The Educator’s Dilemma

54% of U.S. adults have a literacy rate below the sixth-grade level, and 21% are just plain illiterate. How does this happen? Furthermore, how do our schools justify graduating these kids? And how does a second-career high school English teacher? One year, I was at a traditional high school. We had a textbook, a lesson guide, and a stack of Scantron. Students were asked to read a section and then answer short questions.

Each week it was the same thing rinse, wash and repeat. The kids got bored. The message they got was that education is a waste of time. We’re educators and we know better. So why do we do this? How do you make education interesting and valuable? Get students to interact using projects, study groups, case studies, and have challenging discussions.

Where is the right place?

Aren’t schools the right place to hash out difficult subjects? This is the juicy stuff. The interesting stuff. The stuff that teaches us how to advance our ideas and perspectives and hold our own in the difficult conversation. The problem is that it’s harder to measure, and it’s not as safe and defensible as simple lessons with objective testing. Why do we have so many problems getting along in society?

I think this is a big part of the problem. Look at where we are yelling across each other, grandstanding, attacking each other. Tolerate being bad actors and banning books. Not all opinions are equal. Most of the teachers I know have compromised their standards, and a lot of times even their ethics, just to keep tenure to get their jobs.

Conclusion

If you’re a teacher or a teacher who still wants to teach but is not in our traditional schools, the Public Square Academy is a place where you can earn some money and feed yourself. Come on, let’s make being smart and informed sexy again.