I wanted to tell a funny story on this Labour Day.
I will share this entertaining piece instead: Teachers Don’t Sleep on Labour Day by @albertfong
I have plenty of my own crazy tales, of course, having spent nearly 30 years of Labour Days ignoring my family in spite of it being my daughter’s birthday, our wedding anniversary, a stressful time for my kids heading back to school…
Even though today is the first Labour Day in 25 years where nobody in our household is heading off to school, I don’t feel like being funny. I have a very heavy heart as I think of the teachers in British Columbia and the conflict they are embroiled in.
I think of the passionate educators that do so much for students in B.C. – educators like Karen Lirenman, David Truss, and Bryan Jackson. How do I know what they are doing? Because they share.
They openly invite everyone to see how they think, what they struggle with, how they learn, and what they are working on. They do this through blogging, through Twitter (and other social media), and through face-to-face presentations throughout the year.
I know they love what they do, because they openly demonstrate this all year long.
As we once again see teachers as a political target, it is important to ask ourselves why this profession is so often attacked by politicians. Take a moment to read this very thought-provoking essay on the Future of Schooling in Canada by Stephen Murgatroyd.
Here is a short excerpt:
“Teachers need to “take back” their schools, supported by mindful school leaders, if they are not to become the new laboratories for corporate greed….
…The final challenge relates to the conditions of practice which teachers and school leaders face. There is a growing distortion around the importance of class size and composition – classes of 30-35 with up to six students with special needs are seen as “manageable” (they are not) with a single teacher and little if any access to other supports. Custodial services are seen as being only required before and after school – not during the school day, leaving teachers to clean up after sick children or some accident in the chemistry lab. We are neglecting the basic conditions in the name of economy. Attempts to challenge the creeping Fordism which such class sizes force on school systems are seen as “teacher whining”, yet parents and citizens should be appalled at some of the conditions under which we are asking teachers to produce the next generation of imagineers, artists, scientists, engineers and trades persons.”
If we really believe that our children are our greatest resource, and if we really believe that teaching is the most important profession for our future, then we need to tell our stories to the world.
“Teaching in isolation is no longer consistent with professionalism.”(Catherine Montreuil, August 2014).
This year, don’t just do great things for kids.
Tell it loudly, and openly, and show the world what you do every day.
Show the world that every single day, teachers are making a positive difference in the lives of our children.
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