Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Pressure from Adminstrators and Teachers too?
Gatto discusses the pressure that she, even as an accomplished and veteran teacher, faces to conform to generally accepted literacy practices. Considering all of the awards and citations she has received, I found it pretty remarkable to think that she still faces this thinly veiled criticism.
How should aspiring teachers prepare themselves for this pressure?
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4 comments:
I think there will always be that pressure form above, below and the sides. Lynn takes risks and that will never change. The awards are not ego boosters but tangible ways to convince people that you know what you are doing and let you take those risks ...or at least quiet them for a while.
I'm not sure we truly can prepare ourselves for the pressure. It helps that we are aware of it existing, and I think going back to the idea of having a support team is crucial. If we have other teachers we can go to when we are feeling pressured or struggling, it might help the situation. The more teachers stand together in what they believe, maybe change can gradually happen.
Which is an interesting point considering the discussion we just had on how teachers tend to be, uh, overly critical of each other. How can we band together to resist pressure if that exact pressure is what's driving us apart?
The pressure will be there... but we should all try to keep the bigger picture in our mind. Administrators are feeling pressure from superiors, as are superintendents. Hopefully the pressure doesn't leak down to our students. We can adhere to standards and mandated curriculum when we're being watched. But when your classroom door is closed, you (and your students) ultimately decide what you are teaching and how you are teaching it. The pressure only becomes your problem if you let it... otherwise it remains someone else's problem.
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