Let’s Talk—Really Talk—About What’s Best for Kids and Schools
December 17, 2024
December 17, 2024
By Jeff Keller
Teaching sure can feel like an impossible job sometimes. Faculty meetings, new initiatives, changing technology: I’m tired just thinking about it all. It can be tempting–especially for somebody who has been in this work for a while now–to close our door, focus on our individual classroom, ignore new initiatives, and do what we’ve always done. For some of our colleagues, it can be even more tempting to just quit. Teacher turnover over the past few years has been significant. I’ve found myself nodding along at more than a few of those “teacher quits” videos that are all over social media.
I get it. I really do. So many times, the phrase “let’s do right for kids” can be turned against teachers who push back or challenge unrealistic expectations. When we hear things like, “If you just build a stronger relationship with your students” or “If you just do this one extra thing, it’ll solve the problem,” it can be so frustrating. While staying positive is important, we also need to make space for honest discussions about the challenges we face.
So, what’s a teacher to do? A few colleagues and I interviewed numerous teachers, students, and administrators for a book project, and one thing we heard repeatedly was a real desire for more conversation–more honest, open conversation–between all key stakeholders: Administrators, teachers, students, parents, community members, and all those who care about public education.
I think that’s what we miss so often: real conversation, where we listen to understand rather than to respond. If a veteran teacher dismisses a young, energetic teacher’s sense of optimism with accusations of “toxic positivity” or of being “young and naive,” that veteran teacher misses an opportunity to learn something new, to create a meaningful relationship, to be reinvigorated by working with a passionate and energetic teacher, and to mentor a new teacher. Veteran teachers: ask yourself, how can you ensure you’re welcoming new teachers who bring fresh energy to the profession?
By the same token, new teachers risk missing out, too. When a new teacher dismisses somebody who is experienced and who has been engaged in this work for a long time as cynical or set in their ways, that new teacher may well be closing themselves off from a person who has navigated so many changes and challenges, who has political capital to lend, and who can be a powerful ally and advocate in your early career. New teachers: Ask yourself, what could you gain by partnering with a veteran teacher, listening to why they feel the way they do, and letting them help you understand how education initiatives ebb and flow and how to navigate those changing currents?
Listen: I’m no Pollyanna. I’ve been in this game for 17 years. I’ve seen initiatives come and go. I’ve seen my school go from one where it was incredibly rare for there to be any openings to one where we routinely have turnover in the middle of the year. I can be as negative as anybody when I feel overwhelmed, and when the work just seems insurmountable. But I keep coming back because I continue to believe in the power of public education. I’m energized by young teachers who race up the steps in the morning. I’m inspired by a fresh perspective that asks why we are doing something the way we’ve always done and then offers a brand-new way that kids immediately buy into.
There has to be a middle way, a “yes and” approach:
Friends, the stakes are just too high to allow ourselves to be consumed by either constant negativity or by toxic positivity. So, let’s find that yes and…mentality. Let’s talk. Let’s work together to support each other.
Jeff Keller, a member of the Winchester Education Association and a high school history teacher, is the 2024 Virginia Teacher of the Year. Along with Meagan Call-Cummings and Kristien Zenkov, he is the co-author of the forthcoming book Talking Equity in Polarized Times: Stories and Strategies from Teachers and Students. This article is adapted from an article originally written for Beyond the Bell, the blog of 2025 Teacher of the Year Avanti Yamamoto of Hanover County
According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers in Virginia earn 67 cents on the dollar compared to other (non-teacher) college-educated workers. Virginia’s teacher wage penalty is the worst in the nation.
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