There are some fabulous benefits to being an occasional teacher (AKA supply/substitute teacher). I get to pick and choose when and where I work, for one thing. I get to meet a whole new group of students every day and, guess what? Someone else has already done all the really hard work of planning and prepping the lesson! And I don’t have to write report cards or deal with parents. So yeah…there are some definite up-sides.
On the downside, many kids treat subs like shit. They have little enough respect for teachers as it is (or maybe adults in general?) that it’s really hard to get through to them if you haven’t been there, battling it out with them day in, day out from the beginning of the year. Also, you never know where or even if you’re going to be working from day-to-day. If you’re relying on the income, that can be a bit of a tenuous position.
But all that aside, one of the hardest, hardest things I face in my work is witnessing the huge difference in the lives of children in different socioeconomic groups. Here in Calgary, the city can boast one of the biggest and best public education systems in the country, and my experience in dozens of its schools will bear that out. By and large, the teachers and other staff are competent, committed professionals who are dedicated to giving their students their best effort, every single day. But it’s just that in some neighbourhoods, that effort goes farther than in others.
In some schools, the staff room chit-chat at lunch time might be about which kids are on which teams or who’s starring in the school play. In other schools, the teachers ask which social workers are responsible for which kids, and whether Suzie is staying with her grandmother or a foster family while her mom’s in jail again. The curriculum doesn’t change, but the children’s ability to apply themselves to it does. And it’s disheartening. In fact, it’s tragic. Because what you realize when you work with them every day, is that all kids, regardless of their family situations, are still kids at heart. They have great hopes and aspirations. They have great enthusiasm. They have great spirit.
But, through no fault of their own, some of them don’t have the same opportunities. They don’t have the same innocence. They won’t have the same chances. And that’s just not fair.
I greatly admire the extremely dedicated professionals who work in these schools, giving so much to the ones who need it the most.
Wow – great post.
Erin: I agree about the universal childcare and especially meals. I’ve worked at several ‘disadvantaged’ schools with meal programs, and their sense of community is very, very strong, and that makes a difference for the kids. And, of course, they’re just that much more able to cope with the school day because they’re not *also* hungry.There’s just something about the sharing of food that creates a strong community bond.
Jen, I know, it’s heartbreaking what so many kids have to go through just to get by from day to day, isn’t it? In my first practicum, there was one little boy in the SK class who had witnessed his step-father murder his mother the previous year. Can you imagine? How do you overcome that?
I remember this when I was in teacher’s college doing my practicum (never became a teacher, btw). The discrepancy was glaringly obvious from one school to the next and I just remember wondering how any of these kids would ever bridge the gap. I remember teaching grade 2 in one school where a kid’s mom was the same age as me (24) and had 6 kids from 3 different fathers. Her oldest was in my class and came to school every day with no lunch. He was responsible for his younger siblings after school and all evening. His mom would get home late and he would be up watching late night TV waiting for her. How can an 8 year old take on all of this and find time for reading, homework, and himself? He was so focused on his own basic needs and survival. It was such a tragedy. He was such a sweet boy.
Great post Kath. Since I work in a small community, I see it all in one school. The kids from the more privileged, educated backgrounds and the kids in the Children’s Aid system. It is heartbreaking to see the difference.
Here is my plug for universal daycare and parent education. If daycare was free, many parents would take their kids there so they could work (or even if they choose not to work the child would still get the services). This would lower the number of kids coming in who don’t have the background knowledge that more privileged children have. Then, we need continuing help and summer programming through elementary and secondary school. Plus, they should be fed at daycare and school.
No this wouldn’t be a miracle solution but it would even the playing field a little more, as public education is meant to do.
Erin
PS: Malcolm Gladwell has a chapter about education in “Outliers”. He writes of how a school in Harlem changed to accommodate the backgrounds of the kids (longer hours, all meals, after school programs, summer study) and what a difference it made.