This year, ask “How” not “Can we?”
I sat down with my new principal last week as we tried to hammer out what it is that I will be doing this next year. It is the kind of conversation one has when they are hired into a utility player position where the actual role is uncertain. With teacher still out of the country and a myriad of uncertainties based on travel and health, my position remains uncertain.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t know what I am doing. On the contrary, I am a substitute. That is my actual role. I know, why is an experienced educator in the role of substitute for this year? The school needs qualified, multi-faceted teachers to cover for any number of positions and uncertainties that might arise this year. In short, they need a skilled educator who can flex and roll with whatever comes at them. My resume is exactly that, an educator who can teach multiple subjects and has demonstrated an ability to do so with success.
As we sat down, we both acknowledged the uncertainty to come. There were unspoken truths that both of us really didn’t want to talk about. The year could still go sideways and the best laid plans could be thrown out the window. Both of us had been in China during COVID and struggled through the two years. Now, we enter year three with different mindsets and thought processes than we did the last two years.
When COVID first hit, the world of education was thrown for a loop. No one had any idea how to deal with it. The inadequacies of the current education system were spotlighted quite by accident. Technology was not ready for this. Teachers and students did not know how to use the software and programs that were available. Parents in many cases were only slightly worse off. It truly was triage teaching. Figure out what you can do, and do that. Even if it meant making a bazillion copies and sending packets out to kids. Everyone just tried to get to June that first year.
By August, it was clear that most districts and schools had taken the “stick your head in the sand and hope it goes away” approach to COVID. Educators and education professionals talked about lack of preparedness, lack of answers, lack of support, and general confusion about what to do in the Fall when they realized kids would not be in school. The start of last year was only slightly better than the chaos of the initial shock.
Then, the long hard move forward came into play. Educators who knew how to use technology started to successfully flip classes. Online technology was provided and used for teachers to have classes. A wide variety of educational tech companies stepped up and offered free software for educators to run their classes and made rapid changes to improve their product. Teachers worked bloody hard to educator students.
All the while, teachers came under attack for not providing education for kids. Education was told students were falling behind, but no benchmark was actually given for what that looked like. The social and emotional needs of students were noted as a major concern. There were protests and a wicked election in the United States as well as other world events that shook people to their core.
Now, starting our second full school year, some districts are far better off than they were. Others, have once again chosen to bury their heads and say that COVID is not a real issue. Politicians and those critical of education talk about how education is failing, and teachers are brain-washing the children.
I wonder, why would anyone want to go into education with all of this negative talk about teaching?
But then, I sit down with my new principal. He and I both acknowledge the reality of my situation. It will be uncertain until about the time school starts or it will be in flux most of the year. It is where we are.
But then the conversation changed. We talked about possibilities. He asked questions about things I was good at, and we discussed how that would look moving forward. How could we positively impact students no matter what comes at us? We discussed how a year ago, we asked the question “Can we do that?” but now, we are asking the question “How do we do that?” Emphasis on the “how”.
These are the types of conversations that need to be happening now. Educators and administrators need to stop asking the questions of yes or no and move to, how do we make this happen. Our success as educators relies on our ability to work together, support the students, and support the families. In the group of educators, I include administrators.
When we had this chat, I got excited. Not just because this is a charismatic man who gets you excited about education, but because it was a conversation that came from a genuine place. He wants the best for the students. We know that things will be cancelled this year, but there are ways to get these students connecting with others. It will take work and hard conversations in the school community. These conversations need to happen, and we need to ask, how can we move forward.
When you sit in your meetings to start school, ask the hard questions. Ask how we can make things happen safely for the school, staff, students, and larger community. Push for answers that are acceptable based on science and fact, not just beliefs. Push for the social-emotional issues of students to be addressed by trained and qualified people, not just a person who says they can do the job. Our students deserve our best.
This is year three of COVID. It is going to be yet another hard year. If we are to make education better, we must push hard this year. We need to have the difficult conversations right now. Most importantly, we need to do the best we can for our students and our schools.
You can not do this yourself. Find like minded educators in your building and district to support each other. Do not go at this alone. Plan for the discussions. Support each other when points are raised. Play the long game knowing that this will not be resolved overnight. Don’t forget to ask “how” not “can we” when discussing issues. The framing of the question makes all the difference.
I wish you the best as you return to the classroom in a very difficult educational year.
