Taking a look at tenure: How do you weigh the value of experience?
As an armada of pink slips sails throughout school districts across the country, the question has arisen as to whether the current tenure system, one that tends to result in younger, newer teachers losing their jobs before older more seasoned ones, needs to be re-examined.
I’d say, yes, it does, primarily because I’m for re-examining any institution that’s been in place for a long time. What I’d like to see though is a true probing of the practice, one that begins without any pre-conceived notions, and one that scrutinizes the many facets of the issue.
What I’d like to see, more than anything, is every classroom containing a teacher that loves being there. While it’s true that younger teachers often bring an energy and vitality to the room, and an idealism that seems to shine through their skin, it’s also true that many of them can seem harried and nervous, a projection that can make the whole class feel uneasy.
On the other hand, younger teachers, because they’re closer in age to their students, often can find ways to connect to them more naturally than their older counterparts. A number of my students, for instance, are coming into class these days with their poems or stories written on their phones. That seems totally foreign to me. I can’t help but react with a bit of what-is-this-world-coming-to panic. A younger teacher more versed in phone technology might feel more comfortable.
Yet, sometimes, a young teacher can lack confidence, or the stature that comes with being 20 or 30 years older than his students, and fail to control the behavior of a difficult class. And while a new teacher may bring a lot of innovation into a school, it’s also true that, because that teacher has yet to learn the most efficient practices, a lot of time can be wasted on failed experiments. A new teacher can also exhaust himself, physically and emotionally, and be unable to do his best work because he simply hasn’t yet figured out ways to conserve his energy.
Half of teachers quit the profession within the first five years. While some of that quitting might be based on a desire to enter a career with higher salaries, I suspect more of it is based on frustration and exhaustion, a sense that it’s just mentally and physically draining to spend so much time insisting kids stay in their seats, or stop texting. A lot of young teachers find it impossible to balance their jobs with their lives and can’t imagine 30 years of taking home papers to grade at night and over the weekend. Maybe they’d like to be in a profession where they can go out for the occasional lunch with a colleague, or spend their days interacting more with other adults. Maybe they don’t like seeing what they do bashed in the newspapers when they feel like they’re trying so hard, giving everything, and our societal-wide problems are so daunting, it’s just impossible to reach every kid and teach him or her enough to become a productive citizen.
Older teachers have survived this doubt. Most have learned how to be efficient, both in their classroom and in their personal lives. Either that, or they’ve been able to reconcile working in a job that can eat you up and they’ve found ways to be resilient. Their confidence in their methods and body of knowledge can lend them a command that captivates students and lets them know right away that the room is a productive and exciting place for learning. On the other hand, experienced teachers can sometimes appear to be set in their ways, inflexible and unwilling to try new things. Burnout is real. I hear students say all the time that they feel like one of their teachers hates teaching, or doesn’t like kids.
What I find most inspiring are the teachers who seem like they’ve been around since dinosaur days, yet still appear to walk into class every day looking vital, ready to embrace new challenges and learn new ways to do their best work.
That always seemed to be the case when I was lucky enough to visit the classroom of Ken Monash at Dicken Elementary. In the dozen or so times I’ve been in his class over the past half-decade to teach poetry workshops, I’ve never seen him or his students look anything but bright-eyed and fully engaged. It’s a joy to go in that room because I know whatever I ask the students to try, they’ll try. And they’ll try with their full hearts. It shocked me yesterday at his retirement celebration to learn that he’d been teaching for 36 years. Wow. Thirty-six years and still running a classroom that feels vibrant and energized, brimming with first-day-of-school excitement even on a dreary day in March. How does that happen?
I’ll let his final crew of fifth-graders tell you. Here’s the poem they presented to him yesterday, a piece collectively written by the whole class:
When We Think of Mr. Monash
We think of his silvery hair, that’s really shiny but doesn’t mean he’s old. We think of his speed-walking down the halls to specials, his keys jingling clickety-clack. How he smiles at everything and says ‘flavor’ instead of ‘favor.’ How he says, “Have I seen you before?” and scratches his head as if he’s thinking. How he tells us to, “Push in multiple chairs,” so he can stall for time. How he gets off-track and tells stories about Jill and his daughters when we’re supposed to be doing math. How he runs 5ks and tells us he ran into Carrie on the way to the finish line. How he calls Mo a lazy bum for not running. How he has a friend in New Zealand and says ‘shedule’ instead of ‘schedule.’ How his handwriting is definitely unique. How he cried and smiled at the talent show. How he’s not just a teacher, he’s a friend. How his work will last a lifetime.
The truth is all our work will last a lifetime. For good or ill. Let’s figure out how to make more of it good.
*Note - if you’re looking for a really fantastic experience for high-school aged and college-aged students, The Neutral Zone is once again offering a weeklong Creative Writing camp called the VOLUME Summer Institute. It’ll be from June 27th - July 2nd and features world class faculty members teaching workshops in poetry (Roger Bonair-Agard, Patricia Smith, Kevin Coval, Scott Beal); fiction (Adam Mansbach); and Creative Non-Fiction/College essay writing (Sarah Andrew-Vaughan, Karen Smyte). Tuition is on a sliding scale basis. More info is available on the Neutral Zone’s web site @ www.neutral-zone.org. *
Jeff Kass teaches Creative Writing at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor and at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, and directs the Literary Arts Programs at the Neutral Zone, including the VOLUME Youth Poetry Project, which meets every Thursday night at 7pm. He will post new blog entries every Thursday morning throughout the school year.
Comments
15crown00
Sat, Jun 12, 2010 : 8:41 a.m.
Tenure protects two groups of teachers (1)the older experienced teachers who are good and (2)the older experienced ones who aren't any good.The only real fair way is to eliminate the concept but that's not going to happe.So somehow you have to find a balance.Good luck with that
Anonymous Due to Bigotry
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 3:35 p.m.
Great... more appeal to authority from the unfailing unquestioning credential-worshiping crowd. It's ridiculous to say that teachers need the protection of tenure in order to discipline students or fail athletes. That's a very poor excuse when teachers need to be able to do those things on their first day of work. I see no reason why someone who's been a teacher for 10 years deserves any less due process than one who's been a teacher for one day. Maybe we should just convict and sentence anyone under 25 automatically upon arrest with no trial, and once you get to age 25 then you get to have a trial when you're accused of a crime. That would make about as much sense.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 3:14 p.m.
It is pure myth that tenure prevents poor teachers from being fired. Happens all the time. Tenure REQUIRES that school administrators have a solid cased before someone gets fired and that the faculty member has due process rights in the process. If administrators cannot fire manifestly poor faculty, it's because the administrators themselves are lazy and/or incompetent. Tenure makes certain that a faculty member cannot be fired simply because a parent is irate that their little precious didn't get the grade the parent believes they deserved. Or, in the alternative, because an administrator simply didn't like the faculty member. What is ridiculous is that these rights exist solely for workers protected by unions, educational or otherwise (most non-unionized university faculty have tenure, as well). In this day and age, when an entire family's economic wherewithal can be crushed by Hitler-like management, every employer ought to be required to provide just cause for firing any employee. Good Night and Good Luck
MyOpinion
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 2:40 p.m.
Lokalisierung I was not just stereotyping teachers, I was stereotyping any occupation that has "tenure" however defined (union contract in the case of firefighters and police). If you find yourself burned out at 50 and are in a protected and decently well-paid occupation, many will stay on the job and be mediocre. This also happens in private industry so we should not blame unions or tenure for this issue. It really comes down to leadership (supervisors and their supervisors) not doing something about mediocrity, however defined. In no way, do I think 60% of 50 year old teachers in AAPS fit this description. I think 3% do and it is a shame that they aren't removed/shown the door.
stunhsif
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 9:24 a.m.
Tenure is wrong and it will go away, we will make sure of it.
Jack Panitch
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 8:51 a.m.
This article is worth reposting here: http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2010/04/viewpoints_redefining_tenure_w.html The article helps to outline the importance of tenure. And peer review gets my vote.
Animaniac
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 7:31 p.m.
Even in other professions, life long tenure or board certification has been amended. For the medical and dental fields, everyone is require to recertify every 7-10 years (exam) along with maintain a minimum number of Continuing education courses to both maintain the license and your board certification. I have heard that some universities have moved away from life long tenure and now have a system where profs are reviewed after every 5-7 years. If teachers wish to be viewed as "professionals", then I think these things should happen there too on some level or another.
Lokalisierung
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 4:47 p.m.
haha...wow that really is your opinion. I love how a huge chunk of posters love to stereotype teachers in a certian way.
MyOpinion
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 4:04 p.m.
I don't mind seniority-based systems as long as the dead wood is cleared out and that never seems to happen. For example: The AA fireman with multiple lapsed licenses on record, to the limit on lates/unexecused absences, etc. and he doesn't lose his job. My guess is there are a few other marginal firemen. And, there are marginal teachers, bus drivers, airline pilots, principles, administrators, etc. Kass is correct in that a young, eager, excited teacher might at the end of the year be a disillusioned, exhausted, and frustrated teacher. These teachers usually self-select and quit and take their energy into a new career. The ones that don't quit are the ones who are 50 and tired of it all, but know they can't get another job that pays that well.
JackieL
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 2:13 p.m.
The students all know who the great teachers and who the slackers are. So do the parents and I'm sure, co workers. Give some basic evaluation forms at the end of the year and then select a few randomly. I'm sure it would give a very good pictures of teacher effectiveness.
Lokalisierung
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 12:48 p.m.
"How does higher ed do it? Would it make sense to move to a system like theirs?" I assume anyone with a Union contract goes on senority...which is big point of having a Union.
Patti Smith
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 11:16 a.m.
I agree with Frank...if the administration was willing to do its job to remove underperforming, lazy, or just don't give a crap teachers, then the tenure system should be left alone. As teachers, we ALL know who the "bad" teachers are.... How does higher ed do it? Would it make sense to move to a system like theirs?
Top Cat
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 10:43 a.m.
Tenure is ridiculous and should be abolished. Most of have to show up and produce every day. We have to meet and exceed the expectations of our employees or we are out. It should be no different for teachers.
Frank Grzybek
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 10:32 a.m.
At issue is administration doing their job. It is not easy to terminate an employee, nor should it be. However, an employee unwilling or unable to perform should be removed from their position. Education, as with most other professions, have procedures in place to remove a deficient employee. These procedures, though time consuming serve a purpose. Unfortunately, many in administration hesitate to perform this task, leaving underperforming employees in their positions thereby making it appear that tenure is responsible for older underperformers. When a portion of a system does not function, the entire system is weakened.
skfina2
Thu, Jun 10, 2010 : 10:14 a.m.
Even though I'm a teacher who was just awarded tenure on Tuesday (woohoo!), I am fully in favor of overhauling the tenure system in public education. My annual evaluations were based on two visits per year to my classroom. Honestly, any teacher should be able to pull it together twice a year to perform for an administrator. I also think the current system gives too much power to one person to determine whether or not a teacher remains in his or her position, again based on only two visits to the classroom. A more telling evaluation would be to get input from parents, department chairs (who are fellow teachers and are currently barred from any say in the decision-making process), impartial outside observers, and yes, even students. What shouldn't be included is standardized test scores, since I have absolutely no control over who sits in the seats in front of me. If you want to see if learning is taking place, then give the kids the final exam for the class on both the first and last days of the school year, and see how much progress has been made on average by all students. Using all of these inputs would make tenure truly meaningful.