More Teacher Power: What does it mean?

October 5, 2017

More Teacher Power: What does it mean?

Teachers don’t need micromanagement of our work in school classrooms. It hinders our teaching and subtracts value.

I don’t mean we should just go off on our own, ignoring good classroom practices.

But teacher representatives should be consulted on the curriculum we teach and on how we evaluate our students’ response.

We need a broad curriculum outline that lets us creatively find those teachable moments. And we want ridiculous “outcomes” and standardized tests off our backs. We want to evaluate our students on what they do in our classrooms – how they read and write, the quality of their projects, how they do science and math.

We need to be seriously engaged in all the ways our schools are run. In far too many schools, teachers have no voice on important decisions that affect everyone.

ETT must push hard for such reforms, and bring parent communities with us as allies. Parents want really good schools, just as we do.

Please let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.

Nigel