My post yesterday was kind of a downer; I was feeling kind of deflated. It came down to one of the most painful paradoxes of adulthood: sometimes the harder you work, the more is taken away from you. I had to really look at the cost of trying to “do it all,” and be all for everyone. Things, important things, get neglected. Big business has no heart or compassion for the human perspective. And, all over the news, teachers are more than ever on the front-lines of being blamed for all of society’s ills, and if we could just treat our students like products in a business, all would be fine. I scratch my head in wonder –it is all so illogical. We are still going through one of the biggest recessions in history. Why it’s not labeled a depression, I don’t know. It sure has all of the earmarks of a great depression. In any case, banks and mortgage firms, and evil criminals like Bernie Madoff say, “Oops, my bad. Sorry. Now, where’s that bonus?”
I am not necessarily against performance pay. I am not necessarily for it. But I do know that every endeavor has a hidden cost. For example, you go to the store to buy some ice cream (mmmm…..ice cream…..). The ice cream costs 4.99 plus tax. But that doesn’t include the gas it took to get there. The time your mom spent driving you, when she could have been at work, doing laundry, or writing her doctoral thesis. There are costs to everything we do, including just sitting in a room breathing.
We can only imagine what the hidden costs may be exacted from everyone desperately trying to fix education. I know for myself, in trying to fix things, I’ve broken a few things, too. And there are some things you can’t put back together.
Omelet, anyone?
I am so discouraged right now by some of the collateral damage caused by being an ambitious, busy teacher. Thanks for listening.
I really like this post. It captures a large part of how all teachers are feeling right now.