A valued profession, despite lack of respect
Q. Why does it seem like teachers are constantly fighting for more respect and better salaries? As a grad student pursuing a PhD in history, I originally envisioned college teaching but now find myself drawn to working with high school students, who seem more animated and less set in their ways. However, I'm reluctant to enter a profession where it seems like too much time is spent trying to legitimize one's work. What do you think is behind the public's perception of teachers? Is it accurate or deserved?
M.A., Boston
A. There's more than a measure of accuracy in your assessment of the situation. College professors, lawyers, accountants, and doctors certainly quibble about compensation, but rarely must they lose time validating their work to a doubting public. On the other hand, it seems that teachers do. And, in the process, they may find themselves depicted in the media as collectively and chronically kvetching about salaries, work conditions, and lack of appreciation.
There's no neat explanation of the tendency of some to question the worth of a high school educator. After 15 years in the classroom, these are my impressions. Many outside the profession look at it and can't see beyond summers off and a workday that appears to end with the midafternoon bell. Yes, there are teachers who mail it in and punch the clock. In my experience, however, they are by far the exception.
Like other professions in which nurturing individuals is the priority, teaching takes all the time you're willing to devote to it. It's not uncommon for some teachers to work 10-hour days and spend the weekend prepping and grading. Were you to work out the hourly wage for such a teacher, the modest salary would seem like a mere honorarium. Sure, there's time to lounge by the pool during the summer, but most teachers I know are furthering their education with more grad school courses and workshops, preparing for the next academic year, and supplementing their modest incomes by teaching classes, tutoring, or painting houses.
More disconcerting is the public perception that teaching is a breeze.
"High school? Been there, done that," chirps the cynic. "So, you stay a few pages ahead of the kids and inflate their grades to avoid hearing from parents."
Well, it takes more than the teacher's edition of a textbook to engage and inform a roomful of adolescents. How do you unlock a centuries-old sonnet for a couple of dozen individuals lacking an interest in iambic pentameter and unaccustomed to the pleasure of slowing down - of taking each line, word by etymologically rich word? How do you explain the worth and relevance of the process? Instinct, experience, and, sure, formal education all come into play at such moments. It takes a professional.
Analogy: I've undergone surgery, but I wouldn't perform it on somebody else.
Less conspicuous but more insidious is the increasing tendency of "educated" parents and their children, particularly in more comfortable communities, to treat high school merely as a means to an end. The meticulous plotting of a path to the Ivies begins early and earnestly. Often, and ironically, their children's achievement is divorced from intellectual curiosity. They present a united front of narrowness - in the name of lofty academic ambition. And they recoil at the teacher unwilling to play the role of mere facilitator. Woe to the lowly educator intrepid enough to present a challenge that risks marring Junior's high school transcript. Hell hath no fury like a "helicopter parent" scorned. These folks are sweetness and light when the A's are rolling in and present and prickly when the prospect of a C surfaces. These are the clever folks fond of chortling behind your back, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."
Should you forgo the college professor path, prepare for dealing with these attitudes as well as the well-intentioned but condescending "You teach high school? Good for you!" Such annoyances, though, fade to nothing placed alongside the matchless pleasure of those moments in class when teaching and learning are one. It's both a privilege and responsibility to meet students at a pivotal and impressionable time in their lives. And, yes, it is a labor of love.
If we do our jobs well, our students will become adults who understand the importance of education. They will afford teachers respect and a salary that says we value what you do.
Ron Fletcher teaches English at Boston College High School. To submit a question, e-mail asktheteacher@globe.com. Include your name, town, and e-mail address. Questions, upon request, can be printed anonymously. Ask the Teacher runs on alternate Sundays with Campus Insider, a roundup of higher education items.
