I have so much to say on these topics that I’m actually bursting (ew?), which is why I’m not going to write more about them just yet — too many things to say, not yet enough distance or coherence with which to say them all. But I’ve had teaching on a brain a lot lately and these articles just keep coming, so I felt I ought to at least share a few links to things I’ve been reading:
The first is something I’ve touched on many times here already (here, here, and here, for starters), but in the current political climate in the US, it’s becoming more topical each day. It’s a short piece at Care2 about why US teachers aren’t taken more seriously, and is itself a riff off a recent Washington Post blog article comparing the treatment of teachers in the US to the treatment of teachers in other countries.
On a related note, the second piece is another politically relevant topic I’ve also danced around here, though I haven’t tackled it in quite this way before, which is why I’m linking you to the post: it’s a thought-provoking (and generally provocative) piece over at Worst Professor Ever about the “serfdom” of the teaching profession. Making clever use of a CNN article about “why unpaid jobs are the new normal,” WoPro does a fantastic (if bleak) job of highlighting not only just how thankless a job teaching is, but how it’s becoming practically the poster-profession for how to squeeze more work from already overburdened employees and still make them feel grateful for the burden. Grim, but disturbingly accurate.
Which is why, to brighten the mood a bit, I also wanted to share this delightful third piece: one teacher’s transition from “The Strict Teacher [to] The Fun Teacher” without sacrificing pragmatism or standards. It’s not only a fun, quick read, it’s also a helpful guide to more compassionate teaching, which is something I’m HIGHLY in favor of.
Samuel Snoek-Brown 