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As teacher resignation letters increasingly go public -- and viral -- new research indicates teachers are not leaving solely due to low pay and retirement, but also because of what they see as a broken education system.
In a trio of studies, Michigan State University education expert Alyssa Hadley Dunn and colleagues examined the relatively new phenomenon of teachers posting their resignation letters online. Their findings, which come as many teachers are signing next year's contacts, suggest educators at all grade and experience levels are frustrated and disheartened by a nationwide focus on standardized tests, scripted curriculum and punitive teacher-evaluation systems.
Teacher turnover costs more than $2.2 billion in the U.S. each year and has been shown to decrease student achievement in the form of reading and math test scores.
"The reasons teachers are leaving the profession has little to do with the reasons most frequently touted by education reformers, such as pay or student behavior," said Dunn, assistant professor of teacher education. "Rather, teachers are leaving largely because oppressive policies and practices are affecting their working conditions and beliefs about themselves and education."
The study quoted a teacher in Boston: "I did not feel I was leaving my job. I felt then and feel now that my job left me."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @06:51PM (9 children)
It takes effort, but that is what produces a superior human: Reasoning with him even when he has not yet fully attained the age of reason. By telling the child that his behavior is making him and you look bad, or by telling him that his snack time is coming up "when the big hand gets here", or whatever, the results are a human being who learns to introspect, and to review and revise his own sense of being in the world.
Your approach simply produces someone who respects external structure, and will therefore only know to be abusive to people who do not follow orders, regardless of how stupid those order are. Your children are and will be stunted.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @07:16PM (1 child)
says the lady who has never raised boys or even had a brother... eh, probably an only child with no kids
I'm not saying I don't reason with them, but that isn't going to cut it without something to back it up.
Also, a lot of you anti-spanking fanatics are into really cruel emotional manipulation. It may be superficially "non-violent", but OMG it can get evil. I don't do that shit.
(Score: 2) by http on Friday April 07 2017, @10:22PM
You aren't willing to do the work to teach children respect? Cut off your balls (or slice out your ovaries), and never adopt.
If you think hitting them will teach them a lesson, then you think they can absorb a lesson - and concurrently, that you're not willing to actually be a parent and teach it. The lessons taught by spanking is very different from parenting.
Please either smarten up or kill yourself. Sooner, rather than later.
I browse at -1 when I have mod points. It's unsettling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @07:17PM (1 child)
Your approach doesn't really work with very young children (such as age 2) because their brains are not yet developed enough to reason as older kids do.
You must use age appropriate techniques: distraction onto something else, promise of some token reward if they do as you say, and many more. Very young children are not just unexperienced adults. Out of curiosity, do you have children?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @08:26PM
What you say is just not true. It takes patience and a lot of work, but children do learn to appreciate reasoning very early on if you actually do try to reason with them. And you're right, it does take very primitive forms at first and hell of a lot of repetition, such as by telling a small child that he can have 2 treats if he behaves or only 1 if he doesn't (hey, the kid still has to eat), etc. You have to establish rules to the game (e.g., you have establish a contract) and then absolutely follow through with those rules.
Especially important is following the rules yourself; if you as a parent break a rule—and especially if a child calls you out on it—then you, too, must pay the agreed price.
Maybe my kids are just smart, but I doubt that's the only reason. Very many children are quite stupid, and I'm never surprised to find that their parents are the sort who bark authoritarian commands based on quasi-circular, obscure logic that follows no meaningful patterns: "Get over here! When I tell you not to touch something, you don't touch it!"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Zz9zZ on Friday April 07 2017, @07:27PM (4 children)
You are really dumb if you think there is never a time in almost every child's life where they need a spanking.
To say the person's children are and will be stunted is a fucked up assessment based on some knee-jerk reaction you apparently have. The most fucked up kids I've ever seen are the ones who get away with everything because their parents are too afraid or lazy to discipline their kids. I'm not advocating spankings or physical violence, those should be extremely rare. If you are spanking your kid every week then you're missing the bigger picture, I'd even say once a month is too much. Each child has a different personality so the approach must be adjusted to match.
I just got to witness a good friend give her kid a fake threat spanking, you could tell she was annoyed but the kid wasn't 100% sure it wasn't going to be real and the fake swats made his voice go up a notch and I could tell he will think twice about crossing his mom again. Kids require structure, and any good structure requires consequences. In any given situation a child might decide that what they want is more important than any threats of timeout / losing toys / whatever. But spanking? That is almost universally unwanted every single time.
It would be nice if we lived in a fairy tale world, but humans are still animals and physical confrontation is still a part of reality.
Don't beat your kids folks! But don't be afraid of discipline either. Force is rarely necessary, there are tons of non-physical punishments that should be tried first and spanking etc. should be the last resort.
~Tilting at windmills~
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Friday April 07 2017, @07:47PM (3 children)
Well, I must be really dumb, because my wife and I raised 3 well behaved kids, now all in professional jobs, without spanking.
On the other hand, I still remember and resent the spanking that I got from my Mother when I was in elementary school.
Or perhaps it's you that is dumb?
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @08:26PM (1 child)
It's nice that things worked out with your daughters. You were lucky that none of them were much trouble to begin with, and lucky that you had the luxury of time-consuming methods. It's easy when kids are eager to please and actually care about social norms.
Also, congratulate yourself for providing the kids with low-conflict DNA. Not everybody can do that you know.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @09:25PM
Get real!
Everyone who disagrees with you "has daughters".
I mean, you're actually complaining that you have so many kids for which to care; they are your kids, pal—it's not like reproduction is an airborne disease. Just because you created more human beings than you could handle without abusing them doesn't mean that anybody else has to provide you with approval for your foolishness.
It sounds like you and your progeny come from the shallow end of the gene pool.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Zz9zZ on Friday April 07 2017, @10:15PM
I specifically included "almost every child's life" in there. We have only your word that you have 3 well behaved kids, I would prefer some objective assessment before accepting your holier-than-thou pronouncement. Personally I was spanked only once as a kid and I damn well deserved it for throwing a fit in the store.
Other people already addressed some of the other points, but you are very naive if you think "positive reinforcement" always works with every kid. When parents are on the ball and can be consistent from the start it is much easier to set expectations and use non-physical punishments to address behavior problems. Sadly humanity is not at the point where all parents have this knowledge, skill, or the time to properly implement. Also we're not at the point where every child is able to be raised that way, there are definitely stubborn trouble making children and sometimes there simply isn't time to give them the adult treatment which respects their personal sovereignty, so a quick spank sets them in line.
Hey, since you're so smart and talented maybe you can go straighten out North Korea. They are behaving like spoiled little children and are going to ruin the fun for everyone! Please fix the POTUS while yer at it too.
~Tilting at windmills~