This is a fairly long post - Facebook circa-2007 Notes style. A lot of people have wanted to talk about the job action; obviously, its on my mind, and some of you might be curious about my take, and this is one way to get it out there. Anyway. Read on, or not: Its kind of a weird evening. Usually, by now, Id have packed my first lunch, loaded up my bag, and now, Id be trying to settle my way into a good nights sleep. Of course, I dont go back to school tomorrow. No homeroom full of wide-eyed Grade 8s who cant even begin to open a combination lock. No class lists to pore over for familiar names, no chairs to put into a big circle and no bulletin boards to hang blown up Far Side cartoons onto. No week ahead: learning the two hundred names and beginning to know the people who bear them, reading all the introductory letters that I ask them to write, leading games, meeting new colleagues, coming home and falling asleep on the couch. I get a lot of people asking me about the job action, and theres so much being written about it. Its hard, at this point, to separate the signal from the noise. Theres a lot of spin and a lot of opinions and a lot of blaming going on. I fully support the BCTF, and I actively campaigned against Christy Clark, but I like to make up my own mind on issues and can tell you that this is one confusing situation. Here is what I know for sure: 1. This will be my sixth September going full-time into a secondary classroom. Every year my classes have been a little bit bigger, and resources have been a little bit scarcer. More specialty courses have been cut, because they dont enrol big enough. Every year I notice a little bit of a difference, and a little bit adds up. 2. Class size matters a lot. Ive been lucky enough to have classes that, for whatever scheduling miracle, only enrol 20 kids. These kids have a markedly different experience. I get to know them much better and they get to know each other much better, and the sort of teaching I can do is more pedagogically sound. Think of the difference between a university lecture class and a senior seminar. This year, I can expect to see all 7 of my classes enrol between 28 and 30 kids. Thats 200-210 kids to build relationships with, recommend just the right book to, and try and teach a little bit, as well. 3. Class composition matters just as much. One of those classes of 20 had 5 kids with special needs and 3 more who would later be identified as having special needs. I didnt have any support, and it was a struggle doing anything, ever. (The second week, Im reading a short story with them, and they wont do anything, and I said to one - Abraham, how are we ever going to read a novel? Abraham said back to me: Ms. A, theres no way were reading a novel). It was one of two English 9 classes running that semester - the other was also mine, and at 30. When new kids came into the school we enrolled them in the class of 30 because the class of 20 was one crazy, hilarious crisis after another. That class holds some of my best teaching memories, and biggest triumphs, but it didnt often feel like it at the time. (And yes, we read a novel. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. They loved it.) 4. The vast majority of the teachers Ive worked with are smart, dedicated, capable professionals who went into teaching to make a difference and do purposeful, meaningful work - and they do. Schools are served by a broad range of styles, personalities, and approaches. No one goes into teaching for the money, but that doesnt mean teachers shouldnt be paid well, and that their pay shouldnt match cost of living increases. Generous salaries and benefits ensure that the best people enter the profession. I want my colleagues and the student teachers we work with to be people who couldve done many things, and chose to be teachers. 5. We have, in BC, a government that doesnt seem to care about public education. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but as this dispute has dragged on, it seems increasingly clear to me that the Liberal government is more interested in getting kids into private schools (partially publicly funded, of course) than back into public schools. This government has an obsession with generating individual rather than collective wealth, and this obsession is translated across in all of its policy decisions. I keep seeing in the governments advertising that BC has an internationally regarded school system. Thats because a lot of people are working very hard in a system in crisis. Funding that doesnt at least keep up with costs will erode the quality of education our kids can receive. This got way rantier than Id really planned. See, I was supposed to be heading back to school tomorrow. Im teaching English 8, 10, and 11, and Socials 8 and 9. Im at a great school and have fabulous colleagues. Instead, Ill be back on the picket line. No one really knows how this all ends. But we know what were fighting for. Excellent, equitable, universally available public education is critical to a thriving democracy, to the kind of just and caring society that I want to live in. Like I said, its a weird evening. Life is generally, very good. It would be better if I were going into work tomorrow, into a generously funded system. Support the teachers. Whether you work in education or not, or have kids, or dont - you need us to win this one.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 05:30:47 +0000
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