This week’s question comes from Gail Kochon, who asks:
What social/political causes have contributed to the downgrading of respect for the teaching profession?
I think it is safe to say that many of us teachers have felt under attack for many reasons -- whether it’s the push for new test result-connected evaluations that are often couched in terms of “firing” teachers instead of helping us improve; the publication of teacher ratings in newspapers, and being told that the “best” people don’t become teachers.
But perhaps not all of us feel the same -- maybe others feel that there has not been this “downgrading of respect.”
Please leave your responses to Gail’s question in the comments section of this post. I’ll share a few of them next Wednesday, where I’ll also publish my response and ideas from invited guests.
Anyone whose question is selected for this weekly column can choose one free book from a selection of twelve published by Eye On Education. Thanks, Gail!
You can send questions to me at lferlazzo@epe.org.When you send in your question, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.
I’m looking forward to learning from people’s responses!