21/09/23 Week 02 Response to "Is the Great American Teacher Dead?"

 Discuss: "Is the Great American Teacher Dead?"

By Donovan Torr

Dr. John J. Ivers has a very compelling argument in his paper "Is the Great American Teacher Dead?" 

For someone who has never resided in America, this question took on a more international approach, I thought: Are great teachers dead? 

I would like to explore and discuss this idea of the state of teachers in our countries. What would make a teacher count as "dead" and what can be done to revive them if needed.

So what would make a teacher dead? I agree with Dr. Ivers statements that lessons that are boring, superficial and have uninspiring content can all be attributes of a dead teacher. Along with this would be a teacher who has given up, lost their motivation, and is just worn out from years of lack of support from a system that rarely cares for its teachers. 

Other issues that could lead to bad lessons are; when material is badly delivered, or the teacher has poor public speaking skills. Even the best of lessons will be found wanting if delivered in a monotone, with no variation to it at all.

Before we drag struggling teachers under the bus, we need to stop and realize that it is an extremely demanding job! The hours are long, the pay is low, and the support is often non-existent. However, educators do have a responsibility to their students to impart knowledge. This needs to be done in a way that encourages learning and ignites a passion in the students to seek after knowledge and understanding. A great teacher acts as a guide to their students, instead of just regurgitating facts for them to blindly swallow.

Throughout my school experience I have had many types of teachers. The worst I had to deal with was one who had no passion left in him. He refused to teach most days, instead he would put random movies on for us to watch while he was on his computer. When it came time to do projects, assignments and tests, he would read out the answers and make us write them down in our own words, so ensuring that we all "passed" his class. Another bad teacher experience I had was when a young new teacher was assigned to teach a class that was too advanced for them. They struggled to understand the lesson material and this often resulted in everyone involved being highly frustrated. When the teacher was reassigned though they quickly came into their own element and did an amazing job at educating their students. 

One of my best teachers ever though was a maths teacher. I despised the subject, along with most of the class. We were loud, naughty and thought we knew everything. This teacher quietly took the time to get to know us, to reason with us, engage on a personal level with us. She never got us to be a golden class, however she got us to listen to her enough that we would take in what she taught and we could pass our exams. She never gave up on us, besides have many reasons to do so. She also showed us that numbers could be fun, from her efforts we went on to have better experiences with math for the remainder of our school years.

As a current teacher, I know the difficulties that teachers face. I have had my days when I want to give up, not return to a particular class or even change professions completely! I have also had many amazing experiences, seeing students have light bulb moments as they apply themselves and finally grasp what you have been saying never gets old! I have been able to have amazing discussions with students and been surprised with the insights they have gained and shared during debates on various topics.

I try to get to know all of my students on some form of personal level, what are their interests, favorite colors, ambitions in life and such things. This ensures I always see my students as individuals and wish to see them succeed in life. To ensure they succeed I put the required effort into creating the best lessons that I can. Ones that they will find stimulating and will make them eager to participate in. I also try to leave them with a desire to delve deeper by themselves into the topics they enjoy.

I love teaching and wish to have a fantastic day at work everyday. In order to do this I need my students help. It is the same for all teachers, the students really can make or break us, but so do we make or break them. Be willing to change your approach if the class is not working, ask them what they want or like. If you find yourself on the path of being a dead teacher, resurrection and redemption is easy to find. Look outwards form yourself, look to your students, look to what they need from you. Make the changes, make your lessons engaging and inspiring once more, put energy back in the classroom, show them that you care. As you do these things you will not only reignite your passion to teach once more; you will also get your students to get onboard with you and have a far better teaching experience.

May we all continue to push ourselves as educators, may we never rest on our laurels. May we also continue to have amazing experiences educating the future generations that we are lucky enough to help shape in our classrooms.

For further information see: Dr John J. Ivers; Is the Great American Teacher Dead? Principles to Resurrect, Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction.  Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice. Volume 18.2012