“All over the world, proud parents drop their children at the gates of schools, dreaming about what they might accomplish after years of study and homework. They entrust teachers with the duty of nurturing their development and opening their eyes to a world of possibilities. It's a huge responsibility -- but is that responsibility reflected in their social status and pay?”(Pisa). Teachers around the globe have a huge responsibility but this is not shown in the ways they are treated. Katie Pisa (“Who are the Worlds Most Valued Teachers?”), Dave Eggers and Ninive Clements Calegari (“The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries”) and Anisha Lakhani (Schooled) all explain the struggle of teacher salaries, the negativity of society, and the low status. …show more content…
Also it is causing others to view the profession of teaching as unattractive, creating the question of, who will replace them?
In the perspective of parents, a teacher's salary is not worth the money and hard work in college. Pisa, Eggers and Calegaris articles and Lakhani’s novel all describe how people are pulled from their teaching career because of the salary. Pisa’s article is a cultural standpoint, while Eggers and Calegaris article is more personal, and Lakhani’s novel is parental. But overall, they explain that this is causing teachers and pursuers to step away from teaching.
An example of parents pulling their daughter/son away from becoming a teacher is portrayed great it Lakhani's book. The main character is pursuing the job of teaching, but her parents tell her not to because of the teacher salary. This parental influence is creating a problem, it is causing more and more people to not go into teaching. The opposition might say that teachers live a good life with the salary that they have. On the contrary, the teachers that are thriving normally have another job outside of the classroom, in fact 62% do work outside the
In “The Teacher Wars”, by Helen Goldstein, the book focuses on the historical implications of school policy and how it affects teachers. The author goes into depth with everything from the rise of female teachers to the rise of technology in today’s teachers. As Goldstein argues teachers have an incredible ability to be able to widen equality, yet can also narrow the achievement gap that is created from birth. Her showcase of the constant strife against teachers throughout the ages gives way to multiple ways politics and decisions affect the achievement gap.
The first reason I agree with Matthew Miller’s “A Deal for Teachers”, is that something needs to be done about good teachers not being treated or paid right. I know many (in my opinion) great and intelligent teachers. They are working hard all the time to teach children everything they need to know. Meanwhile, they are getting paid the same as their coworkers who are doing nothing. In poor schools this might be even more important. In some cases, school might be the only place some children are getting taught important life skills, and their teachers might be the only good examples they have. I know a teacher who works in a poorer school. She’s told me about how hard it is to work at a poor school in general, with a lot of children who don’t respect teachers or adults and parents that also don’t respect the teachers. Couple that with low income and awful coworkers. If we keep giving our good teachers reason to leave by not treating them fairly, then we will never fix the problem of having so many bad teachers in our
With the low expectations of teachers, students are limited in their ability to learn. As discussed before, it is difficult to predict how well a teacher will do at their job before they begin working. This creates doubt when hiring anyone, and employers may not know if who they are hiring is the right choice. If teachers are judged by not only the basic requirements met, but also their interpersonal skills and how well they are able to teach in a positive manner, there will hopefully be less mediocre teachers hired. In the same way, both an advanced teacher and an average teacher are paid the same wages, which creates a flaw in education. Even more, there should not be average teachers in the workforce if all teachers are paid the same. Though this harms the advanced teachers, who deserve more than they earn, it also harms the students, as they are taught at a lower level by the inadequate teachers. Gladwell mentions these flaws in his article, but he also explains the traits good teachers should have, which brings a strive forward in this issue. Because of this, it is clear America must be more selective and strict when hiring
In many low income communities, there are teachers that are careless and provide their students with poor quality education. These teachers are there just to make sure that they keep receiving their monthly paychecks and act in this way because they believe that low income students do not have the drive, the passion, or the potential to be able to make something of themselves and one day be in a better place than they are now. Anyon reveals that in working class schools student’s “Work is often evaluated not according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps.” (3). This is important because it demonstrates that low income students are being taught in a very basic way. These children are being negatively affected by this because if they are always being taught in this way then they will never be challenged academically, which can play a huge role in their futures. This argument can also be seen in other articles. In the New York Times
Barber calls the reader 's attention to the low salary of teachers and how their wages need to rise. Although many people know about the salary issue for teachers, they often overlook
In a period of four years one metropolitan city experienced a 1,000 percent increase in homicides. Steven Dudley and Elyssa Pachico report that there was an astounding 3,000 murders reported in 2010 compared to only 300 murders in 2006. The statistics dubbed Ciudad Juarez as the murder capital of the world during these years. The ongoing war between the once dominant Juarez Cartel and the current reigning rival Sinaloa Cartel spurred the homicide rate in this crucial drug trafficking route. Recent speculations are that the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera has surpassed the waning Juarez Cartel and taken control of Ciudad Juarez’s territory (Shoichet).
Taylor Mali, an American slam poet and teacher, wrote a poem titled, “What Teachers Make”. In this poem, he rhythmically tells about other professions criticizing teachers based on their choice of occupation. While teachers will never earn six figure incomes, they make a difference. Teachers dedicate their lives to leading, inspiring, and educating future generations, all while earning meager pay. Though teachers form foundation of education, their pay does not accurately represent their skills. Using merit pay systems will properly assess how much a teacher should be paid, based on their teaching ability.
This article then talks about how America bashes educators for many different things like “social and political failings of our nation” or “child harming”. Then saying that educators are putting our nation’s safety at risk. They blame teachers for so many different things but can’t blame teachers on our school funding gaps, or the nation’s 25% child poverty rate “the highest in the developed world. These problems persist in America, not only corroding the education children are getting but also their well-being, health and hope.
When was the last time that you saw a teacher sporting off a brand new Lexus? Or when was it that you heard of a teacher owning a ranch? The answer to this question is probably never. Although material possessions such as owning a luxurious home or driving an extravagant car might be chump change for people like the rich and famous, for teachers this kind of spending is literally an arm and a leg. Even simple necessities are out of reach with a teacher’s salary. The reason for this problem is due to our nation’s budget. Teachers along with others in the school system are underpaid and are not being adequately compensated for their services. Instead of rewarding teachers with higher pay the government is undermining their work. As a result, teachers are unable to buy that expensive car or even pay off that Honda that they bought when they were in college working for their teaching degree. School budgets must be increased immensely in order to insure the educational growth of students and the professional development of teachers. There are four main reasons that are discussed in this paper, as to why more money should be spent on education.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
In a society where kids must go to school up to the collegiate level, teaching is an impactful career choice. Teachers help contour the minds of future leaders of the world. Furthermore, teachers play a crucial role in guiding students to the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to succeed in life, and teachers lead students to make informed decisions on any topic the meet in the future. As a teacher, a person must relinquish their knowledge onto students. Finally, they must prepare their students for all the obstacles they will face later in life.
There is no more critical role in our current society than that of a teacher’s. Teachers help shape the minds of the future. Tomorrow 's engineers, scientists, politicians, and educators are all greatly influenced by today 's Instructors. Without teachers society would not be anywhere near where it is now, and only a select few would have access to learning. Sadly however important teachers are in human civilization, they are still drastically understated, unrecognized and under paid. Although some people may argue that performance pay is good, performance/merit pay is bad because it will result in teachers doing much less personalizing of the curriculum, and spending that time doing only what things need to teach in order to keep their student’s
When choosing ones profession there are always two important questions to ask yourself. Is it what you love doing, and is the pay going to be enough to support you. For me the second question has never had much of an impact on my decision, along with most others who are educators or wish to become one. Teaching is not a job that one chooses to be rewarded by the pay. It is a job that is chosen for the rewarding feeling of knowing that it is the most effective, and most enjoyable way one can change the world; therefore, if teachers are noble enough to sacrifice such a huge aspect just to better our future generations, then don’t you think they should be paid what they deserve?
Peske, Heather G., and Kati Haycock. "Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality: A Report and Recommendations by the Education Trust." Education Trust. N.p., June 2006. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
Teachers hold a very sensitive role in the modern civilized society. Regarded as social engineers, teachers possess immense knowledge on various issues that affect our daily lives as a community of human beings. Though in many countries including the developed ones, teachers are poorly remunerated they make invaluable contributions to their communities, to society and to the world at large, engaging in yeoman services with selfless love and dedication that could only be considered priceless. This paper serves to explore some of the social contributions that teachers make to the modern civilized society.