Graphic By Phillip Martin Why did you even start a tough challenge like teaching? Did a relative of yours teach? Did a teacher change your life so you joined to improve kids’ lives, too? Maybe you read the book, Today I Made a Difference. Perhaps you watched movies like To Sir with Love or Goodbye, Mr. Chips. No matter what stirring ideas brought you to this beloved but troubled profession, you know when success fills your heart with joy, while failures keep you awake nights. Yet, you have secret needs for teaching success no one else seems to know.
I’ve discovered four secret things all teachers crave right now. Principals and parents may not instantly identify these…and they are not improved hours or more pay. Far from it. So, what are these four secret needs?
HOPE
Brighter tomorrows; isn’t that a target every teacher imagines possible? Yes, of course, yet in the last two decades too many teachers have seen the light vanish in children’s eyes. A dull film covers their stares. Not every child. Not every age group. But, the glassy gaze is moving into elementary children and is often present in seniors, struggling to start a new life beyond high school. These students were pummeled with trials and tribulations most of us could not imagine in average American households just twenty years ago. Drugs, gun violence, cyber bullying and broken family turmoil infiltrate their existence. A general ennui creeps through children we dare to prepare each day. Teachers encounter childhood depression frequently, leading them to lose their hope to be healers of despair. We labor to inspire those in our classrooms to rise above darkness. That is the first, deeply seated need teachers seek right now—hope. We need to truly hope there is a better future if we all strive for together, using education as a foundation.
We, the classroom leaders, need to know that our school administrators are guided in this belief and driven to support all teachers to help achieve a greater future. We need confidence in our school boards, parents and community leaders. We pray for it to be the hallmark of our national politicians…but we are losing our grip on that belief.
What we need are great stories of success instead of continuous dark reports of teachers who prey on students, violence on school grounds and school board members being dragged to jail for corruption. Safe to Learn is going to foster a journey for hope by publishing more stories at this site about positive, powerful victories that educators and students achieved together. Hope is the engine of success.
TRUST
How often have we taught children that integrity comes down to saying what you mean, and meaning what you say? We cannot shield our students from the current culture of lying and deception reported in almost every profession and walk of life. Whether it is false advertising, fake news on the Internet or even rumors in our school…each day is filled with fallacious information that degrades our continued trust in anyone or any source. How can our students accept our information and training if they think it is all frivolous, skewed, imaginary or tainted? The battle over textbook content is a powerful example. If adults cannot agree on what is valid or true in books our kids are required to read, how can our children be expected to rely on anything we bring to them for growth and development?
Teachers deeply crave trust from their students. We want them to know we have their best interests every day, inside and outside of the classroom. We also want administrators to trust our dedication and approach to support student’s needs, rather than squelch our insights, creativity and outreach. We want parents to support our suggestions for their children’s success, knowing we are partners in the same cause…a child’s future. Finally, we want civic leaders at all levels to know that our dedication and education have prepared us to manage and protect the most valuable asset in the world…children.
BELIEF
If drivers ignore street signs, signals and markings on the roadway…horrible accidents occur. Some drivers are distracted. Some do not know how to read, yet drive without a license. However, some simply do not consider critical elements for their safety as their responsibility. They have lost belief. They become a law unto themselves without concern for others or the repercussions of their acts.
Teachers face classrooms filled with students without belief in many important forces, from the value of laws, personal responsibility for conduct, civility and even personal hygiene. The scariest loss is discovering children without belief in their own value. We see it so often in kids who no longer see any future path ahead. Their sense of personal worth is degraded to the point that nothing has value.
Teachers need the entire village to pull together to find pathways of belief to return. This can come from successful school projects and personal accountability. It can come from community support from faith-based outreach and other non-profit activities outside of the school system. Certainly, it arises from a base of improved parenting. Most of all, it must come from a strong, life-affirming curriculum that denies a catastrophic mentality of world collapse combined with promoting hopelessness for children’s future in a doomed world. That mindset must be turned around. Again, kids need to hear the same success stories SafetoLearn will promote. They need to believe they can forge powerful destinies. They need to know other kids succeeded even when faced with the same challenges they have in their lives.
VISION
Teachers are master navigators. We can see the dangers of the voyage ahead for our students. Sometimes it is a hidden special need that we recognize, which was somehow missed by previous schools or educational screeners, like autism or dyslexia. Often it is call for emotional support, from crisis counseling to anger management. We have the vision to identify issues so they can be managed, rather than leaving a student crushed simply because no one took the time to look a little deeper at their life’s map.
Teachers want the same vision for their profession. That means consistency in defining the most productive path forward so students get the best a community can offer. That may not mean they will have all the advantages of every school in the country. It means that policies and means are fairly distributed so that a community allows all boats to rise, not just a few. It also means having the foresight to clearly identify the fact that teaching to meet a standard test does not mean children are educated.
Children cannot become fully competent adults without basic tools, including life skills, critical thinking and effective problem solving. Without skills to make their way forward, they can become confused robots designed only for the bidding of the powerful and greedy. Unfortunately, as they become more frustrated, they will become angry robots. That can lead to mob mentality and a fracturing of the social order. Teachers understand this and they want to foster student’s abilities to create paths to success based on well-honed skills. This includes capacities to identify challenges ahead of them so they can make sound decisions, avoiding bad choices. Teachers want to arm them to manage their futures to their best possible outcomes. That requires vision.
________
Hope, trust, belief and vision are foundations in the Safe to Learn community of educators and safety specialists striving every day to ensure our classroom teachers can build a brighter tomorrow for all who enter their sacred space of learning.
To learn more about Safe to Learn, and how we dedicate ourselves to educational excellence, please explore our vision and resources at www.safetolearn.com.
I’ve discovered four secret things all teachers crave right now. Principals and parents may not instantly identify these…and they are not improved hours or more pay. Far from it. So, what are these four secret needs?
HOPE
Brighter tomorrows; isn’t that a target every teacher imagines possible? Yes, of course, yet in the last two decades too many teachers have seen the light vanish in children’s eyes. A dull film covers their stares. Not every child. Not every age group. But, the glassy gaze is moving into elementary children and is often present in seniors, struggling to start a new life beyond high school. These students were pummeled with trials and tribulations most of us could not imagine in average American households just twenty years ago. Drugs, gun violence, cyber bullying and broken family turmoil infiltrate their existence. A general ennui creeps through children we dare to prepare each day. Teachers encounter childhood depression frequently, leading them to lose their hope to be healers of despair. We labor to inspire those in our classrooms to rise above darkness. That is the first, deeply seated need teachers seek right now—hope. We need to truly hope there is a better future if we all strive for together, using education as a foundation.
We, the classroom leaders, need to know that our school administrators are guided in this belief and driven to support all teachers to help achieve a greater future. We need confidence in our school boards, parents and community leaders. We pray for it to be the hallmark of our national politicians…but we are losing our grip on that belief.
What we need are great stories of success instead of continuous dark reports of teachers who prey on students, violence on school grounds and school board members being dragged to jail for corruption. Safe to Learn is going to foster a journey for hope by publishing more stories at this site about positive, powerful victories that educators and students achieved together. Hope is the engine of success.
TRUST
How often have we taught children that integrity comes down to saying what you mean, and meaning what you say? We cannot shield our students from the current culture of lying and deception reported in almost every profession and walk of life. Whether it is false advertising, fake news on the Internet or even rumors in our school…each day is filled with fallacious information that degrades our continued trust in anyone or any source. How can our students accept our information and training if they think it is all frivolous, skewed, imaginary or tainted? The battle over textbook content is a powerful example. If adults cannot agree on what is valid or true in books our kids are required to read, how can our children be expected to rely on anything we bring to them for growth and development?
Teachers deeply crave trust from their students. We want them to know we have their best interests every day, inside and outside of the classroom. We also want administrators to trust our dedication and approach to support student’s needs, rather than squelch our insights, creativity and outreach. We want parents to support our suggestions for their children’s success, knowing we are partners in the same cause…a child’s future. Finally, we want civic leaders at all levels to know that our dedication and education have prepared us to manage and protect the most valuable asset in the world…children.
BELIEF
If drivers ignore street signs, signals and markings on the roadway…horrible accidents occur. Some drivers are distracted. Some do not know how to read, yet drive without a license. However, some simply do not consider critical elements for their safety as their responsibility. They have lost belief. They become a law unto themselves without concern for others or the repercussions of their acts.
Teachers face classrooms filled with students without belief in many important forces, from the value of laws, personal responsibility for conduct, civility and even personal hygiene. The scariest loss is discovering children without belief in their own value. We see it so often in kids who no longer see any future path ahead. Their sense of personal worth is degraded to the point that nothing has value.
Teachers need the entire village to pull together to find pathways of belief to return. This can come from successful school projects and personal accountability. It can come from community support from faith-based outreach and other non-profit activities outside of the school system. Certainly, it arises from a base of improved parenting. Most of all, it must come from a strong, life-affirming curriculum that denies a catastrophic mentality of world collapse combined with promoting hopelessness for children’s future in a doomed world. That mindset must be turned around. Again, kids need to hear the same success stories SafetoLearn will promote. They need to believe they can forge powerful destinies. They need to know other kids succeeded even when faced with the same challenges they have in their lives.
VISION
Teachers are master navigators. We can see the dangers of the voyage ahead for our students. Sometimes it is a hidden special need that we recognize, which was somehow missed by previous schools or educational screeners, like autism or dyslexia. Often it is call for emotional support, from crisis counseling to anger management. We have the vision to identify issues so they can be managed, rather than leaving a student crushed simply because no one took the time to look a little deeper at their life’s map.
Teachers want the same vision for their profession. That means consistency in defining the most productive path forward so students get the best a community can offer. That may not mean they will have all the advantages of every school in the country. It means that policies and means are fairly distributed so that a community allows all boats to rise, not just a few. It also means having the foresight to clearly identify the fact that teaching to meet a standard test does not mean children are educated.
Children cannot become fully competent adults without basic tools, including life skills, critical thinking and effective problem solving. Without skills to make their way forward, they can become confused robots designed only for the bidding of the powerful and greedy. Unfortunately, as they become more frustrated, they will become angry robots. That can lead to mob mentality and a fracturing of the social order. Teachers understand this and they want to foster student’s abilities to create paths to success based on well-honed skills. This includes capacities to identify challenges ahead of them so they can make sound decisions, avoiding bad choices. Teachers want to arm them to manage their futures to their best possible outcomes. That requires vision.
________
Hope, trust, belief and vision are foundations in the Safe to Learn community of educators and safety specialists striving every day to ensure our classroom teachers can build a brighter tomorrow for all who enter their sacred space of learning.
To learn more about Safe to Learn, and how we dedicate ourselves to educational excellence, please explore our vision and resources at www.safetolearn.com.
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