Have we lost the essence as educators when we simply just do too much ?
I would like to share a quote from Michael Fullan in a book he wrote in 2001. The quote is "In schools, the main problem is not the absence of innovations but the presence of too many disconnected , piecemeal, superficially adorned projects. We are over our heads". I totally agree with this quote. Many times we do too many things in schools and our students and teachers are still not happy, we organise camps, establish sister school relationships, invest in state of the art technology facilities, build huge auditoriums, give students lap tops to take home, have major college fete days, school musicals and theatrical productions etc. While all of these ideas and projects are good and beneficial it doesn't necessarily mean that all of us feel happy, satisfied, and empowered at the end . A feeling of emptiness remains, many teachers feel stressed out after all this hard work and not all students appreciate these good projects. Students sometimes complain from the heart that school is not always fun well as a teacher I don't blame them !
Sir Humphrey asserted that politicians are very active 'because activity is a substitute for achievement'. I believe that Fullan is saying that teachers can fall into the same trap.
Achievement could replace piecemeal superficial activity but only if we had a clear purpose. Over a four year period when I was working with teachers in many schools I surveyed and spoke with about 1000 secondary students. Most schools had clear mission statements but time and time again students told me that what schools did was not linked in any way to the mission statement.
Reading annual school reports tells us what the actual purpose of a school is and the link between this purpose and the school mission is rarely made.
The PURPOSE of ALL learning must be to fulfill the actual mission of the school. If this link was in clear in the mind of every member of the school community then much more effective decisions could then be made about which 'activities' had relevance, validity and worth.
Anyone wishing to obtain my unpublished paper about the purpose of school problem can contact me on leokeegan@bigpond.com.
We had a go at defining the role of the teacher about 15 years ago where we came up with the words of " The role of the TAFE teachers as a professional educator is to help, construct, guide and enhance the educative process. The teacher delivers educational programs and facilites learning, enabling students to achieve their desired outcomes. the role of the teacher involves a broad range of acitivites which directly an dindirectly support learning through the delivery of educational programs. These acitivies may include: educational practice; assessment and evaluation; maintaining professional expertise; developing the learning environment; liaising with industry, educational providers and community; complying with legislation; quality assurance and improvement processes.
The NSWTF has recently come out and highlighted the importance of relationships in teaching .. the critical factor of building rapport and inspiring students to develop their relevant skills, knowledge and attributes in a sustainable context.
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