Although one would assume that teachers take a central role in the debates, development, and implementation of polices and practices that shape the classroom and curriculum, history and the harsh realities of politics and economics has shown that this has not been the case. The conflicts that have shaped the field of education have not been fought by those who find themselves constantly on the front line of the battle, i.e. professional educators. They have been fought by academics who reside safely in Ivory Towers and politicians that are firmly enmeshed in the machinery of real politick.
Our own field social studies, is a prime example of the above mentioned dyad at work. The social studies curriculum was largely defined in 1916 by the National Education Association (NEA), which at the time was an appendage of the government. The actual term social studies was coined in 1929 by the American Historical Association(AHA). As Evans has shown in his book, THE SOCIAL STUDIES WARS, the forces that have shaped our practices as teachers have mostly been in the form of battles pitting progressives against conservatives. These conflicts usually take the form of the Right Wing calling for a return to a stricter adherence to the study of history to form a common cultural identity (which strikes me as odd, as a large part of history is individual interpretation), while the left produces rarified curriculum theories, such as MAN: A COURSE OF STUDY (MACOS), a project that was so thoroughly entrenched in advanced level social sciences, that teachers needed specialized training in order to teach the course.
This is not to say that teachers have been a passive herd that follows whatever shepherd that decides to lead it. It does however imply that teachers have not been very effective in banding together in order to speak out for the best interests of our charges, our students, our kids. This is partially the fault of our own internal squabbling, but it also has to do with the traditional “low status” role teachers have in American society. We do not pull down six figure incomes. We are not seen as the “movers and shakers” of this country. We do not have easy access to mainstream media, which would allow our voices to be heard. In short we are seen as instruments, and not as specialists.
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4 comments:
Ben,
I found your post to be very entertaining and feel that it does a great job of summarizing the situation; however, after reading it I’m left wondering what responsibility (if any) you believe teachers have in the debates, development, and implementation of polices and practices that shape the classroom and curriculum.
Nick
Ben,
I thought you did an excellent job of showing the problem we as teachers are going face. I really liked your last paragraph when you talked about some of the reasons that teachers may not have the influence needed to change policy. It is sad to think about, but teachers are not always valued and our ideas for curriculum should be listened to because we are in the classroom with the students. Good post.
Chad
I know you already have 2 comments... but I couldn't help myself... great title sir!
Ben -
You raise interesting points, particularly about teachers' "low status" in society and seemingly hindered ability to organize / lobby for involvement in policy debates. Do you see yourself, as a future social studies teacher, becoming involved in such issues? Why or why not?
Ali
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