Chapter Five – The Broken Body of Our Education System – Teacher, Teacher, Won’t You Teach Me
Without a doubt, teachers are the most visible part of the educational system. Along with being the backbone, they are the face of the educational body. They are the ones that our children see every day. They are the ones that we, as parents, usually have contact with when we have need to have direct dealings with the schools. And they are the ones who often band together in associations that work both with and against government agencies at all levels from the school boards to the White House.
In addition to being visible, teachers probably bear the most responsibility of any part of the education system. They are the people with whom we entrust our children to provide them with a quality education and a safe environment. They are expected not only to be proficient in the subjects they teach, but to also be capable day care providers, first aid givers, child psychologists, coaches and referees. They have to be schedulers, managers, and competent arbitrators. They are answerable to their students, their principals, their superintendents, their school boards, legislators, governors, congressional delegates, the President, and most of all, sometimes hundreds of parents at any one time. That is a lot of responsibility for any person to bear, and it takes a special kind of person to do it well.
If you search your memory, you can probably think of many teachers you’ve dealt with over the years that stick out in your mind as having born all those responsibilities, and more, quite well. You’ll remember many teachers who did all these things and did them with a smile on their faces and their heads always held high. Sadly, though, you’ll probably also remember a few who couldn’t handle it, who couldn’t balance the responsibilities required of their job, and definitely couldn’t handle it with a smile on their face.
