Stop the World...I Want to Get Off

Sometimes...often at the moment...I feel very overwhelmed at the idea of facing the worlds problems as a teacher. There are so many expectations being set for us by everyone else along with a few of our own expectations regarding how well we go about this very important job. Is it humanly possible to meet the suggested requirements of the job before us...or should I say profession... which in itself as a label comes with performance objectives and expectations?

We have the standards set by the government to meet by test time as is being described in Perlstein's Tested. We have the society's expectations to train up good citizens as Spring and others relate from the historical perspective of education. Ayers sets the bar so high for being the ultimate teacher with the perfectly rich classroom the myriad of creative ideas constantly flowing out of the classroom where all children are meaningfully and joyfully employed, that I feel it would be impossible to have a life outside the classroom and reach the standards he has described.

Hargreaves states that we must also be a hard worker in the area of emotional labor and involvement with our students. The reformers require that we must be constantly up on and flexing to the latest trends in education reform if we are going to be doing what is really best for our students. Spade reminds us that we are responsible for correcting the biases against gender and race that have plagued our society and create a successful utopian community microcosm within our classroom.

Society expects us to correct the behavior problems of their children. We are held responsible for the failings of students who drop out by too large a percentage. We are to be miracle workers who can bring up to speed the child born in poverty who has not been blessed with thousands of words and an understanding of the wonders of written language before being deposited on our doorstep. We must try to live up to Dewey's creed to stimulate the child's own powers to educate himself through the social construction of knowledge as Vygotsky puts it.

We are to be experts in children's developmental stages and only offer the education that is fitting their ages and stages. Oakes wants to be sure that we meet all the individual needs of varied ability students without any grouping or tracking that could limit their oportunities. We must see the student as he or she really is by spending time individually or observing them at play or journalling about them. And as Vivian Paley exemplifies for us we need to be the defender of the outcast. We are to be the teacher of democratic process in order to develop citizens that will understand and appreciate their freedoms and pass on the trust in democracy to future generations.

I could go on further, but I'm getting tired and a bit discouraged just thinking about the concept that this is expected of me. All in all it is an inspiring, challenging and an exhausting proposition. Pardon me if I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. Am I really capable of giving this much of myself.? Is anyone really capable of achieving all that is being suggested? Thankfully I'm sure that I'm not the only person that has felt that education seems like a daunting task at times. I know that not all this can be achieved by any one person.

I can see why it is so important for teachers to share together their ideas, their successes and their failures. I will need other teachers to stand with me not only in the beginning when I am further stressed by the newness of the demands, but also as we travel this path together throughout the years. We as teachers will need each other to help us get perspective, perspective about our mistakes, perspective about what our abilities really are, perspective about what realistic expectations are for ourselves and our students.