Greetings and Happy Monday, everyone! May this blog post bring you what you need in the present moment. May my light exude positivity and kindness, and may my love be extended to all who could use a little extra. Asé! Let's seize the moment!
Because of my busy schedule, my blogs will start aligning with "A Monday Moment with Dr. Mal," my live-streamed episodes on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. Check them out at the aforementioned links!
I’m grateful for this very moment to be here with you. May blessings flow abundantly in your life!
Now, you know I love me a good definition, and I'm team #factsoverfeelings, right? So let’s get into it! According to dictionary.com, to teach means “to impart knowledge of or skill in or to; give instruction in or to.” A teacher is defined as “a person who teaches or instructs,” and appreciation, in this context, is defined as “gratitude, thankful recognition.”
According to the American Consortium for Equity in Education website, Teacher Appreciation Week was actually founded by Mattie May Whyte Woodridge (1909-1999), a Black Arkansas teacher at a school in the segregated South. Sometime in the early 1940s, Woodridge thought that teachers should be recognized for what they do for society, and she was going to make that happen, so she wrote to every U.S. governor about this. In her letters to many lawmakers and school leaders, she stressed the need for a national day to commend teachers. A letter she wrote in 1944 eventually reached First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's desk. After getting that message, Mrs. Roosevelt asked the 81st U.S. Congress to think about giving teachers a day every year to be recognized and thanked for their work. In addition, the National Education Association (NEA) and its state members in Kansas and Indiana worked hard to make Woodridge's idea come true. The NEA pushed Congress to make a day for the whole country to honor teachers, just like Mrs. Roosevelt did. They worked on her idea for decades, and she lived to see it come to life. Congress first made March 7, 1980, National Teacher Day, but only for that one year. However, there was already a movement to make it an annual event, and people all over the country continued to enjoy it. The NEA and its affiliates celebrated National Teacher Day on the first Tuesday of March for a few more years. In 1985, the NEA Representative Assembly decided to make that day official National Teacher Day. They wanted to make the day of appreciation official, but they went one step further: they said that the first full week of May should be known as Teacher Appreciation Week every year.
Since we’re speaking about appreciation for teachers, I had to bring some facts about how society values teachers. I think everyone can think of at least one teacher and the educator's impact on their life. This brings me to my topic of the week: Teacher Appreciation Week is not enough.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s cool to be appreciated during Teacher Appreciation Week. This year, I received some meaningful gifts, including the gift of time, food, flowers, a nice note from a parent, and Kona Ice. So, I’m certainly not knocking on the week-long celebration. I just think that there needs to be a societal shift in how we treat educators.
To start, because of my teaching experience, I thought the dictionary definition of "teacher" was kind of short. Anyone who’s spent time in a classroom knows that the definition of a teacher is way more complex than that. Teachers have many other jobs embedded in their job description, including but not limited to the following: counselor, nurse, parent, mediator, event planner, motivator, drill sergeant, mentor, therapist, cheerleader, entertainer, creator, and protector, to name a few. As I previously mentioned, I’m finishing up a long-term sub position teaching Kindergarten, and I’ve finally reached the pinnacle of my long-term sub-teaching position because they confuse “Mrs. McCoy” and "Dr. McCoy" with “Mommy.” Any educator knows that’s a term of endearment for any student to love you so much they mistakenly or intentionally call you ‘Mom’.
Because of this dynamic, it’s wild that society still treats educators like we don’t matter. And it’s never in words but in action. A 2022 article by the US Census Bureau points out the pay discrepancies among educators and other similarly educated workers. In my research, there are professions that pay WAY better than education, and in these professions, you don’t have to pay money to get an advanced degree to get paid more money. In fact, there are companies that will pay FOR you to get an advanced degree and then pay you more because you have it. Even with graduate degrees, educator pay is still behind that of other equally educated workers. The public school system requires educators to continue education at their expense, but the pay increases received with each pay raise often don’t match what the educator pays for continuing education. Instead, educators are left with accumulating student loan debt, affecting all adulting areas, including buying homes and starting families.
Since I quit full-time teaching, I’ve been on job hiring sites and have read through the skills needed for similar positions to educators in the corporate world. I possess many of the skills required, so I applied for those jobs for which I knew I had the qualifications. But since my resume simply said ‘vocal music educator’, my skills weren’t reflective of that title to recruiters and were not enticing enough for recruiters to choose me. So, I quit applying and took it as a divine block from returning to the workforce.
Another thing I want to highlight is the current state of education. The school is not the same school you or I attended when we were in school. In fact, research shows that post-pandemic schools are vastly different than even pre-pandemic schools. Teacher shortages, COVID-19 learning loss, and political battles over curriculum are among the top challenges that plague schools today. In the 2024 NEA article entitled “What Teachers Want the Public to Know,” the Pew Research Center surveyed over 2500 public school teachers. Teachers noted that teacher workloads are too heavy, and they feel underpaid. Students are struggling with academic underperformance and behavior problems, poverty, chronic absenteeism, anxiety, and depression more prevalently than ever. They also noted that cell phones are a huge distraction to the learning environment. Furthermore, they expressed they need more government and parental support, particularly empathetic support, due to the time, money, and emotional tolls of the profession. I say this with my chest: NO ONE will ever know what it’s like to teach in a post-pandemic classroom until they’ve spent some time in the classroom right now.
In saying this, people in policy-making spaces create and enforce policies for schools with no post-pandemic classroom experience. It’s really tone-deaf to what is happening. One of the most eye-opening things I've learned during my doctorate program is how political schools are. I did not realize the politics of education while teaching early in my career, but especially during the pandemic, politics have flooded into the schools. The crazy thing is that when politics flood the schools, humans are taken out of the equation. The art of teaching becomes robotic, and the humans we’re teaching are treated like they’re in jail. It’s the authentic representation of the school-to-prison pipeline, which is not the goal of the school. Schools should be spaces of physical, mental, creative, and emotional safety, peace, and empowerment…not spaces of incarceration.
So what can you do about it?
Today, my call to action for you is to simply show up and show out for educators and education.
First, if you are a parent, you are your child’s first teacher; prepare them as best as you can for school. Spend time with your children by reading to them, drilling them on their letters and numbers, and helping them write their names. If you’re sending them into the school space, ensure they get a good night’s sleep, are hydrated with proper hydration, and get a nutritious meal to feed their brain. Ask for help if you need it! We have to spend time building our villages, so we don’t have to do things alone.
Also, get to your neighborhood school and ask them what they need. You can also sign up for tutoring at the school. Many schools have programs that will allow community members to serve in the schools (with a background check, of course).
Another thing you can do is show up in spaces that create policies for schools and be active in that way. The people who haven’t set foot in schools since they were in school sure are showing up in these spaces. Those with kids in any school system should do the same. Start by attending a local school board meeting.
Support local bond measures and school funding initiatives. A large portion of property taxes go to the local schools against your will, so if you’re going to support schools anyway, make sure to be fully informed on the measures when they come on the ballot and vote for them.
Write to elected officials. As I mentioned earlier, there is power in writing elected officials. Let your voice be heard.
If you’re a local business owner, you can volunteer for Career Day or create a workshop to present to students. Students need real-world examples of what they want to be.
Sign up to substitute teach! There is a massive shortage, so this would be helpful to schools. Mentoring students is helpful, too.
If you don’t or can’t spend time with kids, you can donate supplies or items to fulfill a need that the school's resources can’t meet. Right now, a huge need for families is food. Some families can’t swing the rising food costs for kids at school or home. You can help by dropping off individually packaged snacks or paying off lunch balances.
Finally, listen to teachers and advocate for teacher voices in creating policies directly affecting schools. The people who should be able to affect the most change in the school environment are the people who are ACTUALLY in the school environment. Doesn’t that make sense? If we’re in an environment with kids every day and are literally the first responders to the physical, mental, emotional, and educational needs of all our students, then shouldn’t our voices be highlighted in making policy for the educational space? Just saying! It’s not like that now. We need a serious paradigm shift.
And to wrap up, I leave you with a quote and a list of affirmations:
Well, that's all for me this week! Join me next week for a show entitled “Dr. Sub: My Sub Experience as a Fully Certified and Veteran Educator”. I’ve been subbing since January 2023, and I’m ready to chronicle my journey as a fully certified and veteran substitute teacher with a doctorate degree.
Alexa, play “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. We certainly need someone to lean on, and teachers are who society chooses to lean on. Because of their passionate hearts, they will continue to welcome and accept it until enough is truly enough.
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