The Frustration of Teacher Development

It can sometimes feel frustrating trying to improve in the early years of teaching. The most difficult, or unique part of education is there is almost never a clear answer to most educational issues, just ‘using your professional judgment’ to make the best decision.

The most annoying, and best part about veteran teachers and administrators, is their damn humility.

I often ask people more experienced than I, “what do you know that I do not? I know that you improve as a teacher through experience, but what does the experience teach you?” While this is often accompanied by “Lucas, leave me alone, I am using the bathroom,” it almost never leaves me with a satisfied answer.

It almost seems taboo for any teacher to admit they are good at what they do. There are obviously positives to this as education is so open-ended in most situations that it can come across as naive to fully believe you have THE answer.

On the other hand, this could also be the root for circumstantial issues when dealing with parents, students, or any general problems in education. People who make major decisions and the people who teach us to make major decisions are rarely certain in their advice for complex educational decision-making. Is this to avoid the social penalty of appearing more knowledgeable than the collective, or is it simply the nature of dealing with people problems?

I remember having a conversation with a teacher during my first year when I was in my first year and it was my second semester. In having a one-on-one conversation about how my year was going, I said to them “I think I am doing my job well.” By no means was I implying I was an expert or had it all figured out, but I had made a lap of the courses I was teaching to that point and felt good about how things were going. I felt even if I was not a ‘good’ teacher yet, I could at least somewhat confidently say I was improving.

When I said this, the veteran teacher I was speaking with shot me a look so appalled you could have sworn I had just repeatedly shouted racial slurs. I then quickly recalibrated my point to say “I think I am doing as well as I can with what I know up to this point.”

The truth is, this person was right and wrong at the same time. Was it a crazy statement from me to say I felt good about how things were going? Perhaps. Was it also crazy that given this reaction, there were clearly things this teacher had seen in me which needed drastic improvement yet they had never voiced them? Precisely.

The conundrum of being too humble or feeling ‘it is not your place’ to pass on advice, but also reacting in such a way when the young teacher in front of you clearly demonstrates not possessing the awareness of not knowing what they do not know. To me, it signals the weirdness of unwittingly sheltering the spread of teacher wisdom in the profession.

So what does it mean to improve then?

Obviously, I will follow the lead of my profession and channel humility on this front, but I will tell you what one observation from a veteran teacher who shared a nugget with me.

From my virgin teacher eyes, when I converse with administrators or veteran teachers, it just seems there is an automaticity about the way they carry themselves and in how they respond to conflict in the moment. One word that consistently springs to mind is efficacy. A dear friend once told me that teaching mastery occurs when you can figure out what lesson you are going to teach, and then tweak and fine-tune it in your head all on the walk to your classroom in the morning.

What then is the solution to the PD apathy crisis? Every teacher should start a podcast..

The Pod This Week:

Gaspare Randazzo - Moving this one up a little bit as it was originally planned for the end of March, but trying to keep the content light in spirit of Teachers Convention week! Gaspare is a standup comedian and teacher based out of New York, NY. He also recently appeared on a Netflix reality gameshow called The Trust. During the episode, Gaspare mainly discuss his time on the show and how his teaching skillset helped him do very well on it without giving away any spoilers!

Upcoming Guest:

Dr. Jennifer Love - Jennifer is an ELA Teacher based out of Nashville, TN. On this episode, Jennifer and I discuss making time for yourself outside of the classroom, making extra income online, differences between the Canadian and American education systems, and, much more.