classes he must pass.
I have a friend who is an elementary school principal for the Redondo Beach Unified School District. She told me that special education is not very effective and very costly. I think this is an area that needs more accountability. The District did not know about a law that requires a transition meeting when a senior is close to graduating until my educational consultant told them about it last month!
I believe that our teachers are doing a great job in Culver City, including those that have been teaching for decades.
Susan Levy
As a teacher, I agree with almost all your points except for your point about ethnicity contributing to a child's success in school. A student's ethnicity should not add or take away from one's ability to do well in school. The other factors you mention...parental involvement, socio-economic status certainly do have an impact.
ReplyDeleteI do believe we, as teachers, have to believe that we can overcome any other potential negative factors on students' education or there's no point in coming to work. However, public discussions blaming teachers for all failings of public education seem calculated to distract from real discussions about rising poverty and the shrinking middle class.