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Bureaucratic Constraints on Teachers
Like people in many occupations, teachers often feel increasingly constrained by bureaucratic rules. In a recent address to the New York Historical Society, the prominent lawyer Philip Howard noted that teachers reported spending half the time in the classroom keeping order because their authority was undermined by students’ “rights.” According to Howard, “We live in a society in which a teacher is afraid to discipline an eighth grader for fear of infringing his rights.”
Teachers, parents, and students may have differing points of view regarding Howard’s remarks. It is probably true that teachers feel highly constrained, while many students probably feel that they don’t have enough freedom in the classroom. Parents may be in the middle, wanting their children to have structure, but concerned about possible abuse of authority by teachers.
Let us know where you stand. Please indicate whether you are responding as a teacher, a parent, or a student.
With the loss of jobs, many educated people may start looking to teaching as a second career. We should make the profession as attractive as possible. Decent salaries are important, but so is job atmosphere. We don’t want prospective teachers to think they’ll be stifled.
With 4 children, 3 currently in public schools and the eldest out of school, one of the biggest problems I have is the schools’ leadership eroding teacher authority and accountability in the classroom while, at the same time, dumbing down education. I believe a teacher should be the disciplinarian in the classroom and parents and administrators should be supporting the teachers and applying further discipline or punishment and rewards (!) to children/students as well. It does take a village and by lowering our standards to some federally mandated level that just about everyone can hit on a standardized test, and restricting the individual teacher to assuring every student passes the “test” instead of allowing our teachers to create or choose curricula that will challenge our children and help them to want to learn more – curricula that encourages problem solving, independent analysis, independent thinking, team work, healthy competition, etc., we are hurting education. Abusive teachers can soon be removed if we all are involved in the education of our children. If teachers and administrators identify and remove the “bad” teachers and administrators – those that would give the “good” ones a bad name, if we parents enforce the rules (and “report” bad teachers and administrators when we find them), we could find ourselves with strong, thriving students in classrooms with teachers no longer afraid to teach using their own talent and abilities. More parents need to listen to both their child and their child’s teachers – we need to stand up for our child when necessary, but we are required to discipline our children to teach them right from wrong, respect, etc. If a child simply doesn’t care to do his homework, follow up, be accountable, etc., then the parent needs to expect the child to receive negative consequences from the teacher(s) and the parent needs to also discipline the child, not argue with the teacher over a grade or an assignment.