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A Conservative Teacher in
a Blue State
Education/Nancy Salvato |
December 5, 2005
- Briefly, while driving to a parent teacher
conference for my son this morning, I had the opportunity to listen to
recently slandered, former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett discuss a
great business idea; that someone should open a conservative coffee shop and
call it "Warbucks”. A portion of the proceeds would go to help the US
soldiers charged with defending freedom around the world. Many listeners
called in to say they really liked this suggestion.
Now I’m not really sure if he was serious or not because I didn’t get a
chance to listen in long enough but it got me to thinking. It sure would be
nice to go where conservatives could comfortably hang out and to have some
good intelligent conversation over a cup of java. Sadly, living in a blue
state in a metropolitan area, I often find myself dominated by liberals who
disdain conservative beliefs and ideas.
Walking into my son’s school I felt like an imposter; there for him but
acutely aware that my conservative ideas about education would make me
unwelcome in any other circumstances. Try and imagine, then, what it is like
for me as a teacher seeking employment in the liberally dominated field of
education. Lately, I’ve been thinking this must have been what it felt like
for blacks seeking employment in traditionally white dominated occupations
or trying to integrate into white neighborhoods in the years following the
civil rights movement. What did it feel like for black children entering
desegregated schools?
The application process has been simplified in that after filling in all the
questions for one school district you can import most of your information to
fill in another district’s application, provided they are using the same
program. The essay questions basically read the same.
When you think about your students, in what major ways do you want to
influence their lives? What two core teaching strategies do you use most to
achieve this result? Describe the skills or attributes you believe are
necessary to be an outstanding teacher. How would you address a wide range
of skills in your classroom? In your opinion, what are the most significant
factors that influence student learning? In your opinion, what are the most
important issues facing our profession presently and in the future? In the
space provided below, indicate any information relating to your capabilities
and qualifications for teaching, including technology expertise and
experience/training in working with multicultural and diverse student
populations. Briefly describe your professional beliefs and principles. How
do these values exhibit themselves in the position you are applying for and
in your career development?
As you can imagine, for new teachers fresh out of schools of education,
writing the essays for a teaching application is just another homework
assignment. They go back to notes taken in classes like Philosophy of
Education and they write about what their professors tell them are the best
ways to set up a classroom, meet the needs of their students, or communicate
with administration and parents. They gather three letters of
recommendation, provide information about previous employment experience,
have their transcripts mailed and begin the process of waiting for a
response.
For a teacher who has been around the block but never received tenure in a
district, the application process is a minefield. For one thing, the above
questions are designed to find out if the job candidate is likely to tow the
line or has a mind of his or her own. They are also set up to determine if
the potential teacher will implement teaching strategies geared toward
cooperative learning, multiculturalism, and tolerance or if the teacher
considers their job to provide subject knowledge using explicit teaching
methodology. The latter is not in vogue even though it has been proven
invaluable in making sure all students make adequate yearly progress. The
former strategies are taught in schools of education even though they are
not based on grounded scientific research and often do not hold the students
responsible for their own learning.
But it is even more complicated than that. In my case, to complete an
application process, I must have copies of my transcripts mailed from no
less than four institutions at my own cost before I will be considered for
an interview. I must fill in pages of employment experience explaining why I
no longer work for each school I’m required to list on the form. For each
year of prior teaching experience, I’m more expensive to hire. For each
additional credit hour in education above my BA, I’m more expensive to bring
into the district. Nowhere in the process will I be expected to offer any
evidence to show whether or not my actual teaching was effective with
students. There are no pretest or post test scores to show potential
employers…yet.
Although I would be willing to waive the steps I’ve reached on the pay scale
to get hired in a good district, union contracts disallow that possibility
in a public school. Although I can offer evidence that explicit instruction,
homogeneous grouping, and subject knowledge have been proven to contribute
to effective teaching, it is politically incorrect to embrace these
particular elements as important considerations. Here is the clincher. Some
districts now require prospective teachers to complete a teacher style
profile by taking a timed multiple choice test to determine whether a
potential applicant is the right fit. The results are not provided to the
applicant.
Being a conservative teacher in a blue state is really hard. Having my
education writing recognized by a former Secretary of Education for a
republican administration doesn’t score points. And believing in NCLB and
being anti union for reasons like I listed above doesn’t score points. It
doesn’t matter that I’m a really creative, hard working instructor or that I
have a good grasp of the subjects which I’m endorsed to teach.
I really miss the students. And I just can’t quite resign myself to the hard
cold reality that it was just not meant to be. I keep hoping that maybe,
just maybe, there is a school preaching tolerance for conservatives
somewhere in this blue state metropolitan area. If there is a principal out
there who appreciates a teacher who employs a common sense teaching style
combined with valuable experience, my number is… |
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