Till, We Meet Again

I may be outstanding in my field, but I am no gardener.  I take no pride in that, in fact, I wish I were good with plants.  Alas, it is my wife who is the good gardener, the mulch master, the seed sower, and the water wizard.  Indentured servitude most aptly describes my role.  I am the hoe hummer, the wheel barrower, and the token tiller.  I do as I am directed in hopes that when harvest comes she will share the bounty with me:  tomatoes, peppers, okra, peas, and beans.  It is spring break in Texas and after a weekend of cold and wet, I roll out the tiller under warm and heavy air to re-break the garden soil, turn it over, stir it deeply and leave it rich, dark brown, earthy, fragrant and waiting. 

She plants by hand, somehow knowing how deep the hole should be to receive the seed or the small cube of dirt bearing a young plant.  Each patted just so, spaced just so, watered just so.  I stand amazed at her artistry and know that for centuries human beings have been tilling soil, planting seed, praying for the right weather, and waiting.  At afternoon’s end, I sit and look at the furrowed rows nurturing life.  We now await the food to be.  The miracle that allows each separate seed to sprout, grow, and produce according to its genetic code.

We will water.  We will fertilize.  We will prune and cull.  We will pull weeds.  We will ward off predators.  We will do all that we can to nurture the plants to become what we hope they will become and produce what they are programmed to produce.  Mostly we wait.

There are similarities to teaching here, but not many.  Yes, as educators we attempt to prepare the soil, water, fertilize and wait.  But seeds do not have a mind of their own.  Kids are not pre-programmed to produce a certain fruit or a certain vegetable.  The soil in which each child is metaphorically nurtured is vastly different from every other child even if the gardening techniques are the same.  The outcomes will be different too and are less guaranteed than gardening.  If I get anything from a bell pepper plant it will be bell peppers.  With kids, you never know.

Well, you might think you know.  If you do, you will write measurable objectives for every child for each year and each subject then predetermine a time to harvest a predetermined fruit on a pre-printed bubble sheet.  The gardener will be held accountable for the soil, the weather, the water, the fertilizer even though the seed has a mind of its own and a genetic code of its own.  Even farmers can take out insurance to protect them from a bad crop.  Teachers cannot.

Regardless, now is the time to plant a garden.  September is the time to plant a classroom.  I wish for each of you a great spring vacation.  As we return we begin to harvest in our classrooms, mandated by those who believe kids should all bear the same fruit.  For me, today, it is simply time to meet the till again.

Confessions of a "Bad" Administrator?

I just read William Johnson’s op ed in the New York Times today entitled “Confessions of a ‘Bad’ Teacher.”  You can read it too at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/opinion/sunday/confessions-of-a-bad-teacher.html?emc=eta1.  It was sent to me by a teacher friend in Indiana.  Yes, I have teacher friends.  And yes, I was outraged on behalf of Mr. Johnson.  It occurs to me that if I am outraged on his behalf, perhaps I am a bad public school superintendent.  If so, I confess and the compliance police may now take me into custody.

Here’s what I know, (and when I say “know” I mean the following are true statements based on research, based on observations, based on three decades plus of experience):  The more affluent the parents the greater the likelihood that students will do well academically.  The more money per pupil that schools spend the greater the likelihood that students will do well academically.  No one measure of student performance is a good predictor of student success, however we define such success.  No high stakes standardized test comes close to being a good measure, much less the measure.  Public school “reforms” such as school choice, vouchers, charter schools, high stakes standardized tests, teacher appraisal tied to student standardized outcomes, re-structured schools by firing teachers and principals, and continuing media hype regarding  "failing” schools are much more about political posturing than real educational reform.  In fact, the politics behind these so-called reforms are firmly supported by people who oppose the notion of public schools and hate paying tax dollars to support them.  In other words, the Kool Aid is out there, but I refuse to drink.

Here’s what else I know:  Every kid is different.  Every single one of them is in some way gifted, disabled, precious, flawed and wonderful.  Every teacher is different.  Every single one of them is in some way gifted, disabled, precious, flawed and wonderful.  Schools are messy because they are full of human beings and the little ones dramatically outnumber the big ones.  The adults in the school are now charged with an array of missions schools, teachers and administrators have never faced, and student performance is measured using an array of indicators beyond anything we have ever seen.  The dream of non-school people to make all this a science or a private sector model of efficiency and effectiveness is merely a dream.  If you doubt that, go to your nearest school and have lunch with kindergarten kids then have lunch with high school seniors.  Assume responsibility for their performance and see where that gets you.  And lunch room duty is a cake walk compared to teaching! 

Real school improvement is a vast and highly complex process that involves all the players in the community including the kids, the parents, the teachers, the administrators, etc.  For every highly complex problem there is a simple solution, and it is wrong.  Real school improvement happens inside out, not outside in.  A memo, a law, a fiat, a mandate, sent down the chain of command does not result in better learning.  It results in compliance.  And if what we want from kids and teachers is compliance training, then perhaps I misunderstood what this nation is all about.  And even if you really want compliance education, it cannot happen with fewer resources, it can only happen with more.

I agree with Mr. Johnson, “Until we provide equal educational resources to students and teachers, we can't say how well or poorly they're performing.”  So, Bill, if you get fired, call me.  If I still have a job I’ll hire you.