Crisis in our school systems
Judge not…
Remove the beam in your own eye and then you will be able to remove the splinter in another’s eye…
While I was teaching I learning a behavioral technique called assertive discipline… this process served me very well to remain consistent in my attempt to manage my classroom… I felt brave and fair for the most part…
When I quit teaching I found myself no longer yearning to discipline. Being a parent was enough disciplining for me, so when I continued to volunteer, I slowly came to a place where I avoided correcting kids…
Now, if I see some dangerous behavior, I stretch my mind to locate a creative way to be a responsible adult and not be an authority, telling kids what to do. Disney does this better than anyone.
It’s more of an invitation to change the decision of your behavior. Sometimes it works. Other times it doesn’t.
This scripture from Matthew may put meaning to this journey of discipline that I continue to walk… while I continue to remove many logs from my eyes, I have come to learn that there may be much about the situation or the intention of the behavior of which I know nothing about.
Behind each person lies experienced and situations that are beyond my comprehension…
By choosing a suggestion in an unauthoritative way, I can place aside my accusation and give an invitation to make a better choice.
This technique would be incredibly challenging for a teacher to make as they do not have the time to think all of it through… discipline has to be formulated into the classroom to maintain a learning environment. So the teachers who take the time and interest to learn about their students and what they are dealing with, will come at this more authentically.
With the mental health crisis we all are facing… teachers, possibly more than any other space are finding that students no longer care to learn… they are disrespectful, rude, and distant. Teachers are working harder than ever. Dedicated and determined to figure out how to help them learn…I wonder if the students overall are just not emotionally healthy enough to processing the learning skills needed to succeed academically. Their brains are working in fear, the fight and flight has been activated… this has nothing to do with the teacher, and their teaching ability. The teacher can locate power here… and it’s not about doing more… it’s really about doing less.
Observing and listening will provide many answers as to what the students are experiencing… due to the current mindset of instruction time and test driven cultures… there is no time for down time. No time for listening. No time for getting to know what’s going on in a child’s life.
As long as the system of education holds on to a position that is no longer affective this mess will continue. We will continue to lose affective and dedicated educators, some of who may believe they weren’t getting the job done, feeling like they were the failure. They were not able to succeed in a system that is broken and does not work. If the powers at be do not seek truth, do not break free of their own AI, and stop justifying by saying we just need to do it better, our teachers and our students will continue to suffer. The school system will continue to be a place that is driving trauma into the lives of the people it is touching. Suicides will grow. Addiction will continue to rise. Families will break apart even more.
It’s not supposed to be like this. The public schools were once, one of America’s greatest assets. Today they are places of shame and blame, with judgmental and divisive ideology.
Please for the sake of our teachers and for our students, let’s turn in around!
Not by doing more…Not by more instruction…Not by working harder…
But by slowing down… breathing more…more time for listening…
If the mental crisis doesn’t take priority in the schools… the learning crisis will grow.
To all you amazing teachers out there… you are not failing in the classroom.. the system of which you are victim is failing… please know this… we see you… we love you!
You may wonder how I know about this even though I’m not a teacher… it’s because when I engage with a teacher I ask them and I listen… I want them to feel seen and heard… just like our students are in desperate need of… to be seen and to be heard… we can do better and we should… our kids don’t deserve to live in a world where the adults aren’t listening to them.