Upon reading “The Fischbowl” blog, I discovered an October 7, 2011 posting titled “#occupytheclassroom.” In this posting, Karl Fisch talks about the Occupy Wall Street movement and fantasizes about educators taking a similar stance in regard to creating a positive change in the educational system. He fantasizes about teachers having the courage to stand up to school administrators, rather than just going along with the program.
In my write up on the obstacles to teaching and learning, I listed state required testing, as well as administrative and politically imposed expectations, as some of the challenges that educators must face. I just left a reform based teaching program, which was heavily driven by vested interests. It was a very stressful and demanding atmosphere in which teachers were forced to spend heavy amounts of time on non-student based activities to please the powers that be. They were loaded with data-driven administrative requirements, as well as extra projects by principals seeking to please stakeholders who would be doing school walkthroughs. A lot of what teachers were required to do to improve schools did not seem sincere, but more like things to make the program look good.
In that type of atmosphere teachers were stressed and afraid to go against the grain of reform. In essence, they wanted to do what they were told to keep the security of their jobs.
I can agree with Karl Fisch on the need for teachers to stand up to reform changes that they know in their hearts will harm students and the educational system even further. At the same time, I can understand why an educator would be hesitant of taking the kind of stand that the protestors of the Occupy Wall Street Movement are taking.
