One of my favorite students (I’ll call her Carla) is about to graduate high school next week. She’s a wonderful, sensitive, gentle  young woman who has struggled with various learning issues her whole life.

Carla’s own challenges have given her great empathy for the learning processes of all people, and she especially loves working with young children. In the fall she’ll be starting college, towards a degree in early childhood education.

I’m so excited to see Carla entering into this important field, which is so near and dear to my heart. During our tutoring sessions, she and I talk about teaching and learning.

This week, Carla was prepping for her final exams.  She was exasperated because her math teacher had provided no review time; on the contrary, the teacher had presented new material right up until the day before the exam, feverishly throwing examples of three new concepts at the class. No time for practice or homework or even answering the students’ questions, just, BAM!, know these skills for the final exam.

Why did the teacher do this? Carla complained. The short answer is simple: The teacher ran out of instructional days, no doubt due to extra assemblies, programs, field trips, etc;  yet, she still was required to “cover” the entire math curriculum. So, cover it she did!, the best she could.

Here’s what I told Carla: As a teacher, you’re going to receive a variety of complaints, such as…

• You moved through the material too fast; some kids didn’t “get it”
• You move too slowly; some kids are bored
• You didn’t cover the whole curriculum
• Why don’t you do more enrichment topics and projects?
• Why is the school year so long?
• How come we don’t do more field trips?
• Why don’t you give more attention to special-needs learners?
• Why don’t you use the latest teaching methods?
• Why don’t you stick to the basics?….

By now Carla was laughing. Nervously.

My point, of course, is that the job of present-day teaching is not a winnable game.  As a society, we’re unsure as to:

• What is the purpose of schooling?
• What are reasonable expectations for teachers? For Learners?
• How can we tell if our educational efforts are succeeding?

Meanwhile, Carla and all the other sincere, dedicated teachers get caught in the fray.

How can we institute meaningful educational reform, unless we first get clear on these answers?

photo of a self-portrait done by one of my students

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From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (June 18, 2010)

    Last reviewed: 18 Jun 2010