Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog had a range of reaction to an essay by a University of Georgia professor on whether teaching was a calling or just another job. Dr. Peter Smagorinsky says classroom teaching is paid as if it were a calling, something that people do because they love it rather than because of how much they can earn. But, he says, the erosion of respect for the profession and the increasing drive to use student test scores to measure a teacher’s worth are making practitioners rethink their career choice. Here is what readers had to say.
SouthGeorgia: I agree that we can find a way to treat teachers with the dignity they deserve and at the same time evaluate them fairly. Teaching in pre-K through 12 is a unique profession, one that offers little financial reward but does offer real satisfaction when kids show the positive results of the effort teachers put into their jobs. We can find a way to evaluate performance fairly without retribution for things that affect kids outside the classroom and are beyond the control of teachers.
MisterEd: When you walk into a classroom and sit for 10 minutes, you will easily be able to discern between the professional teacher and the teacher with a job. Regardless of the age or experience of the teacher, the classroom of the professional will be one of joyous or at least enthusiastic and focused learning. In my 20 years as a middle school teacher, this was always clearly evident to me. I feel one of the major problems with schools is administrators with their own agenda or a personal goal to move to the top — the county office. Any good administrator, and there are many of them, can tell you which of their teachers are effective and motivational in their classrooms. On the other hand, they can tell you the losers in the school, those who should have never been in the classroom. Here is where the problem lies. Administrators can only fire a teacher if the teacher commits a crime, hits a student or burns the school to the ground.
FRM: There is no simple answer to this question. To some teachers, it is a higher calling, and to others, it is like any other job. And teachers with either attitude can be good or bad teachers. As a former teacher, I know how much time teachers can and do devote to the job
WWTE: We need to rephrase the question. Instead of arguing about what is, let's argue about what should be. Jefferson thought education to be essential to the health of the republic. So much so, he promoted public education as a primary objective in his state, and thought the federal Constitution should be amended to make education a public right. So, should teaching be a special career? I say yes. The present status of our country and economy is proof that treating teaching like any other job is jeopardizing our future.
Quidocetdiscit: Teaching is a career, but too many in power want to treat it like a job. They feel that if they micromanage the classroom — providing scripted lessons, a pace guide, computer-based lessons and "teacher-proof" materials — that any old Joe Blow hired off the streets at minimum wage will be able to do the job. This is the "business model" applied to education.
Liberal4Life: Bashing teachers or teaching as a profession serves no purpose. Why would a bright person who can pursue any career choose the one that a certain segment (and unfortunately pretty vocal if not majority) constantly belittle and ridicule? When parents view teachers with disdain, how do you expect their children to behave in classrooms?
Starik: In recent years, I encountered teachers who couldn't speak or write a simple standard English sentence, and yes, more coach-administrators. The APS cheating scandal broke open, apparently, because one of the teachers had a "vision" instructing her to confess to investigators. I don't want my kids taught by anybody who has visions.
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