Education is not a manufacturing or retail business, but some of the actions mentioned—use of appropriate performance metrics by numerate managers; reducing administrative excess; and personal interaction between management, staff, and customers—can sound like the use of sound business practices, if one is searching for an analogy to offer a skeptical funding provider (“investor”; “legislator”). The thing I hope to hear more about is how the effective principals dealt with what we grew up hearing called peer pressure: the ridicule, ostracism, and violence imposed on those who responded to the school’s incentives and sought to excel academically and behaviorally. Of course this was a guest post, so that discussion might have to take place elsewhere, but it would still be enlightening, I think, to learn more, somewhere. Thank you both for the post.
Great post. I substitute taught for a couple years trying to get a full time job 40 years ago. I knew I was going to have a good day when I met the Principal in the hall first thing in the morning. I always thought that if we took half the admin staff and put them in the classroom, there would be smaller class sizes and that would make it easier to manage the class and reach each student individually more often. Thanks for writing this article.
Now I have a new appreciation for the principal of our daughter’s high school. Mr. Lee was almost always in the halls whenever I went there. He could be seen picking up litter when I drove by. My husband took great pride in the way Mr. Lee handled the incident of gunplay outside school hours on the periphery of the suburban campus. Interviewed on local television, he consistently mentioned that it was a national high school of excellence and other great features of the school, not allowing reporters to drag him into their attempts to sound apocalyptic alarms.
I grew up in Western Australia as an American citizen, parents having emigrated to Perth in the mid 1960's. I came out of that (mostly British influenced) school system decently equipped to tackle early adulthood and my first few jobs.
When we returned to the United States, I encountered the school system here in some of my work - installing various IT systems and on occasion, repairing them. What my eyes saw my brain could not believe. Here was the American school system, touted as "one of the finest in the world" by teachers in Australian school circles (note: from their 1940-1950's experiences) but were in actuality little more than poorly kept zoological experiments that were bordering on asylum status.
The apes were running the show (and their mouths) to the extent of completely destroying any capacity for any of the students to hear, concentrate and learn. And this wasn't a single classroom or a single school. The company I worked for in the early 1980's had multiple contracts with several school districts. In only a few rare cases did I encounter a well adjusted classroom environment. The feckless teachers just shut down and sat there after writing "Read chapter blah-blah: homework due Thurs" on the board.
I do I recall the well-adjusted ones distinctly; they were the poorest of the poor districts. None of the students had the latest clothing or gadgets to brag about. It seemed they were more fascinated by what I was doing (installing a networked Commodore PET computer in the back corner) than throwing spitballs or shouting above their other classmates like so many of the others I came across.
Later, I attended college in my 30's (when I could afford to) and became a math tutor at the behest of one of the head tutors. I didn't fancy myself as some kind of math whiz, but apparently the logic ingrained through the Aussie school system stuck with me such that solving mathematical problems while sometimes quite difficult, came to me quickly and I hungered for more as I quickly discovered that I actually loved math.
So I tutored for a spell -- and here's where I think "Mrs. Mathison" has sold herself short.
You see, she alluded to one of the very most critical ingredients in education and learning, and albeit, any activity we endeavor; LOVE.
She glowed with love, and love is indeed infectious - it overlooks a multitude of faults and is resilient to a fault. Administrators who sit in their offices are telegraphing they don't love anyone but themselves and that their jobs are just that; jobs. Mrs. Mathison clearly loved teaching and through that enduring patience, was able to influence and encourage countless young lives. I wish I could go back to my other better teachers and thank them personally (I did get to go back and thank two of my teachers in 2010 when I took my family back to Perth for a visit).
Their counsel and professional affect has lasted my entire life.
Some careers require more than just a piece of paper that is awarded after enduring 4 or more years of classroom instruction. Some careers require things that cannot be taught or demanded. A teacher that loves teaching is such a very rare thing these days that it is refreshing to read this delightful missive from one. I was fortunate that many of my teachers overlooked my red-headed propensity to be fidgety and instead encouraged me despite my failings. I had plenty of bad ones, but it was the few good ones made all the difference.
The medical field is another place where genuine compassion and care are really a key ingredient to the wellness and recovery of their patients, but so many are in that field for the money only.
It was so refreshing to read something serious about ways to actually conserve and repair our schools instead of just abandoning them as ruins while the more well-off amongst us just move on to other things. Tell Mrs. Mathison thank you.
This is very informative but there’s also the problem of too many people shouting at education to “fix” itself. We have overwhelmed parents or even parents who shouldn’t be at this time of their life. An agenda that’s being played out drowning out the voices of teachers like this one trying to make a real difference. Too little money often going in the wrong directions.
But what’s wonderful about this article is there are still signs that people in the system still care deeply about the kids. Their future and happiness and health. I pray more people stand up vocally and using the vote to further the support these brave teachers and principals.
Education is not a manufacturing or retail business, but some of the actions mentioned—use of appropriate performance metrics by numerate managers; reducing administrative excess; and personal interaction between management, staff, and customers—can sound like the use of sound business practices, if one is searching for an analogy to offer a skeptical funding provider (“investor”; “legislator”). The thing I hope to hear more about is how the effective principals dealt with what we grew up hearing called peer pressure: the ridicule, ostracism, and violence imposed on those who responded to the school’s incentives and sought to excel academically and behaviorally. Of course this was a guest post, so that discussion might have to take place elsewhere, but it would still be enlightening, I think, to learn more, somewhere. Thank you both for the post.
I would love for Mrs. Mathison to write more. I hope she will!
Great post. I substitute taught for a couple years trying to get a full time job 40 years ago. I knew I was going to have a good day when I met the Principal in the hall first thing in the morning. I always thought that if we took half the admin staff and put them in the classroom, there would be smaller class sizes and that would make it easier to manage the class and reach each student individually more often. Thanks for writing this article.
Now I have a new appreciation for the principal of our daughter’s high school. Mr. Lee was almost always in the halls whenever I went there. He could be seen picking up litter when I drove by. My husband took great pride in the way Mr. Lee handled the incident of gunplay outside school hours on the periphery of the suburban campus. Interviewed on local television, he consistently mentioned that it was a national high school of excellence and other great features of the school, not allowing reporters to drag him into their attempts to sound apocalyptic alarms.
I grew up in Western Australia as an American citizen, parents having emigrated to Perth in the mid 1960's. I came out of that (mostly British influenced) school system decently equipped to tackle early adulthood and my first few jobs.
When we returned to the United States, I encountered the school system here in some of my work - installing various IT systems and on occasion, repairing them. What my eyes saw my brain could not believe. Here was the American school system, touted as "one of the finest in the world" by teachers in Australian school circles (note: from their 1940-1950's experiences) but were in actuality little more than poorly kept zoological experiments that were bordering on asylum status.
The apes were running the show (and their mouths) to the extent of completely destroying any capacity for any of the students to hear, concentrate and learn. And this wasn't a single classroom or a single school. The company I worked for in the early 1980's had multiple contracts with several school districts. In only a few rare cases did I encounter a well adjusted classroom environment. The feckless teachers just shut down and sat there after writing "Read chapter blah-blah: homework due Thurs" on the board.
I do I recall the well-adjusted ones distinctly; they were the poorest of the poor districts. None of the students had the latest clothing or gadgets to brag about. It seemed they were more fascinated by what I was doing (installing a networked Commodore PET computer in the back corner) than throwing spitballs or shouting above their other classmates like so many of the others I came across.
Later, I attended college in my 30's (when I could afford to) and became a math tutor at the behest of one of the head tutors. I didn't fancy myself as some kind of math whiz, but apparently the logic ingrained through the Aussie school system stuck with me such that solving mathematical problems while sometimes quite difficult, came to me quickly and I hungered for more as I quickly discovered that I actually loved math.
So I tutored for a spell -- and here's where I think "Mrs. Mathison" has sold herself short.
You see, she alluded to one of the very most critical ingredients in education and learning, and albeit, any activity we endeavor; LOVE.
She glowed with love, and love is indeed infectious - it overlooks a multitude of faults and is resilient to a fault. Administrators who sit in their offices are telegraphing they don't love anyone but themselves and that their jobs are just that; jobs. Mrs. Mathison clearly loved teaching and through that enduring patience, was able to influence and encourage countless young lives. I wish I could go back to my other better teachers and thank them personally (I did get to go back and thank two of my teachers in 2010 when I took my family back to Perth for a visit).
Their counsel and professional affect has lasted my entire life.
Some careers require more than just a piece of paper that is awarded after enduring 4 or more years of classroom instruction. Some careers require things that cannot be taught or demanded. A teacher that loves teaching is such a very rare thing these days that it is refreshing to read this delightful missive from one. I was fortunate that many of my teachers overlooked my red-headed propensity to be fidgety and instead encouraged me despite my failings. I had plenty of bad ones, but it was the few good ones made all the difference.
The medical field is another place where genuine compassion and care are really a key ingredient to the wellness and recovery of their patients, but so many are in that field for the money only.
But that's an essay for another day.
It was so refreshing to read something serious about ways to actually conserve and repair our schools instead of just abandoning them as ruins while the more well-off amongst us just move on to other things. Tell Mrs. Mathison thank you.
This is very informative but there’s also the problem of too many people shouting at education to “fix” itself. We have overwhelmed parents or even parents who shouldn’t be at this time of their life. An agenda that’s being played out drowning out the voices of teachers like this one trying to make a real difference. Too little money often going in the wrong directions.
But what’s wonderful about this article is there are still signs that people in the system still care deeply about the kids. Their future and happiness and health. I pray more people stand up vocally and using the vote to further the support these brave teachers and principals.