I am from a family full of teachers and educators. I married a School Counselor and Special Education expert, My mom was a teacher, I proudly can say that I have a daughter and a son who are teachers, numerous aunts, sisters-in-law, nieces and friends are teachers. Much of my professional life has been spent working with teachers- supporting them and providing training and consultation to them. So it is no wonder that on Teacher Appreciation Day I am deeply proud and thankful for the teachers in my life.
Most of us can remember at least one teacher who had a profound effect on our life at some point in our development- someone who had a positive impact on us and contributed to making us the person we are today.
Yet teachers in America have been made to feel belittled and underappreciated. In many ways teachers are vilified- the profession disparaged. This trend in thinking over the past couple of decades has prompted a teacher shortage in America- a shortage likely to grow worse over the next decade. Because of this negative messaging about teachers and the teaching profession, college students are significantly less likely than their parents to see teaching as a viable way to become agents of social change. Of all age groups, voters 18-29 are the most pessimistic about the teaching profession. Only 24 percent are “very likely” to encourage a friend or family member to become a K-12 teacher today.
I recently read an essay on the teaching profession where the researchers were asking people to name another profession which they felt had a comparable status to teaching. In the West, teachers were overwhelmingly thought of in the same bracket as librarians or social workers. Compare that to China, where teachers were considered to have an equal status to that of doctors.
There is a definitive societal lack of respect for teachers in the West. The media is a huge source of fueling the demise of the teaching profession. When teachers get a mention in the media they are often blamed for a vast array of society’s ills: from the loss of manners to the decline in academic performance to the shortage of viably trained professionals and vocational workers.
My feeling is that this attitude towards teachers is not just morally wrong, it’s sabotaging the education system. If we constantly attack teachers, we will miss out on generations of talented graduates who will not want to join a profession that is constantly derided.
If our culture so richly rewards celebrities, actors, reality TV personalities and sports stars, heaping praise and riches on them, why should not outstanding teachers be equally celebrated? The moniker “hero” is thrown around so haphazardly today that we often fail to see the true heroes standing right amongst us- and every teacher that I know has worn that proverbial cape more than once in some child’s life.
Teachers wear so many hats today in the classroom- they are educator, nurse, counselor, protector, facilitator, monitor…sometimes they provide the only love and encouragement that a child gets. Teachers work countless hours and have sleepless nights with concerns about their children that they hold close in their hearts. They are as proud as a child’s parent when celebrating accomplishments and as devastated as a parent when a child is hurt in any way.
If you are wondering why we should respect teachers- it is because they hold the future in their hands. There was a teacher behind every great inventor, every great philosopher and every great idea in history. Fierce independent minds – from Nelson Mandela to Steve Jobs – have paid tribute to the influence of a teacher during their early years. Countless future leaders and society contributors will one day credit their teachers as well. If it’s your love of reading, your interest in space, your love of thought and debate- I know that there was a teacher in your past that sparked your interests and fed your self-worth to help make you the adult you are today.
As I look ahead to fiendishly complex challenges of the modern age – from climate change to frenetic technological change to global conflict – I know it will require better ideas, and better teachers, now more than ever. Teachers need our respect and they need it every single day. This current generation is in a better place than most of us to reclaim the teaching profession…and they have a chance to remind us what once made teaching beautiful in a million different ways but, we have to model that kind of respect for teaching in order for them to commit to the profession.
Thank you to the teachers in my life when I was a student- Thank you to the teachers among my family and friends- Thank you to the fabulous group of teachers that I get to work with each and every day at Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center- and thank you to teachers everywhere!
Trust me on this…I know that teachers do not work for prestige or income – Teachers teach for the outcome…They work for “their” children’s success and future.
Be well, joe cozzo
