Teacher Roles and Responsibilities

 This has been my most popular blog post. This post received almost 95,000 views. 

The Classroom Teacher: Roles and Responsibilities?

As education evolves so does the role of the classroom teacher.  What is the current role of the classroom teacher?  What are his/her responsibilities?  How does this educator prioritize and what is most important?  I consider the many aspects of the classroom teacher below.  I also propose reflection related to possible changes in that role for best effect.  I look forward to your response regarding this topic.

Classroom Teacher as Manager
In many ways, the role of a classroom teacher is that of manager.  He/she passes out and collects numerous forms, takes attendance and lunch count, responds to illness, supervises recess, manages transitions, responds to parent emails, notes and phone calls, organizes the coat rack, finds lost mittens (and other articles), prepares/cleans a classroom environment, orders materials and creates an atmosphere for learning. These are all time consuming tasks, but not tasks, in general, that require extensive subject knowledge or instructional understanding.  Should all of the tasks above be the responsibility of a classroom teacher?  Would it be better to broaden the responsibilities above to all faculty members so that every professional educator has responsibility for the management of a relatively equal group of students, or would it be better to start a new role in schools, one in which people are hired to manage the procedural aspects of running a school including attendance, lunch count, recess duty, transitions, coat rack organization and more?

Classroom Teacher as Social Skills/Behavior Counselor
A large part of teaching involves coaching and mentoring related to social skills and behavior.  Students come to school with all kinds of attitudes and readiness with regard to learning and working together, and teachers work day in and day out with students to develop their abilities related to optimal social skills, behavior and emotional intelligence.  This is an area of school life where I believe advisory groups would be better than homerooms as advisory groups could include all professional educators in a building which would mean smaller social groups to guide and mentor related to optimal social skills, behavior and emotional intelligence

Classroom Teacher as Academic Coach, Mentor, Guide and Instructor
With the move towards greater interdisciplinary project based learning, and the need for expert teaching related to specific skill development in reading, writing and math, I am wondering about this area too.

• Have we reached a point where we need to re-look at professional responsibilities in the academic realm?
• Do we know so much more now about the art and science of teaching that one-size-fits-all classrooms have become outdated and inefficient with respect to optimal learning?
• Is it time to embrace a model of school that includes a greater use of targeted teaching responsibilities and content areas?  For example, as a fourth grade teacher, there is a lot to know about current math, science, reading, writing and social studies content, pedagogy and methodology.  With the current tools available, the sky's the limit for what we are able to do with students, yet when we try to do it all, our efforts are sometimes diluted and less effective.  
• What are the developmental implications related to school structure and environment? What types of environments and instruction are best suited for students at particular ages?  

For best effect, optimal engagement and student confidence, I believe it's time to restructure the roles, schedules and responsibilities related to academic instruction.  With this in mind, I proposed a model last year.

A good way to start this restructure is to consider the efforts that currently work related to student learning, engagement and confidence, and those efforts that are less effective. Then begin replacing less effective strategies and efforts with activities that make students want to come to school, engage and learn as much as possible.

Further, the time to respond to students and families through editing, correcting papers, writing report cards, assembling portfolios/files and analyzing data has traditionally just been considered a classroom teacher's responsibility.  For some roles, this after hours work adds up to multiple hours, and for other roles there is little to no additional responsibility related to this.  This "on your own time" work has created a wide variety of responses and actions.  I think the time has come when this work needs to be considered as part of the teacher's overall on-time tasks in the school house which means that response time becomes a consideration when creating schedules, prep time and collaborative meetings.  In one school I read about recently, writing teachers were given smaller classes and greater prep time due to the great amount of time it takes to coach writing skill and proficiency with care.

Teacher as Collaborator
As schools respond to research which supports greater collaboration, how does that affect a teacher's work and skills.  Generally veteran teachers were used to working in relatively isolated situations, hence there's a learning curve related to collaborative skill, attitude and effort.  Also, school schedules often don't leave time for professional collaboration.  Fortunately I work in a system that has put aside three weekly times for collaboration including PLCs, common grade-level planning time and Wednesday inservice hours.  This is a step in the right direction.  Collaborative cultures in schools will develop if time and learning is devoted to building that culture.

Education evolution requires the evolution of roles and responsibilities.  I believe it is a time when we must begin to reconsider the classroom teacher role with regard to current cognitive research and a focus on best effect.  How can we create a school structure with roles and responsibilities that lead to optimal engagement, learning and confidence for all students? I am very interested in this discussion as I believe it holds potential for better schools.  Please don't hesitate to comment with links, arguments and other ideas.

Related Post:
We Can't Be All Things

Note:
I wrote this post several years ago. It has been my most popular blog post. Today, April 3, 2015, I updated my thoughts on the role of the teacher. Please take a look.

Transitioning to a book of ideas, links, and practices

 

If you know me, you know that I like to think, analyze, create, write, and share my ideas. Way back when my teaching ideas and practice were challenged, I began writing a blog about my teaching thoughts, ideas, experiences, and practice. Over time, that blog including 7,511 posts has been read 1,988,197 times. My children like to joke that more than half of that number belongs to me, but I know that's not the case. They keep me humble. 

Now, with an overfull cloud file of ideas and posts, it's time to put the most significant ideas, thoughts, experiences, and practice into a book to free up file space and have a concrete vehicle to share with educators, like me, who want to think deeply about their practice and the ways schools should develop over time. 

I've got a long list of projects, and I'll add this to the mix. If you have any thoughts or ideas for me, please share. In the meantime, if you're looking for teaching/education thoughts and ideas, feel free to search this blog. Onward. 

Professional educator

 I was a professional educator for 34 years. I was an amateur educator for many years before that as I cared for countless children in my own family and elsewhere. I wanted to be a teacher from my very first days as a student at the local Natural History Museum preschool, and I am not unhappy that I chose teaching as my career. Yet, looking back and knowing what I know now, I would have made a few different choices during my teaching career. 

Understand your job expectations and meet those expectations with strength

I came into teaching wanting to change every aspect of education. As a young girl, I watched how outdated, dehumanizing education trends greatly harmed people in my life and hurt me too. While my educational experiences were mostly positive, I did experience some negative events, and for my brother, the way education was executed was mostly negative and harmful. I knew there was great room for change in teaching and learning, and I wanted to promote that change right away. 

That wasn't a positive way to start my career. While it's great to have big dreams for your career path, it's best to do the job you're expected to do well first. I wish I had given more attention to the job expectations I had rather than trying to change the entire school right away. 

Don't trust too quickly

Growing up in a mostly supportive atmosphere, I was a very trusting individual. I shared too readily with colleagues and administrators when I should have spent more time observing, listening, and getting to know the work environment. I never imagined that some would not have your best interests in mind. It's best not to trust too quickly, and take on a more reserved attitude as you start your career. Gain a good understanding of the environment you're in as this will help you to navigate that environment with success.

Develop your skill and knowledge

Take a strategic approach to developing your skill and knowledge. While doing the job you're assigned well, also develop your skills and credentials through reputable programs. Rather than taking countless courses in all kinds of education-related disciplines, I suggest building an expertise in a specific area such as math education, counseling, reading, or leadership. 

Leading up is perhaps a too-great challenge

I tried to make change from the position of educator, and while I believe there should be more teacher leaders in schools, the reality is that administrators have the greatest ability to make good change. Therefore if you're a visionary educator, I recommend that you do a great job in the classroom for a few years, and then get your credentials to become an administrator who can more easily make the kinds of changes that improve schools. 

You can't be all things to all people

Schools are complex places with lots of people and goals. You can't be all things to all people, so instead, nurture your relationships with close colleagues, and while you should be respectful and friendly to everyone in the community, you can't be close to all of them--there's simply too many people in the teaching/learning community to be close to everyone. 

Establish a wonderful personal life

Try to keep your professional life and personal life separate. When your personal life seeps into your professional life, you lose the chance to have a reprieve from the tough work of teaching and learning. Create a good schedule for yourself that includes good time for work and good time for personal connections, interests, and good living. 

Your boss is not your friend

I trusted administrators to be my friend and learned at last that no matter how wonderful your boss is, he or she is not your friend. Only share with your administrator that which is professional and related to the work environment. Keep your personal life separate unless it's a situation where your personal situation will have an impact on your work such as illness or a big life change. I suggest that all teachers have outside counseling to help them navigate the many issues that will arise during their professional life--it's best to share those issues with an outside consultant than administrators or most colleagues. 

Partner with students and families

Recognize that parents know their children well, and that every child and family has a story to tell. Typically when parents and students are upset, they need to tell their story. Listen carefully and seek ways to work together as a team to help the child have as much success as possible. Never hesitate to say to a parent or child, "I am here to help you learn and be successful in any way that I can. Let's team together to make this a successful year." 

Keep a daily log

It's good to keep a daily log of events that chart the success, challenges, and room for growth. This daily log will help you to complete evaluations, pinpoint problems, communicate issues, and work on positive change. Often in schools, one of the greatest challenges for classroom teachers is that the help that is supposed to be there doesn't arrive. Specialists are often not available when they are supposed to be there--keeping a chart of when people come and when they don't come will be helpful in this regard. A daily log will also help you to identify trends in your work and trends with your students too. 

Join the union and read the union literature

I joined the union right away, but was late to read the literature and know what the union offered with regard to professional learning and development. Union membership protects your rights to speak up and do the job well. Too often teachers are compromised in the work environment when it comes to serving their students well, and union membership protects those rights. Union leadership in every school system will differ--some will be right there for you and others may work more for the administration. It's good to get to know your union, but again, not trust too quickly. 

Teaching is much like parenting. The profession continually challenges you in countless ways. Taking a reserved and professional attitude and action towards your career will serve you well in the long run. I wish someone had told me this when I started my career. Onward. 

Will this home be our forever house?

 My husband and I lived in a small third floor apartment when we had our first child. It was a cozy place at the end of a street next to a historic school campus. When we learned that the small apartment had lead paint and the baby began to get more active, I knew I had to move--I didn't want to risk our child's health. 

With a mere $5,000 in the bank, I began the house hunt. I read a book about how to buy a house, and applied what I learned to the search. We found an angel-realtor who not only was interested in doing her job, but was also interested in giving us a good start in life. She showed us sixty houses in child-friendly neighborhoods near my job. I also drove around nearby neighborhoods looking for houses for sale. That's when I spotted a white split level house about one mile from my workplace. The house was evidently empty, and one tip I learned while reading the house buying book was that it's good to buy a house where the people have already moved out since that possibly signaled an eager seller who might sell the house for less. 

We inquired about the house and were told it was out of our price range, but we asked to tour the house anyways. When we toured the house we liked the fact that it had plenty of space, was close to my work, and didn't need a lot of work. We weren't as keen on the house style or town at the time, but it was clearly a lot of house for the price so we made an offer. The realtors scoffed at what they thought  was a too-low offer, but we persisted, and the house owners eventually accepted the offer mostly because they were eager to move and clearly had made enough money so that a few thousand dollar difference wasn't a big deal to them. 

With $5,000 down and two jobs, we were approved for a mortgage, but had to pay the extra mortgage insurance. I remember our first day in the house--we simply sat in the middle of the empty living room amazed that we now owned a house. My family moved us in. I thought we'd live in this house for a few years before moving on, but now about 32 years later, I'm beginning to think this will be our forever house. In fact, while this house offered us some good value when our children were young, it's actually an even better home for an older couple as the town has great services and the home is near lots of needed places such as grocery stores, health care facilities, and recreation. Plus we have terrific neighbors--it turns out that our neighborhood is the kind of place where people stay for a long time and where people are ready and willing to help each other out. That's awesome. 

Rather than move to a place by the ocean or mountains, from time to time we'll rent a home in those places for a vacation, but for now we'll enjoy our home, a place we've customized over time to the way we like to live. We've created a number of spaces that support our interests and enable us to welcome our friends and family members. Onward. 

Enduring tough episodes of life

 When I pray, I start by praying for all those who are currently suffering. I remember episodes in life when I suffered, and truly, I felt the warmth and direction of those who were likely praying for people like me at that time. Simply listening to the world around me and experiencing the beauty of life helped me to find my way out of those episodes. Though I don't look forward to my next episode of suffering, I know that I can endure that given my past experiences with hardship, harm, and hate. 

How do you endure suffering? What do you do? How can you help others who are suffering?

Prayer and reflection

Simply taking the time to pray and reflect truly helps you to endure and succeed suffering. Going deep, being silent, breathing, and looking forward helps us to move away from suffering in a step-by-step fashion. There are many books and online information that can help you to find a good framework, words, or scenarios to aid your reflection and prayer. If you don't know where to start, you can consult these sources. It takes time to find the resources that speak to you and help you. Counselors, friends and relatives may help you to find the best resources. 

Dream

I'm a big fan of dreaming. The more you can dream about a better place, the more likely you will be when it comes to getting to that better place. Some "dream starters" I use include the following:

• "If I could be or do anything right now, where would I be and/or what would I do?" That question helps me to identify what it is that is most troubling in my life. 
• "Dream self" - I write a description of my dream self and/or life. That directs me to what it is that I really want.
• "Dream path" - creating a path to the person I want to be or life I want helps me to make good choices and find the resources I need to get there. 

I also sometimes draw what I want. That helps me see the details. I also read stories and articles about people and places that I desire, and that helps to give me a path of how to get to where I want to be. 

Simplify

In times of struggle, life can seem overwhelming. It is important to dramatically simplify your life at these times by ridding life of all the unnecessary or triggering components, leaving that which you must do/have and that which brings you peace. 

Seek counsel

When desperate or troubled, you have to seek counsel. Look for counselors or confidants that you can trust and who can direct you in positive ways. 

Know that this time will end

Have faith that you can move through the sadness to a better place. I have watched so many people struggle in life, and in every case, people were able to move to a better place with regard to the struggle. Often that better place took time and multiple, varied efforts, but in the end, they arrived there. Have faith that with good reflection, prayer, counsel, dreaming, and other right efforts, you will arrive at a better place. 

We will all face tough episodes in life. No one looks forward to those episodes, but we do learn a lot from them and those episodes help us to be more compassionate, empathetic, good people. Onward.