Know Power, Know Responsibility: How to unleash the potential of every child in America

Part 1 — Chapter 10: Freeing Teachers to Pursue Their Potential

Author’s Note: I will publish additional sections of this book each week. You can find previously posted sections at the following links: Note to Parents of School-Age Children and Note to Teachers, School Administrators, and Other School Staff here; Introduction here; Prologues Part 1 and 2 here; Prologues Part 3 and 4 here; Part 1-Chapters 0 and 1 here; Chapter 2 here; Chapter 3 here; Chapter 4 here; Chapters 5 and 6 here; Chapter 7 here, Chapter 8 here, and Chapter 9 here.

CHAPTER 10 — Freeing Teachers to Pursue Their Potential

Our current school model does not allow teachers to perform anywhere near their full potential. A new educational system needs to be adopted that will fully leverage the passions and expertise of teachers to allow every student to approach his or her full potential.

People have many reasons to become teachers, but nearly all have a true desire — a calling — to positively influence future generations. People want to be teachers to help prepare children to be successful as adults and to contribute to making the world a better place. However, most teachers find that only a portion of their time and effort goes into actually influencing their students, at least in a direct manner, and that they are only having truly meaningful influence over a small number of students at any given time. The best teachers provide meaningful influence more regularly and to more students, but even they are rarely able to provide the level of influence of which they are capable.

This is rooted, again, in the emphasis on delivering instruction (as opposed to an emphasis on learning) combined with the need to “manage” the classroom and fulfill the other expectations stemming from our current educational model. As long as teachers are expected to “deliver” a set curriculum to all their assigned students within the current schedule and calendar, they will be unable to meet the actual learning needs of each of their students. The most significant concern of most schools and districts is that most students achieve the expected performance benchmarks on whatever standards are in place. Little or no consideration is typically given to whether students are actually pursuing their individual potential because this is impossible under our current system and the corresponding paradigms.

In addition, teachers must ensure their classrooms are in compliance with conduct and behavior expectations. Few students are enthusiastic about the instruction they are receiving or the educational activities occurring. Rather, they attend school because it is required. They make the best of school by enjoying the social aspects (their friends must also be there) or finding ways to entertain themselves as best as possible — which includes finding creative ways to make school more interesting.

This means teachers must find ways to attain compliance from a group of students who would, for the most part, rather be elsewhere. Imagine what these teachers could accomplish if the students were deeply engaged by their own volition and the teacher could focus fully on student learning. What if the students really wanted to be engaging with and learning from the teachers?

Most teachers are incredibly dedicated to helping educate children. That they continue in this career field despite the many challenges is a testament to their devotion. And there are thousands of others who would love to be teachers but who opt for other careers because they know they would have to take on many non-teaching burdens in addition to teaching. Some teachers become “burned out” from these extra tasks and are largely just going through the motions.

The current model hamstrings teachers

Nearly everything limiting teachers’ ability to devote their time and effort exclusively to their calling — to prepare children for successful futures — is tied to our educational model. It is like taking a recently graduated, MIT-trained engineer and telling her she has to apply her skills in a nineteenth-century factory with nineteenth-century technology — and be responsible for worker morale and performance. While she may be able to do more with that technology than a lesser-trained engineer, she will never be able to work to her potential.

Reinventing our educational system can take into consideration how to best use the skills of our teachers. They would not be teaching as we understand it now. Rather, they would be responsible for facilitating their students’ learning instead of just delivering instruction. Many teachers have moved in this direction already, going from being a “sage-on-the-stage” to a “guide-on-the-side.” However, teachers must still teach essentially the same content to all the students, so they are unable to unleash their full ability to serve as that learning facilitator.

In the reinvented school, rather than deliver a predetermined curriculum, teachers would be working to ensure students achieve certain learning outcomes, which would vary for individual students. The timeline for achieving those outcomes, as well as the means of achieving and demonstrating them, would also be flexible.

TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS

Altering the system would require changes to teacher-preparation programs and would be an incredible opportunity for them to focus on their core purpose. The teacher-preparation programs could eliminate or minimize instruction on classroom management and administration and refocus on helping students learn. These programs could increase instruction on brain development, motivation, and other content underlying the learning process. Where appropriate, they could add to the content knowledge of the program so the graduates are better prepared for students who begin to move beyond the traditional limitations of a given course curriculum — which will end up being nearly all students.

These changes would free teachers to focus their passion, talents, and energy on helping students prepare to be successful now and in the future. It would also allow teachers to help every student pursue his or her full potential. For the sake of both students and teachers, we need to reinvent our educational system with this as an underlying goal.

Continue with the next element of Know Power, Know Responsibility (Chapter 11), here:

Kevin Miller is a Boomer who joined the Army during the Cold War and continues to serve. He has spent 30-plus years working in K-12 education as a teacher, administrator, and consultant and is now on a mission to reinvent our school model. His book Know Power, Know Responsibility provides the imperatives for a complete redesign of schools and the way to get there. See his website knowresponsibility.com to learn more.