Teaching in the new millennium: Oh, how the times have changed!!

A week ago I came across this meme that immediately spoke volumes to who I am and what I do each and every day of my life. I work in a profession that is by its nature a giving and caring job. If you are incapable of caring then you will not make a good teacher at all. You might survive the profession because you are organized and great at creating lessons and getting through the curriculum but at the end of the day if you don’t truly care about what you are doing then you will be destined to live an unsatisfied work life. Teachers choose to teach for a variety of reasons but at the root of this choice to teach needs to be a passion for learning and a desire to see youth be successful. The teaching profession has changed vastly over the past few generations and I foresee this change continuing. There has been a paradigm shift in the philosophy of who is responsible for a child’s education and this shift is coming with some pretty strong attitudes.

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Take a moment to think back to your childhood and your experiences at school. The experience you had could be tremendously different from the experience of the person next to you. Depending on your age, your view of what school was like will potentially differ. I have had the opportunity to talk to family and friends from different generations and the stories I hear always leave me with that WOW feeling. First of all, I can’t believe some of the things they tell me were even allowed to happen and secondly, I am shocked at how far the pendulum has swung the other way and how fast. My father tells me stories of how students would get the paddle when he was in school. Can you imagine?

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These changes are both in terms of how education is administered and how students learn as well as how teachers are respected and able interact with students and families. Not only has the way things are happening in the schools and classrooms changing, the attitudes towards the teaching profession are shifting in a huge way and not in a positive way.

There was a day when parents and teachers were on the same page when it came to the education of children but those days are starting to disappear. I was having a conversation with some colleagues the other day. We are all around the same age, I am 42, and we would have gone through elementary and middle school in the 1980’s. (Ahhhh, the good years) The conversation turned to how we interacted and felt about teachers. There was a group consensus that we all respected and in some ways even feared our teachers. It wasn’t that the teachers were scary in any way though. Rather, it was that we feared the wrath of our parents if our teacher ever had to phone home or send a note. I remember once I was so worried about a note going home that I actually ripped it up and threw it away. Such a dumb move. I totally got caught. Really, what was I thinking? Of course, the teacher was going to follow up. My point is, I knew that if my parents found out I wasn’t working hard or if I misbehaved that I was going to be in trouble. This is no longer the case.

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My experience as a teacher has been far from my memories as a child. There are parents these days who are very supportive and hold their children accountable for all aspects of school life but more and more the image from the meme above is the reality. I could tell you countless numbers of stories about parents who contact teachers to complain about marks. “How is that my child is only getting C’s? He is an A student!” or “The questions on the test were not fair.” I had a colleague who was told by a parent just last week that their child was not putting in the effort because the work was boring. So the actions of the child are the teacher's fault? I can’t imagine my parents ever saying that to a teacher. They would have a ton of choice words for me about my marks but never would they imply that the teacher isn't doing his or her job. I was the one being held accountable for my actions or lack of actions and I would suffer the consequences.

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I had a parent just last year who I was in contact with because their son was not working as hard as he needed to be and his grades were suffering. I was hoping to get some support from home so he could be getting a consistent message. Instead, this parent contacted the principal and the school superintendent to complain that I wasn’t making an effort to help her child. I was so blown away by this. Admin totally supported me and the complaint was deemed to be unwarranted but it really made me question what I was doing all this for. A phone call to try to help a student turned into a complete nightmare. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon theme in the world of education these days. I know that our principal is constantly putting out these types of fires and dealing with absurd complaints and demands from parents all the time. When did our kids become so entitled? Why is it that they feel that they don’t have to put in the effort and why is it that there is no fear of consequences for behaviour? Why do parents think that this is ok?

Entitlement:

the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.
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In recent years, many parents and non-parents alike would agree there has been a rise in children with entitled attitudes. Most of us know at least one kid who fits the bill. These are the kids who won’t lift a finger to help, who seem to think the world revolves around them, who are frequently heard saying “I want it now,” and who rarely show gratitude or empathy. And while it might be nice to be able to place the blame elsewhere, this rise in entitlement may be due in large part to parenting choices.
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The scary part is that it is getting worse every year. Not only are children not having to be accountable for their academics, they are also not being held to a high standard of behaviour and respect. Parents are doing everything in their power to make sure that their child gets everything they want and doesn’t have to be reprimanded for anything. I used to be the director of a sports camp in the summers and I once had a kid throw an absolute fit because he didn’t pass the swim test conducted by the pool lifeguards. Later in the day I spoke with the father about the situation and low and behold, the father was very upset with me. How could I not allow the child to pass the swim test? Did I not have any idea the impact that this was going to have on this poor child's self-esteem? This parent was so angry. All I could say was that I supported the lifeguard's decision, it was not a matter of self-esteem but rather making sure that your kid was SAFE in the pool. I’m pretty sure the kid didn’t have any emotional scars from the experience.

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I made a decision last year that even though the educational landscape may be changing, I am going to continue to do everything in my power to teach my students the values of hard work, accountability and respect. It would be very easy to hide in the corner and go through the motions and avoid any parent conflict but that’s not who I am as a person or as a teacher. I have a colleague who once said it was not our job as a teacher to teach kids manners and respect. I couldn’t disagree more! In many cases, if we aren’t teaching it then who is? I know for many teachers it is not always easy to deal with these situations. My only advice is to be true to who you are and know that you are doing what is best for those students.

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Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear your stories about dealing with entitlement in your classrooms today. Do you deal with this in your classroom or daily life? What were your experiences as a student?