The culture of a school is not something that receives much attention by the public, but every teacher feels it. It reminds me of the family. The best way to raise well-adjusted, successful children is to give them parents who have a healthy, caring relationship that they spend time cultivating. We’ve all heard the saying, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” Too often, the teachers’ well-being is overlooked when measuring the quality of a school. It might be worth the time to read Ferguson’s research on the differences money makes on a school’s staff and not just on furnishing resources.
I sense frustration in the writings of the first-year teachers, especially the first author, whose name was withheld, but I resented her statement about “old-school teachers.” How arrogant and biased! Every teacher in our cohort has taught for many years, yet we are not stagnant or uncaring. Attitudes of incoming teachers, novice or veteran, can certainly impact a school.
The passage about learning time was of special interest to me. I think any teacher would agree that time is important, but I see so much time — and learning opportunities — being wasted. My colleagues know how concerned I am about the amount of time spent on fund-raising activities at our school, even though the money goes to worthwhile causes. Another pet peeve of mine is the practice of watching movies or cartoons as a reward. What a waste of precious teaching time! It would be interesting to track one student throughout a day to see how his time is spent. (Maybe that will be my next research project!)
The authors posed the question, “Can students get by without trying very hard?” I think the answer to this is too often a resounding “Yes!” We have many bright students who found school so easy in the beginning grades that they come to the third grade without necessary study skills. They find themselves facing a gateway test with the realization that they should have been studying harder to grasp difficult subject matter. Primary teachers are “programmed” to help young students, but we are probably all guilty of doing too much “spoon-feeding.” I know I’m guilty.
I like the idea of inquiry groups, especially the way they’re described by Chrysta Bakstad (p. 372), but I question the practice of taking teachers away from their students for almost 3 hours every other week. Our teachers meet once a month during the day, but we have an agenda that is set at the beginning of the year, so there is no room for spontaneous discussion. Maybe that’s something we can work to change next year.
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