Article Analysis: "Educational Demographics: What Teacher Should Know" by Harold Hodgkinson

1381 Words3 Pages

I was struck by a few interesting points while reading the article Educational Demographics: What Teacher Should Know by Harold Hodgkinson. I found it true and interesting how the author mentions that teachers are often not involved in policy decisions and discussions that affect the schools. I know it’s true in my district. State and federal policy makers are often not teachers, and don’t always promote what is actually best for schools. The people making the decisions are often more business orientated, and don’t take the recommendations of the teachers. It is often hard to get teachers involved in policymaking or even local union decisions. My district is approaching a negations year, and the leaders of the Union are having a hard time recurring members to speak up, and fight for the teachers in the district. I am often a teacher who does not participate for a variety of reasons. FIrst, I don’t think I’d be very good at representing the teachers, as I don’t like to be confrontational. Secondly, I sometimes feel like my voice is not heard, and that the older more experienced teachers know what is best for us. This article made be realize that times are changing, and in these changing times, all opinions, especially those of the teachers need to be voiced and heard. I also found it interesting about the different ‘rings’ of the suburbs, and how the suburb that is closest to the city will often have the biggest flux in population. My district is closer to the fourth or fifth ring, so it made sense to me why we see small expansions in populations each year. The transiency issue was also interesting to me. I had one student this year that was in and out of states and different schools, living in hotels and different family member... ... middle of paper ... ...ng with the two (or more) different groups fighting for different ideas on what each group thinks is best. By understanding each other’s cultural perspectives, a solution to the conflict may be found quicker and easier. Maybe if I understood the older teacher’s cultural perspective more, I wouldn’t stereotype that group into being negative. I think if more teachers understood cultural perspective, even in my not very diverse school district, we could achieve more and have positive relationships. We started with a consensus idea at our staff meetings, which seems to work to compromise on our differing ideas. The goal of school should be to educate the children and prepare them for the world. Culture is an important part of that, and I’m glad I’m learning more about the different perspectives, so that I can be a better educator and continue to grow as a person, too.

Open Document