Reclaiming Choice

Gary Olberman, an effective advocate for progressive democratic education, shared an article from Forbes entitled "Why I Support the Teachers Unions."  One of many lines from the article that caught my attention:

• Once they take away job security and collective bargaining rights, what’s to stop them from taking away pay, benefits, and everything else?" 

There's also an interesting discussion about how school choice has been used to undermine public education.   I agree.

Though I'm unsure about the demonization of "choice."  I think choice has been redefined, inappropriately, by some sectors within our society,  as a method to privatise public education.  But what if we reclaimed choice as an expression of democracy?

For example, why not advocate for teacher-led public schools that offer a variety of choices in terms of curricula, instructional strategies, community partnership, etc.?  One-size curriculum for all, where all students have to be tested on the same day, doesn't give teachers or students much choice about how or what or where they learn.

At the school level, effective teachers can provide choices for individuals within any particular curriculum.  Yes, we will study "cells as building blocks,"  but what are the myriad of ways that well-supported teachers can help engaged students choose how they develop, or experience, that scientific understanding?

And we've got to give teachers choice in the schools they serve.  In the larger districts, such as Philadelphia's, teachers are assigned without any consideration of "best match" to a specific community.  Students, parents and teachers should be able to interview prospective teacher candidates and then choose those that are best aligned with that community's pedagogical approach -- all in the name of democracy.  

We've got to develop the capacity of our schools to make smart choices that maximize individual freedom while also honoring collective equality (if not equity).  And if we can't trust our teacher leaders to do this, then we have a serious problem.

A New Teacher Unionism

Steve Owens, one of my colleagues from the Teacher Leaders Network, recently posted some interesting questions on his ED.gov blog:

• What constructive role do you see for unions in education reform?
• What suggestions do you have for how the Department can build the capacity of stakeholders to participate meaningfully in the great policy debates of our time?

Steve is a music teacher, president of his NEA local, and a classroom-based Teaching Ambassador Fellow with the US Department of Education.  Steve helped me understand about the three branches of a new unionism that, if integrated, could help enrich public education.  For Steve, and many of his colleagues within the Teachers Union Reform Network, new unionism includes the integration of industrial, professional and social justice models.  I'll write more about new unionism later, but I wanted to address Steve's questions.

I think unions can have a much stronger role in advocating for teacher leadership. For example, I’d like to see more unions working with districts to create regional (if not school-based) “fellowships” in which teachers have 1/2 classroom responsibilities and 1/2 policy/research responsibilities. What a terrific way to cultivate teacher leadership and give teachers the time and resources to refine their understandings of policy and research.

The Department can get more stakeholders involved by focusing on state-level school board associations, parent groups, administrators and student unions. I’ve attended school board meetings and have been concerned about the adversarial comments flying back and forth between these stakeholders.

The Department is in a position to leverage relationships so that more people are talking about more of the same things. For example, how can the stakeholders work together to protect teacher (and principal!) pensions? If we want the best teachers (and principals) for our students, then we can surely collaborate to create the best working conditions that attract and retain highly qualified, creative and synergized educators.

Even if we don’t all always agree on specific solutions, the shared understandings will help us keep the conversation focused.

So, back to Steve's questions:

• What constructive role do you see for unions in education reform?
• What suggestions do you have for how the Department can build the capacity of stakeholders to participate meaningfully in the great policy debates of our time?

What do you think?

Effective & Progressive Unions

Unions should serve as advocates for 1) effective working conditions and 2) worthwhile education.

I'd like to see a more progressive union in Philadelphia that emphasizes:
1)  Teacher-lead professional development.

2)  Healthier lunch choices, regardless of school size or vendor contracts.

3)  Full-time nurses in each school, every day of the week. Think of the opportunities for "wellness studies" link to science, physical education, social studies and electives.

4)  Re-negotiated school calendar that emphasizes time for civic engagement, family time, rest and recreation. Why in the world are children off on Election Day when their parents and teachers are working? How can we re-organize our school calendar so that families have more time to be together? And let's recognize an Indigenous People's Day.

5)  Site-based decision-making with regard to hiring, budgeting and curriculum choices. Let's emphasize students' love of learning, collaborating and presenting rather than isolated content.  Make district-wide curricula optional and collaborative.

6)  Flexible site-based scheduling that emphasizes teachers' co-planning and reflection.

What do teachers unions look like where you're from?  What can we do to help our unions be advocates for worthwhile education?

Teacher Salary Project

There's been some excitement over at the Center for Teaching Quality boards about a new film project called "The Teacher Salary Project."  Of course it's very important to include the voices of teachers in discussions about national, state and local educational policy.  Yet the project may actually being doing more to isolate teachers from the general public.

You can check out a clip from the film and decide for yourself.  I watched the "Before 9 a.m." clip and was a bit disappointed if not embarrassed.

I don't think teachers are going to build allies with other American workers by suggesting that we work harder than they do. Of course child care is incredibly important and teaching is a noble profession. But to suggest that people who take care of their families and put in a hard days work are less worthy than teachers demeans diversity and democracy. We need all kinds of people to be deeply engaged with their families, communities and society in general.

Heck, I'd love to have time to eat a more relaxed and nutritious breakfast with my family every morning. Good for the real estate broker and the choices he has made.