At any stage in life, getting an education is a tricky thing. How people learn differs so, it's difficult to get just the right mix of methods to make it work. In such a volatile world, nothing should be left to chance, nothing taken for granted. Above all, teachers should never miss a beat. Like surgeons guiding the lifeblood of the future, they should be masterful and attentive. But those traits have been neglected in so many instances, allowed to atrophy and die if they ever existed at all. From early education to higher learning, a pedagogical rite of passage has brought teachers down to the realm of mediocrity and thus doomed their students to frustration and failure. This rite of passage of which I speak is tenure.
Just as we trust doctors to our health and peacekeepers with our safety, we trust teachers with our education. They are the leaders on our journey. You want a leader to be knowledgeable, flexible, and attentive. You hope that no matter what comes along, that leader will remain strong. Challenges won't break them and accolades will not soften their drive. But tenure is something that can not only ease a teacher's intensity and passion, but can allow poor educators to remain in the classroom, doing decidedly more harm than good.
If a doctor hasn't studied trends in medicine in decades and trembles uncontrollably should they be allowed to treat patients? If a lawyer knows little of the law and even less about upholding it, should they be allowed to sit as a district attorney? If a professor has a poor track record in the classroom and rarely shows up for class, should they be allowed to continue teaching? The answers to these questions as stated may be blatant, but the last question sheds light on a harsh reality. There are teachers out there who have lost all respect for their field because they have been given a pass to behave as they wish. Their tenure allows them to be lax in their own learning and lax in their teaching. They flit from class to class in an indignant huff, ready to clock out as soon as possible because they know, no matter what they do, tenure keeps them safe from all punishment.
Rare indeed is the teacher who's skill is unchanged by tenure. I recognize there are those who excel with such an honor, but when people abuse a privilege, there should be consequences. I attended a private religious-affiliated university. I was lucky to receive many scholarships so a great deal of my tuition was paid for, but my heart goes out to those who feel they've wasted their own money to pay for lackluster education. The professor in my chosen major was a tenured professor who wanted nothing more than to be as far away from work as possible. When he did show up, he was short in knowledge and even more inept in the skill of sharing it. Had it not been for my independent nature and that of some of my classmates, no one with that degree would have found employment. Those who succeeded made their own way, but those who required more attention from a teacher, failed miserably. And that is truly the face of tenure, students left to fend mostly for themselves because lazy teachers no longer care to run the race. They're left holding the bill for an education they did not receive.
Unions, tenure, and social programs have destroyed the pride of work. People do only what is required for employment security or government money and nothing more. I saw this behavior first hand; I was a victim of it. The professor is still employed and likely still as abysmal as before. With the price of education soaring, he's wasting even more hard-earned money. No one wants to fight the hard fight to remedy the situation. We must not allow these abuses to continue. We must take a larger role in the education of those who will hold the future and find the lacking accountable. Those who no longer wish to do their jobs and those who don't have the skill to begin with must be dismissed. Teachers light a path in the darkness, but those who care not to ignite their lamps risk losing their followers in the chasm of confusion. If they teach only failure, the students will learn only failure. We must expect excellence in education and we must not stop until we get it.
Unfortunately I had the same problem in my GCSE years- which whilst not quite as important- did limit my A level options somewhat and had an impact on my life.
ReplyDeleteI attended a Private school until 2007 and my history teacher was as described above- hardly ever there, when he was he wrote from a textbook, instructed us to copy and promptly left the room. This for me, as a child who had been consistently getting As and Bs in history, ended in my failing my GCSE- which then meant I couldn't take the subject into the next level as had been my plan.
Teachers/professors need to wise up for sure. My dad paid for my private education for eight years- and I learned far more in the two years I spent in a state school after I decided to transfer out- He didn't get his money's worth for definite.
So true, teachers are far more important than some people think. A teacher's attitude can make or break certain students and that should be taken into account before they're allowed to teach. Sorry you had to experience that, I know it was a special hell for me.
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