Teachers Know What Students Need

The School of first knocks…

My junior year in high school was perhaps the most enjoyable in my K-12 experience. I was a confident student. I earned academic honors, an athletic letter, and at the end of that year was elected captain of the band. Things were going well.

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Suddenly, I was in the air in a semi-prone position under thirty pounds

of ceramic plates.

In the spring of 1977, I got my first job as a bus boy at Shoney’s. It was there that I began to learn the value of work. I was about a month into my employment working on a busy Sunday night. The entire staff was working hard to close, and I was hurriedly carrying full bus pans to the dishwasher. After a full day of cooking, the floor between the kitchen and the dishwasher in the back was slick. After numerous trips from the dining room I pivoted at the swinging door and my feet went out from under me. Suddenly, I was in the air in a semi-prone position under thirty pounds of ceramic plates. When I hit the floor, the wind was knocked out of me as the dishes hit. When my manager saw that I got right back on the floor, her opinion of me changed for the better.

My Momma Told Me

The day I got my first paycheck in my hands I bought a new turntable. I then walked to the record store in the same mall and spent the rest of my money on albums. At dinner I proudly announced what I had done when my mother went off. Retta Bonner was a product of the Great Depression and WW II. Her entire ethic was about saving and sacrifice. I got a very stern lecture about the value of money and was told that my frivolous attitude was unacceptable. Economics lesson number one.

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Physical, intellectual, and emotional growth came in fits and starts, with

many trials and tribulations through experience.

There was so much I needed to learn beyond school. Academics in high school had come easily so I mistakenly thought intelligence would get me by. Physical, intellectual, and emotional growth came in fits and starts, with many trials and tribulations through experience. I was beginning to get a sense of who I was yet still had a great deal to learn.

A Teacher with Choices

In my second year teaching at Garinger High School the art department decided to teach specific media rather than the typical art generalist curriculum. Instead of teaching Art 1, 2, or 3 covering a variety of arts media I taught painting, drawing, and hand built pottery. Because these classes were media specific, the students were far more interested and focused than with the generalist approach. I was able to establish my own instructional parameters based on my strengths and experience as an artist. The student success and productivity confirmed my belief that my passion was critical for motivating student achievement.

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I understood the fundamental processes needed for students to

effectively manipulate media for creative design.

Proponents of academic freedom see teacher choice as an imperative for effective pedagogy. I understood the fundamental processes needed for students to effectively manipulate media for creative design. In a painting class, everyone knew we were going to paint. Learning to effectively manipulate a brush, sponge, or pallet knife were ends in themselves and while students who exhibited different levels of ability getting their desired effect, all could feel some level of accomplishment in their paintings. My experience as an artist was the determining factor for what I was teaching. I called the shots, and my expertise meant the students got my best.

Who Should Set the Standards?

Standards for curricula are important, but having those standards produced from a bureaucratic agency with no teacher input denies the expertise that a teacher can bring to the classroom. Individual teacher passion is critical to motivate student inquiry while promoting a reason to teach. It brings an authenticity necessary for learning.

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Throughout U.S. history, states and districts have not trusted teachers

to choose appropriate content.

Public education in the United States focuses on instructional compliance. In U.S. Courts, it has been determined that the First Amendment does not authorize teachers to augment directives of Supervisors when teaching content. Throughout U.S. history, states and districts have not trusted teachers to choose appropriate content. At the K-12 level, political and cultural bias have, without reason, questioned the motives of teachers. The courts have generally allowed school districts to impose limits. Public school policy makers have typically ignored teacher input or feedback. When teaching to my intellectual strengths and interests I was far more effective with my students and complied with district mandates.

One Leadership Approach

In my second year as Principal at Myers Park Traditional School, I conducted several staff meetings where we explored what we were teaching and what was required by the state of North Carolina. In the last of those staff meetings, I had each grade level write down five things they thought students should know coming into their grade levels and five things those same students should take with them to the next grade level without referring to state curricular guidelines. When the grade levels compared their results, they were pleased to see how well they aligned. When we compared these lists to the state curriculum requirements, the match was significant. My message to the staff was simply that they knew their stuff. The next four years Myers Park Traditional reached high growth ratings from the state. The teachers experienced a level of autonomy that honored their professionalism and motivated their work.

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Public school policy must focus on providing tools, resources, and pay that trusts

teaching professionals to make decisions that will better impact

student achievement.

Growing up, it was my relationships with adults at home, at work, and at school that provided the foundation for my success. My experience as an educator informed my belief that the relationship developed between a knowledgeable teacher and motivated student is best realized through a teacher making decisions around content and pedagogy. Public school policy must focus on providing tools, resources, and pay that trusts teaching professionals to make decisions that will better impact student achievement. The past 30 years shows us that tightly controlled curricular directives based on high stakes testing does not move the dial. If teachers are granted the needed autonomy to serve their students, fewer will leave the profession, and more will want to join it.

©Paul A. Bonner

Academic Freedom and The Public School Teacher… Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal, Todd A. Demitchell and Vincent J. Connelly, pp. 16 & 17, 3/01/2007.