Teaching as a Metaphor in the 21st Century

Given that tomorrow, we are voting on a tentative agreement on our provincial contract, I often hear teaching consider themselves "professionals".  I, 100%, agree with this statement.  Often, the argument continues with comparing teachers to doctors and lawyers, as other professionals.  Yet again, I do not disagree.  However, I am going to draw the comparisons between teacher and the medical profession for the sake of this blog.

1.  Our health care system is a PUBLIC health care system.  This means that everyone has a RIGHT to access health care.  This became very apparent to me this summer as I was waiting in the emergency room to get my stitches and an inmate came in to the hospital.  The triage nurse asked this individual the exact same questions of him as she did to me.  He was provided the same care as I was.  So, in education (at least in a PUBLIC education system), everyone has a RIGHT to an education.  We do not have the ability to "kick students out" that are underperforming.  We cannot refuse entry into our schools for any reason and cannot send them to another school (imagine hospitals doing that?????). Even if the student has really struggled with school, we must attempt to provide the necessary care to allow this student to be successful. If we cannot provide the necessary program for a particular student and another school can, that is a different story.  This comparison is just like the labour and delivery unit is at the General Hospital and not the Pasqua Hospital.  Also, if a student is a threat to the school (either staff or students), this also is a different story.

2.  Doctors diagnose problems and attempt to help fix them.  Teachers do the exact same.  Doctors do not prescribe the same medication or prescribe the same recovery routines for everyone based on age, condition, etc.  Every patient is different - but all with the same goal.....to be healthy.  Every student is different - but all have the same goal....to graduate.  With that being said, we cannot expect every student to learn in the exact same way, be tested in the exact same way, and perform along the same time lines as everyone else. The days of having students conform to our box are no longer there. 

3.  Although students and teachers should not be judged based on standardized tests (doctors do not receive merit pay or penalized pay if their patients don't recover based on patient choices - and nor should teachers), there is a place for standardized tests.  When I go to the doctor, I want to know what my blood pressure, cholesterol, pulse, hemoglobin, etc. is based on an accepted, standardized, level.  I think there is a place for standardized tests.  However, if my doctor prescribes medication or a physical routine that I am supposed to be following, and do not, this is not a reflection on my doctor.  This is a reflection on the patient.

These are just three comparisons between the medical profession and the teaching profession.  I'm sure there are many more.  I would be interested to hear if others out there can add to my list of comparisons between education and medicine.

Schools of the 21st Century

There has been a great deal of discussion (in this class and others as well as at the Ministry level and beyond) about how education must change.  Our government wants a higher graduation rate, our kids are stimulated in drastically different ways now than in years previous (see article on children and technology), and teachers are caught in the middle between teaching the basics (on a traditional level) or keeping with the times and teaching kids with technology at the forefront (see article on pros and cons of using technology in the classroom).  Education clearly becomes a juggling act for many schools and teachers.

Sir Ken Robinson suggests what schools ought to look like in his 19 minute Ted Talk.  I would be interested to hear others thoughts on this presentation.  In particular, I appreciated his comments on teaching vs. learning.  I agree that many times, we see "teaching" occurring but limited "learning" to match.  How do we ensure these match?  Are standardized tests a way to help measure this?  The comment regarding Finland (Sahlberg's article supporting Sir Ken Robinson's claims) is an interesting one.  We often aspire to be like Finland, in terms of their achievement (as measured on a standardized test, by the way) but seem to have a number of barriers preventing us from doing so.

Do you think an education system, as Sir Ken Robinson has described, can exist?

The Importance of Relationships

I think it seems rather obvious.  As adults, we tend to surround ourselves with those whom we enjoy their company, those that make us feel good about ourselves, and those who challenge us (respectfully) to improve ourselves daily.  So why do we think kids are different?

This video was liked by a number of my friends on Facebook so I thought it was worth a watch.  It certainly does motivate us to invest in children and stresses the importance of relationships.  Additionally, I wonder if high school teachers got into the education profession for different reasons (love of a subject area) than did elementary teachers (love of children).