Teacher Appreciation Week

                This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  This week is dedicated to celebrating the teaching profession, highlighting the vital role teachers play in shaping the lives of youth, and providing the public the opportunity to express their appreciation and gratitude to the teachers who played an important role in their lives.

                Unfortunately, when Teacher Appreciation Week is over, teachers will go back to being underpaid, underappreciated, overly scrutinized, and mostly likely laid off.  Not since the start of the 20^th century when the educational system was transformed from an agrarian to an industrial system have teachers and the teaching profession received so much negative attention (see David Tyack 2005, The One Best System).

                With all the negative attention teachers and the teaching profession has been receiving, lost in the discourse is that teachers are more than just teachers.  Teachers are parents who have children and have the same concerns about the education of their children, they are husbands/wives who work late grading papers, creating lesson plans, and sponsors for student clubs, and they are highly educated professionals who chose a career in teaching knowing they will underpaid and undervalued.  Teachers also understand they will bear the brunt of the blame for problems plaguing education.

                Compared to other countries, teachers are a highly valued commodity.  In China teachers are considered Nation Builders and in Sweden and Germany teachers are viewed as an integral part of National Security.  In the US, teachers are “just teachers.”  It is no surprise that the US is trailing the aforementioned countries in educational categories such as math and science. 

                It is time our country begins to value teachers the same way as other countries.  Our country needs to understand that other countries are using teachers to build the next generation of competitors to compete against the US in the global economy. 

Other countries heavily invest in teachers, the US has not.  Other countries have adjusted their teacher pedagogy to reflect the needs of a global economy.  The US has not clearly defined teacher pedagogy in a global economy.  Lastly, other countries compensate their teachers in a manner that demonstrates their value to the country.  Other countries do not appear to have the same teacher turnover or vacancies as in the US.

                As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, contact your State and Federal representatives and ask them to vote against teacher layoffs and invest in teachers.  Remind them that teachers are a crucial component to a successful educational system and remind them that teachers placed us on the path to being productive citizens because they inspired and empowered us to pursue our dreams.  Lastly, honor teachers by sharing with your child(ren) stories about your favorite teacher(s) and the impact they had on your life.

For all the teachers who have made a difference in our lives by motivating, challenging, and believing in us.  THANK YOU!