To a 20-year-old wondering if this is the career for
you
“We had a
recruitment and retention issue before Covid… I think that we have to be so
careful about what our message is right now. We have to message that we need the very best people to come in to education, now more
than ever. When we think about the mess and the complexity [of the situation
with our schools], we need excellent people coming in to education to meet that
challenge.”
Bree Jones, Superintendent of La
Veta School District, Nov. 18, 2020
From
the “State of Reopening Education in the State of Colorado,” cohosted by the
Colorado Children’s Campaign and the Colorado Education Initiative, Nov. 18,
2020, https://vimeo.com/479128702.
**
“You will be on the
vanguard of making sure that opportunity reaches every child in the state no
matter where they live, their race, their gender, their geography, their
income. I am so thrilled that you are interested in becoming teachers. You're
needed now more than ever."
Gov. Jared
Polis at the Future Teacher Conference, hosted by the University of
Northern Colorado
“As Colorado Teachers Consider Leaving Their Jobs, UNC Fights To Keep
The Ranks Full,” by Jenny
Brundin, Colorado Public Radio, Feb. 19, 2021.[i] (Endnote
includes Colorado Teacher Shortage.)
**
“The secret of life is to have a task, something you
devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of
every day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must
be something you cannot possibly do.”
Henry Moore, as quoted in The Second Mountain (295).
**
How do we reach you at, at 20-years-old—with a thousand
possibilities out there—to consider a teaching career? Career? Heck,
maybe it’s more realistic, given how unlikely it is you are planning that
far ahead, to ask, how can we encourage you to teach, for your first job,
even if it is just for a few years – before you “really figure out” what you want
to do? Who knows, by then you might be hooked.
With many stories of
teacher burnout and low morale in the profession, now more frequent due to a
year of Covid and chaos (see Addendum), how do we nudge, or persuade, a
young person to choose to teach? I begin with three approaches. From
uninspiring to pretty good. I then propose an appeal that goes deeper. That speaks
to that 20-year-old about values. About meaning. About the kind of life they
want. Perhaps a way to attract, as Superintendent Jones put it, the “excellent
people” we need.
1.
The pitch at the Colorado Department of Education’s
website is not going to do the job.
|
Colorado
Teaching Jobs[ii] Join us! Be a Colorado Educator! Colorado
teachers are redesigning, re-engineering and rethinking education. Together,
we are creating a system that responds to the individual needs of students
while providing them with a variety of career pathways. Whether you have
lived here all your life, attended school here, or are thinking about making
a move, Colorado is a wonderfully diverse state where you can find your place
in the classroom and the community. |
(How sad to see “career pathways”
sneak into this invitation. Is this really why I want to teach kids, and why I can’t wait to teach a
subject I love? Oh well, a sign of the times. Education - here to serve the workplace!)
2.
Similarly,
the Colorado Department of Higher Education is not able make a persuasive
case to would-be teachers. Not when Angie Paccione, CDHE’s executive director, suggests
the “the value” of a post-secondary degree can be measured by your paycheck: “The value in higher education
at any level is earning a degree that lands its recipient a fulfilling job
and maximizes their earning potential.”[iii]
We hope the financial
constraints on education in Colorado are beginning to change. We can imagine
better pay in the decades ahead. But a young adult is not blind. Any
20-year-old knows that teaching is not a career that will “maximize
their earning potential.” Moreover, he or she has seen enough of life to
suspect that a “fulfilling job” has little relationship to income.
But to speak of a “fulfilling job”—at least it’s a start.
3.
The
message from TEACH Colorado –“The future depends on teachers” –
is more like it.[iv]
(CDE and CDHE partner in TEACH Colorado’s
PSA campaign.)
·
“Are
you ready to empower students to thrive in a changing world?”
· “If you like a challenge and the daily satisfaction of knowing that what you're doing matters, teaching could be your calling.” (See more in Endnote.)
“A
calling.” Better. Still, we’re not quite there.
A calling? A vocation? A way of responding to the
world’s needs?
When a young person asks a school leader or veteran teacher—Why
teach?—we speak of the intangible rewards, the deeper “values” in the
day-to-day life in a school. We speak of the satisfaction of helping students
grow and find their way during these formative years, of making a real
difference in the lives of dozens of boys and girls or adolescents. These are
the home runs we celebrate. We also acknowledge failure. Those students we do not
reach—a painful fact that pushes us to strike out less often. The job becomes an
endless but meaningful struggle: to try to do right by every child. A
challenge we face each morning, from mid-August through late May.
This is the territory that David
Brooks writes about in The Second Mountain – The Quest for a Moral
Life.[v] Although his focus, as the
title suggest, is on people who find a vocation (a second mountain) after climbing
the career ladder in their twenties and thirties (the first mountain), many
passages might speak to our 20-year-old. Especially in Part II, on “Vocation.”
“If you are trying to discern your vocation, the right question is not What am I good at? It’s the harder questions: What am I motivated to do? What activity do I love so much that I’m going to keep getting better at it for the next many decades? What do I desire so much that it captures me at the depth of my being?” (111)
"If you really want to
make wise vocation decisions, you have to lead the kind of life that keeps your
heart and soul awake every day. There are some activities that cover over the
heart and soul—the ones that are too analytic, economic, prudently
professional, and comfortably bourgeois…The people who make the wisest vocation
decisions are the people who live their lives every day with their desires
awake and alive.” (115)
He gives the example of Fred Swaniker, co-founder of the African
Leadership Network and the African Leadership University.[vi] “Swaniker believes
that we are defined by these moments of obligation, ‘usually
caused by a sense of outrage about some injustice, wrong-doing or unfairness we
see in society.’”
“When you feel the tug of such a moment, Swaniker advises, ask
big questions.” Like these two:
1) Is the problem big enough? (No need to apply your
advantages to solve “small problems” –
the world is full of them.)
2) How passionate are you? Does this issue “keep you up
at night”? (120)
Passionate because you feel called. Compelled to respond to a
social need. To do your part.
Do such questions apply to a 20-year-old as well? Is it too
early? Young adults are often hungry to acquire. We get that. The desire to
contribute is not top of mind.
|
Ambition and acquisition - and what do we mean by “better”? “My eyes and ears
tell me that in the past year America began a deep reconsideration of how it
lives, and how things have always been. … I sense the young, those in their
20s and 30s and maybe older, are questioning that oldest American tradition:
ambition. Hunger to make your own circumstances better. They’re questioning
what ‘better’ means, how it is defined and what price you are willing to pay
to rise. I think I sense a hunger for something new, less driven, more communal.”
Peggy Noonan, “Declarations,”
Wall Street Journal, May 1-2, 2021. |
But idealism is alive and well. (See Noonan on “something new.”)
Young people, too, can be called to serve. Many 20-year-olds have
witnessed how unfair the K-12 system has been for them and their family. Social
justice is a priority. Others might put it more simply: “Something’s not right.”
Based on experiences: “I have a sister who…,” “I saw a friend with special
needs who…,” “The number of kids in my school who could have made it if…”
There are more personal stories, too: as recent high-school graduates, many carry a profound appreciation for the two or three adults who went the extra mile… Perhaps one day they can be that kind of role model and have that kind of impact on the boys and girls in their own classroom.
|
“Find that place in the self that is driven to connect with
others, that spot where, as the novelist Frederick Buechner famously put it,
your deep gladness meets the world’s deep hunger.” (122) |
The need is great. Our 20-year-olds do see a “big problem”: our failure to provide a strong education for all; to prepare citizens who will be able to participate fully and thoughtfully to maintain and strengthen our democracy. They imagine what is possible:
|
1. “Karen Gonzalez Rivas, who was brought to the United States from Mexico as a baby, has lived in Eagle since she was 9 and doesn’t want to leave. “‘I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to work with kids
and that has never gone away,’ she said. “Gonzalez Rivas, 22, is wrapping up her final semester
as a student teacher, preparing to graduate next week from Colorado Mountain
College and enter a workforce that continues to be wracked by
shortages. And despite a teaching experience that came with additional
stressors during the pandemic this past year and a future that likely won’t
include a giant salary, she’s committed to the classroom. “For me, it’s not about the money,” Gonzalez Rivas said. “It’s about
the students.” “Colorado’s teacher shortage may worsen coming out of the pandemic,”[vii] by Erica Breunlin, The Colorado Sun, 4/30/21. |
It is an invitation to find what we all want: a purpose.
“Loving care” - the
foundation
How many young people think in these terms? More than we might suspect.
I have met them; haven’t you? (See Box 1 and 2.) They might seem like
the exception to us, but that’s OK. If we “need the very best…”
Brooks writes:
“We often assume that self-interest—defined as material gain and status recognition—are the main desires of life and that service to others is the icing on the cake… But when you actually look around the world—parents looking after their kids, neighbors forming associations, colleagues helping one another, people meeting and encountering each other in coffee shops—you see that loving care is not on the fringe of society. It’s the foundation of society.” (67)
|
In
this same vein, see: What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract for
a Better Society, by Minouche Shafik (2021). |
If true, choosing to teach is not a noble act of self-sacrifice. It is choosing to be part of that “loving care” so indispensable to our well-being as people. Pretty normal, in fact. And so necessary.
|
2. She is asked: Will you continue to teach? “One
hundred percent,” said Holly Baier [a music teacher at Mount Carbon
Elementary School in Littleton) without pausing. “When I see my kids,
I am 110 percent reassured that this is what I'm put on this earth to be
doing, to be instilling the joy of music education to be with my students.
And I just cannot love this job enough.”[viii] |
“What’s love got to do with it?”[ix]
Purpose. Love. And something else. Many 20-year-olds sense that to
be in the classroom with kids or adolescents, teaching and supporting them, is
where they can be their best selves. It will make them feel good. On the best days,
it might even bring joy.
To recruit on these terms—to remind a young person of these intangibles, and of being part of a profession devoted to others—might sound … what will you say–sappy? naïve? foolish?
|
How do you turn this teacher shortage around? “Some of it is the messaging that exists out in the world. Education is a phenomenal career. It sparks joy.” Principal Karen Bingert, Hillsborough High School, NJ., CBS Morning News, June 18, 2021.[x] |
Aren’t you forgetting to say…?
And what about the hardships? Any job that keeps your “heart and
soul awake every day” will necessarily bring pain: administrators, colleagues,
parents, students – at some point, they will all let you down. And, another
dose of reality: looking ahead several decades, will our society show teachers
the respect they deserve? Sorry, but I doubt it. Well, so be it.
Sounds like something I cannot possibly do—as Henry Moore
put it—certainly not as well as I would like to, every hour, 175 days of the
school year.
But this is part of the appeal. This is part of the challenge.
Exactly why some 20-year-olds will say: this is for me!
To these young men and women, we are eager to welcome you.
Please know: You are needed!
Addendum – Concern
for the future of the teaching profession in Colorado & across the country
Dec. 2020 – May 2021
“40% of Colorado teachers say they're thinking about quitting,” by Joe McQueen, The Pueblo Chieftain, Dec. 14, 2020.
A recent
report from the Colorado Education Association found nearly 40% of teachers
across the state are considering leaving the profession after the 2020-21 academic
year.
The report found the main sources of teacher
dissatisfaction are the increasing workload, current working
conditions during the pandemic and low salaries.
“The class-size
workload is overwhelming," Amy Spock (President of the Pueblo County
Education Association) said. "That's been a huge learning curve for
teachers this year from remote learning." https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/2021/02/23/40-percent-colorado-teachers-say-theyre-thinking-quitting/4539904001/
“Teachers are working
longer, facing even more financial strain, and considering leaving their jobs
as the pandemic pushes educators to the brink,” by Isabella Jibilian, Business
Insider, Dec. 14, 2020.
·
But
since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, life has gotten even harder for
educators.
·
77%
of teachers are working more this year than last year, according to a survey of
over a thousand educators.
·
… more
than a quarter of teachers surveyed said they were considering quitting or
taking a leave of absence, which could compound an existing shortage of
teachers.
https://www.businessinsider.com/teachers-considering-leaving-retiring-early-shortage-longer-hours-covid-survey-2020-12
“Teachers Are Stressed Out, and It’s Causing Some to Quit,” by
Madeline Will, Education Week, 2/22/2021.
“I feel like a lot of teachers everywhere are just feeling
very undervalued and disrespected,” one teacher said.
Before the pandemic, about 8 percent of
teachers left the profession each year.
There’s been much anticipation that COVID-19
would lead to a spike in teacher attrition, but so far, Education Week’s
reporting and survey data have found that the predicted surge of retirements
and resignations has not yet materialized across the
nation.
Even so, experts wonder if an uptick in
teachers leaving will come at the end of this school year, given plunging
morale.
“Stress, stress, stress—that seems at the heart of teachers’ decisions to leave,” said Heather Schwartz, the director of the pre-K-12 educational systems program at RAND and an author of the report. “COVID has fanned the flames of stress.” https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teachers-are-stressed-out-and-its-causing-some-to-quit/2021/02
“‘How Do You Get To The End Of The Year?’: Teachers
Gear Up For The Final Push Even After This Pandemic Year Took A Massive Mental
Health Toll,” by Jenny Brundin, Colorado Public Radio, April 9, 2021.
“Colorado school administrators listed teachers’ mental health as the
top priority for teachers in a fall survey. And the year isn’t over. Some
fear the weeks until June may push some teachers to the brink, as more kids
cycle back into classrooms — students with more needs, plus lots of tests and
exams.”
https://www.cpr.org/2021/04/09/colorado-teachers-pandemic-mental-health/
“Virus, technology, unrest make
stressful year for teachers,” by Acacia Coronado and Kantele Franko, AP News, May 2,
2021.
With only piecemeal data from districts and
states, it’s tough to tell how the pandemic impacted turnover nationwide. Some
places report more educators retiring, quitting or taking extended absences,
but others say the exodus they worried about didn’t happen.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten anticipates a big uptick in retirements in the coming months, after a year of perpetual uncertainty and change and more strain for educators than she’s ever seen. https://apnews.com/article/us-news-technology-health-coronavirus-education-3277755e32d3fcc81688309994f264d9
“More teachers are thinking about leaving now than before the pandemic,” by Liana Loewus, Education Week, May 4, 2021.
The EdWeek Research Center surveyed about
700 teachers and 300 school leaders online in March 2021. The nationally
representative results provide a backbone for this series of stories, which are
meant both to illuminate the barriers to keeping great teachers and offer some
solutions.
When asked about the likelihood that they’ll leave teaching in the next two years, 54 percent of teachers said they are “somewhat” or “very likely” to do so. That’s compared to just 34 percent of teachers who said they would have answered that question with “somewhat” or “very likely” if they’d been asked in the fall of 2019 (before the pandemic began).
From
“Why Teachers Leave—or Don’t: A Look at the Numbers,” https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/why-teachers-leave-or-dont-a-look-at-the-numbers/2021/05
Endnotes
[i]
https://www.cpr.org/2021/02/19/as-colorado-teachers-consider-leaving-their-jobs-unc-fights-to-keep-the-ranks-full/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CYou%20will%20be%20on%20the,needed%20now%20more%20than%20ever.%22
“You’re needed now more than ever.” (Gov. Polis)
Colorado Teacher Shortage Areas – From Teach.com
- Music
- Business
Education
- Early
Childhood Education
- English as a
Second Language
- General
Shortages
- Special
Education
- Counseling
- Psychologist
- Nurse
- Social
Worker
- Foreign
Languages
- Mathematics
- Sciences
“Teacher Shortage information
was provided by the U.S.
Department of Education’s Teacher Shortage Areas Nationwide
Listings External link for 2020–2021, and was
determined by examining the most recent data about unfilled teaching positions;
positions filled by teachers certified by irregular, provisional, temporary, or
emergency certification; and teachers teaching in subject areas other than
their area of preparation.” (https://teach.com/careers/become-a-teacher/teaching-credential/state-requirements/colorado/#shortage)
|
|
In partnership with
the Colorado Department of Education and Colorado Department of Higher
Education, TEACH Colorado is excited to announce "The
Future Depends on Teachers,” a new Public Service
Announcement that celebrates the role teachers play in shaping our
future and invites people to explore teaching at a time when they are needed
more than ever. |
[v] The
Second Mountain – The Quest for a Moral Life, by David Brooks,
Random House, 2019.
[vi] More on Fred Swaniker and his work: www.aluedcucation.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQJ69REQjEg, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-VBFrwCeF8.
[vii] “Colorado’s
teacher shortage may worsen coming out of the pandemic. Could $13M stop the
trend?,” by Erica Breunlin,
The Colorado Sun, April 20, 2021. https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/30/colorado-teacher-shortage-senate-bill-185/?utm_source=newslette
[viii] “‘How Do You Get To The End Of The Year?’: Teachers Gear Up For The
Final Push Even After This Pandemic Year Took A Massive Mental Health Toll,” by Jenny Brundin, Colorado Public Radio: April 9, 2021. https://www.cpr.org/2021/04/09/colorado-teachers-pandemic-mental-health/
[ix] “This Colorado teacher tries
to ‘love the kids as much as the content,’” by Ann Schimke, Chalkbeat Colorado, June 29,
2021. From interview with Ken Benson. He teaches social studies, economics, and
financial literacy at Niwot High School in the St. Vrain Valley School District.
Benson turned to teaching after years in the technology field.
“What’s the best advice you’ve received
about teaching?” - “When I made my switch into teaching, I asked my
friend, also a teacher, what to expect. His advice to me was to love the kids
as much as the content, if not more. He said just because someone is a master
in physics or music, for example, does not guarantee they will be a success in
the classroom. He said the true measure of a successful teacher is not
necessarily how much they know but the kinds of connections they foster with
their students.”
“Making connections with students is what fills teachers’ souls,” he said. https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/6/29/22556084/he-left-tech-to-become-a-colorado-teacher-his-key-to-success-love-the-kids-as-much-as-the-content
“When asked which factors play the biggest
role in keeping them in the teaching profession, teachers were most likely to
point to ‘love for students.’
Caring for young people is, of course, what draws many to the profession, and more than 2 in 5 teachers said it’s a top reason they stay. Retirement benefits and love for subjects taught were the next two most frequently chosen answers.
From “Why Teachers Leave—or Don’t: A Look at the Numbers,” https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/why-teachers-leave-or-dont-a-look-at-the-numbers/2021/05
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