A Lesson in Common Core and Anger

After doing research all week I found myself at a point of anger and frustration that I may have never seen before. I have never come so close to quitting something so quickly as I did this week. 

Researching both American teaching unions (NEA, AFT) as well as the common core standards (CCSS) and several other International (UNESCO, UNICEF, NUT) and American National teaching websites (AAE) I've come across a system that I believe is broken well past the point of being fixed.

I'm a fan of unions I believe overall that they truly to help people and that with them more can get done. I need that clear because what I found when researching the two biggest American teaching unions as well as the largest in the UK was nothing more than rhetoric. 

The importance of equality runs through the NUT’s work. It is a key priority of the NUT to ensure that its members have a voice in the Union, in the classroom and in broader society, and do not face barriers to promotion, representation or participation. We believe that all children and young people should have equal access to a good school and an education system which treats staff and pupils fairly.

The language was flowery and beautiful. The overall substance was definitely lacking. Talking about fairness and equity, which are both very important, is all well and good. Without a plan in place or even a starting point those terms and that idea holds no water.

The main problem I found going website to website was that while all of them are full of  lovely rhetoric there was not an ounce of "here's what we need to do". There's absolutely no action plan. Perhaps the most disturbing part at all was there was no goal. 

The purpose of Education also known as the the why was nowhere to be found on the first five websites I visited. On the last website I visited which was the Common Core website I finally found the goal. Unfortunately I found that goal to be completely backwards from what I believe education is meant for. The goal of the common core standards is in this order college, career, and life. 

If that truly is the goal of Education in the United States of America then the system is absolutely doomed to fail and not just the system of education but the system of government itself.
For the first time in a very long time I actually had to be talked about from a virtual cliff. I was past the point of frustrated and angry and truly couldn't see why I should be a teacher at all if this was the goal of Education in America. If the purpose of education is to send our students to college then we've already failed them.

Website after website left me feeling bitter and angry. Perhaps I can be of Paris and believed that education for the sake of Education is truly the purpose of teaching. Perhaps I can say that because I have an education or that I've lived overseas for the better part of my life. I can say with certainty that if we are only educating our students for the sake of going to University. Then we may as well not be teaching them at all.

I live in a community of teachers, and the majority of my friends are all teachers. I have been discussing this research with them for days, and found myself getting angrier, and more jaded the more conversations we were having. These teachers are from across the globe, Ireland, UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA. It was finally another teacher (from Ireland) who reminded me that I don't teach the government that I teach individual students. It is that conversation alone that allowed me to continue on and write this blog. 

The research has taught me that it's time we take a much harder look at the whys of Education. We need to to think about the reasons that we are educating our young. It's through the understanding of why that will be able to truly fix the system and make it so that it can be equitable and fair to all.

It's time to take a much closer look at secondary education and the idea that vocational schools are less deserving than or colleges. It's time to realize that using our hands is just as important as using our brains. That a mechanic has no more or less significance than someone who's working in an office.

I am happy to add that while talking to a few education majors in university, a friends students, I was pointed to a recent article published in Korea, talking about the importance of vocational institutes, and that there will be a great deal more funding sent to them in the coming school year to help deal with the overwhelming unemployment numbers that Korea is experiencing.