book offers a sensible approach to change that is both sympathetic to the various difficult situations teachers often find themselves in and positive in the belief that teachers can find, or recover, the deeper meaning of everyday classroom instruction. Hence the title—finding this deeper meaning hinges upon teachers riding each wave of reform, recognizing it as one they can deftly navigate, not one that will surely overcome them. As David B. Cohen (2017), author of
Capturing the Spark: Inspired Teaching, Thriving Schools (Cohen, 2016), has argued, “The question is whether or not educators can make choices or select strategies that seize the exciting potential of change without feeling so overwhelmed that we want to leave the field” (p. 34).
Strengthening Key Relationships
An oversimplistic view of teaching focuses exclusively on instruction between the teacher and student, and usually only on instruction that occurs within a traditional classroom setting for a prescribed amount of time per day. But teaching requires more than basic interaction with students—our commitment to education includes obligations, interactions, and relationships with colleagues, administrators, and the public. Thus, to equate education with teaching is to misunderstand both.
Teachers who enjoy their profession and prosper in it do so because of the relationships they cultivate: relationships with the students they teach, the colleagues they teach alongside, the administrators they report to, and the broader communities they serve. But during a time when schools’ and teachers’ professional responsibilities never seem to lessen, it is common, and natural, that we feel strained in ourselves and in our relationships. As any teacher can explain, these stresses and strains start at the individual level. And we carry them with us wherever we go. They haunt us even when we are not on the job or in the classroom.
To appreciate the magnitude of the strain that constant change places on teachers, consider the five concentric circles in figure I.1. Imagine that in the innermost circle is a mirror in which a teacher can view only the stress and strain within him- or herself. Every time the teacher steps back into a wider circle, a complex web of entangled relationships is revealed. When the teacher steps back from the first circle, it is obvious that the strain and stress of constant change also affect his or her relationships with students and the classroom. Another step back, and the teacher can see other teachers on campus and the ever-shifting dynamics among colleagues. The next step back reveals the office, filled with administrators attempting to implement macro policy on a micro level—a process rife with tension and anxiety for everyone involved. Finally, on the outermost circle, the teacher sees the community, which grows increasingly frustrated with schools and educational outcomes, while the teachers within these schools feel misunderstood and unappreciated by the public they serve.
FIGURE I.1: Five relational circles of classroom teachers.
Each part of this text will address one of the five pivotal teacher relationships and common questions related to it.
Part 1: The Self—How do constant changes in education affect a teacher’s sense of self and individual well-being? What practices and strategies can teachers use to overcome the difficulties they face?
Part 2: Students—What changes in policy, culture, and technology are making classroom life more difficult? How can teachers maintain strong relationships with their students amid these changes?
Part 3: Colleagues—How does an environment in a state of flux alter the dynamics among colleagues on a teaching staff? What procedures and practices can ensure strong collaboration and a meaningful esprit de corps?
Part 4: Administration—Why do adversarial relationships sometimes develop between administrators and their staff in an era of disruption and change? What can both parties do to avoid acrimony in favor of camaraderie and staff solidarity?
Part 5: The Community—Why is there such a marked divergence between how the public views the quality of educational outcomes and how teachers view these outcomes? What can be done to bridge the gap?
This text attempts to repair each of these circles a teacher occupies, and it does so by focusing on pragmatic, research-based methods of sustaining the relationships teachers rely on to supply meaning and purpose in their careers.
Flourishing as an Educator
No one in education is immune to the tension caused by constant change—not teachers, not students, not administrators. Thus, the advice and lessons this book offers for flourishing amid change should prove helpful to an assortment of educators.
Experienced teachers: Veteran teachers feel the weight of change because they have traveled a long road. They have experienced the relentless twists and turns of the education highway. Most of all, they are familiar with the frustration that comes from mastering a task or an expectation and then being told it is time to abandon what they have gotten used to. This frustration bears profound emotional and relational costs and is a primary concern that needs to be addressed in the profession. Denying this feature promotes burnout and a host of negative responses to one’s career. This book, then, invites these veteran teachers to give their own well-being the attention it deserves—to recharge and recalibrate.
New teachers: While veteran teachers can speak to the actual experience of enduring constant change, new and aspiring teachers must equip themselves with the strategies and tools that will be necessary to manage change throughout their careers. Most exemplars of the teaching profession hold it as an article of faith that teachers can always improve and there is always a fresh way to embody notions of classroom excellence. Doing what is required is a qualitatively different skill than knowing how to adapt and flourish when circumstances and expectations change. New teachers who come prepared to embrace the constancy of change will better position themselves to remain positive and purposeful in their careers. What the profession will require in five, ten, or thirty years is impossible to predict. We cannot know what turns lie ahead, but this book will help new teachers learn how to navigate them when they come—which they surely will.
Administrators: Within the educational ecosystem, administrators exist in a professional space that can be exceedingly uncomfortable. On the one hand, they have almost no power in deciding which trends, expectations, or policies to implement—that power typically belongs to policymakers, district trustees, and superintendents. On the other hand, they have the arduous responsibility of making sure teachers on staff implement the reforms that are being required of them. They facilitate the training, oversight, and activities that serve to bring about the desired changes. Administrators feel the weight of reform in their relationships with staff and anyone actively involved in administering and enforcing reform. Because much of teachers’ frustration occurs when administrators make their expectations unclear or communicate them in a manner that harms morale, this book will assist in creating positive lines of communication between administrators and their staff. Administrators will also familiarize themselves with the strain that constant
