10 Rules of Educational Process

Why bureaucracies impede educational progress

     I believe in public schools.  I am a product of public schools, my children graduated from public schools and my grandchildren currently attend public schools.  My experience and beliefs tell me that public education is a strength of our nation, and that a strong system of public education is the primary means of salvation for the vast majority of students.  Abandonment of that system through privatization and market-based solutions, euphemisms for “let politicians and their cronies use public money for personal gain” will abandon a significant percentage of our student population, primarily poor, rural and minority students, to subsidize the education of a select few.  Our system is far from perfect but is the only hope for most of our kids.  Our state and nation cannot afford to abandon the 90% of students in public ed for the benefit of the comparatively affluent 10% that are not; neither can we use public funds designed to educate that 90% to fund the private studies of those that choose (or can afford) other avenues.  By the same token, public education must no longer act as if we are the only game in town.  During 49 years of service in public education as a classroom teacher at the elementary, middle school and high school levels, a HS assistant principal, a HS principal and small-town superintendent I have compiled my personal list of non-negotiable guidelines for teachers and administrators.  Some are original, all are based on personal experience and observations, and some have been compiled from readings, conversations and a wide variety of unique sources.  I would also venture that these guidelines are based on common sense but remain cognizant of Voltaire’s observation that “common sense is not so common.”  Education - especially educational policies at the national and state levels over the last two decades - is proof of that observation.

Rule #1   Never assume that any decision at any level will make sense simply because the topic is education. UNLESS you remember that the single focus of all bureaucracies is to grow themselves.

     We would like to think that decisions influencing educational policy would be well thought out, reasonable and ultimately made to benefit the majority of students and the educational process.  Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.  Learning this rule and carefully applying it to state and national policies will significantly reduce the amount of time teachers spend puzzling over legislative interventions, yet another educational initiative, another top-down DOE decree or an additional parental responsibility delegated to schools and teachers.

     Many legislative rules and regulations, for example, begin as well-meaning ideas that stem from one isolated incident in one small geographic area - usually a legislator’s home district - which the legislator attempts to translate into something wonderful for everyone.   Three recent examples in Georgia are the recent focus on bullying and the resultant anti-bullying statutes, the decision to give teachers medical license to use EpiPens at their discretion and personal health assessments schools are now required to implement for every student. 

     It seems we are almost to the point that most behaviors once classified as “male” are now determined to be “bullying”, and that schools and teachers are given more responsibilities for enforcing and governing whatever aspects of parenting that legislators, acting in loco parentis, decide to delegate.  I am not suggesting that teachers ignore this issue; I am suggesting that these behaviors are not those that can be solved at school without parental involvement and cannot be the focus of teachers to the exclusion of teaching and learning.  Teachers, in addition to academic proficiency in bubble-in tests, are already responsible for sex education, eating habits, cyber-bullying, dress code, cell phone enforcement, classroom discipline, attendance, disease control, implementation of a standardized curriculum with individualized instruction, IEP’s, 504’s, workplace readiness, college readiness, tardies, mentoring, contacting parents, testing and testing security, after school tutoring, make up work, food allergies, anaphylactic shock, remediation, departmental meetings, faculty meetings, sex trafficking, PTSA, coaching, extra-curricular activities, clubs, parent conferences and, in their spare time, professional development for whatever new direction the USDOE decides on this week and whatever new initiative adopted this month by the local Superintendent “guaranteed to improve test scores.”  Now, teachers are also required to become the frontline guardians of the fat police.  If this trend continues, teachers in the very near future will assume all parental responsibilities for every child and be required to sign adoption papers as part of the yearly contract process.  In football, this is called “piling on.”  In education it’s called “accountability.  In reality, it’s accountabilism practiced by accountabullies whose primary concern is not children or their education but access to the public funds used to educate them.

Rule #2 Discipline may not be personal.  To be effective, all education must be personal.  These statements do not conflict.

     If discipline in the classroom or in the halls is allowed to become a personal issue or is presented as a personal affront by the teacher to the student communication and learning will suffer.  Allowing anger to control behavior gets many 15-year-olds in trouble.  Education professionals do not have that luxury.  Teachers and administrators are expected to model behavior for students.  Make sure we are modeling the right ones.  Teachers and adults are expected to rise above anger and retaliation and personal confrontation as effective problem-solving tools.  The administration of discipline may not deteriorate to the point where adults delight in the power they hold over the lives and behaviors of students  Much like the moral dilemma portrayed in in movies or comic books when Superman or Batman must decide whether to let the bad guy fall or give him a hand back onto the roof, teachers can manipulate an argument just to win or take the moral high ground and be the adult in the situation.  It’s not about winning, it’s about good teaching.  It is rather frustrating that many parents more often than not see teachers as adversaries rather than allies.  Corollary to Rule #2 - Anger does not solve problems or motivate people.  The results of allowing anger to control behaviors or expecting anger to control the behavior of others are never positive.

Rule #3 Teachers are the key to good teaching and student learning.

     To test this hypothesis, place a good teacher in a room with X number of students but devoid of equipment, furniture or books.  Learning will still take place.  Count on it and reaffirm what you already knew but had forgotten.  Teachers teaching students is what is truly important in schools.  Administrators can administrate all day and student achievement will not improve.  Teachers are the key, teachers are the answer and policies that require more paperwork or interfere with teaching time, however well intentioned, are counterproductive to effective student progress.  Anything that gets in the way of what good teachers do best - positively influence student learning - is a distraction.  Anything that gets in the way of teachers helping each other become better at what they do is counterproductive.  Take care of teachers, make administrative decisions that facilitate their ability to do what they were hired to do and trust their professional judgement by allowing them the freedom to teach without micromanagement.  Observe, suggest, recommend and observe again, but don’t forget that good teachers make administrators look smarter than they really are.