A former journalist co-worker of mine who is now a teacher posted an interesting link on Facebook the other day. The Epoch Times published a story Feb. 19 headlined "Overwhelmed Canadian teachers quitting in droves - Improve working conditions to keep new teachers from leaving the profession, says expert."
This led to a hearty discussion that I kicked off. My opening point was that I concur. Of four close friends who are teachers, only one is still in the classroom. The disillusionment is palpable. One got out within a year, went into politics and then eventually fell back on his second degree in computer science. The second had been a vice-principal in an inner city school where a large portion of his class was sentenced to attend school as part of their youth court sentences. He's since become disillusioned with the education system and now has fallen back on his second degree in fine arts. The third is no longer in the classroom, but works on the division level in a support position. The only one still in a classroom wrote a book called What's Wrong With Our Schools and How We Can Fix Them.
The author, Michael Zwaagstra, has since become a national authority on the education system, is a frequent speaker on the subject in seminars, on TV and radio across the country, and has been consulted by at least one deputy minister of education. Zwaagstra has written about education for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy for more than10 years.
He had done extensive work on no-zero policies. Based on one of Zwaagstra's studies I wrote a series of columns in 2009 called "You can't fail in school, but you can fail in life." I think the chickens are coming home to roost on that one.
This cohort of teachers are all my age, which means they went to high school in the early 1990s and graduated university in the mid to late 1990s. Our generation did get zeros in class if we failed to hand in the work, and could fail a grade in elementary school, unlike restraints placed on the current crop of new teachers.
And that's where I think some of the problems outlined in the Epoch Times article come from. The current generation of teachers grew up in an education system that made it all but impossible to fail. Indeed, this is one of the reasons one of my friends became disillusioned with the system. Such notions that the education system has adopted have no place in real life.
The vast majority of teachers never truly leave the classroom from kindergarten right through elementary and secondary schools, followed by university, until they are teaching their own class. They are both a product of and a part of an education system that has the wrongheaded notion that no one fails, everyone gets a trophy and there are no winners and losers in life.
So when they do end up in the workforce, the real world, as teachers, it's no small surprise many are struggling.
This is where many of the points made by teachers in our little Facebook debate come into play. One said, "Teachers have been targets of public and government scorn all my life. Very convenient that we're dismantling public education and democracy at the same time. After all they grew up together, and you can't really have one without the other."
Another went to great lengths to point out additional burdens teachers have now. She noted, "If anyone's wondering what a tiny, easy step to helping is, start by stifling yourself the next time you mention 'vacation time' to teachers as if it's a special gift. Eight-to-four is the minimum in school day, and almost everyone I know throws another 10-15 hours on top, either at home or back at the school in the weekends."
She also pointed out the additional hours, unpaid, now expected of teachers with the government enforcing a minimum number of hours in the classroom for students each year.
Additional comments were made about the social work that is now part and parcel with teaching.
Some, myself included on occasion, might accuse the teaching profession as being prone to whining. After all, the general thought out there is teaching is not a tough job. But all of these are valid points. The work is hard, and in many ways, getting harder.
However, I don't know of any job out there that is not getting harder, who works less hours or whose job has become simpler instead of more demanding.
There is attrition in pretty much every field out there, but if young teachers are leaving the profession in droves, there's one simple conclusion: the education colleges are not adequately preparing them for a career that is tougher than it seems.
I would suggest that starts right from elementary school, with no-fail policies, and continues right through education colleges. Zwaagstra spent last summer doing an exposé on "edu-babble" by attending a graduate-level course on education fundamentals. Part of the course had teachers go in a field and walk to what in nature they were "drawn to." Perhaps more on discipline in the classroom would be of greater benefit to the teacher.
It turns out it is possible to fail in life, even if you can't fail in school. Unfortunately many young teachers are learning that the hard way.
- Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected].
