Help or Hurt? Facebook Posting and the Public Image of Teachers

So, just to start off with - I think these are funny. I chuckle a little each time I see someone post these on Facebook. But I also cringe a little, too. 

Why?

...because we are in a much maligned profession and when non-teachers see these kinds of posts it only adds to their already ingrained perceptions that teachers are lazy and only get into the field because we want our summers off. (To be fair, I realize that not all non-teachers have this viewpoint in the first place...hats off to you if you're one of them!)

Chances are, if you're reading this blog, you have a vested interest in public education and you know that the grain of truth to these funny e-cards is simply that - a grain. The teachers I know and work with are typically excited to return to the classroom. The summer has revived their energies and their creative juices. They are ready to meet the challenges and celebrate successes with a new batch of students. Teaching is a fundamentally  creative profession and creative people need time to recharge their batteries. 

Should teachers be able to complain about their jobs, just like any other private sector worker (or even other public sector workers who aren't teachers)? Of course we should. In reality this is no different than when I worked at Barnes & Noble. You took your vacation and dreaded going back. Customers can be irritating and rude. Who wants to go back to that? However, no one is passing laws about racing to the top while leaving no customer behind.

As teachers we CAN'T post or even "like" these sorts of things in a public forum. As a profession we have to lift ourselves above those who would tear us down. We have to make sure that the public sees our profession for what it really is - a profession of dedicated, caring experts who, through many years of training and experience, have learned how to create real magic in the world. I challenge educators to band together and paint that picture, not because we want to sell our image to the public, but because it's the truth!

Below are a few comments I found on the internet about teachers. They include the now famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) open letter to public educators by Washington Representative Liz Pike. The fact that an elected representative would address any profession in this manner is horrific, and in this case it clearly shows her ignorance about the realities of teaching as well. The only way to fight this kind of ignorance is by consciously changing how we represent ourselves and thus, slowly but surely, transform our profession's negative public perception. 

"Congratulations on enjoying your last day of the school year,” Pike’s post reads. “If I had the opportunity to choose my career all over, I would have opted to get the necessary degree and teaching certificate so that I too could enjoy summertime off with my children, spring break vacations, christmas [sic] break vacations, paid holidays, a generous pension and health insurance benefits. Instead, I chose to work a career in private sector business so that I could be one of those tax payers who funds your salaries.” - Washing Representative Liz Pike

"It is tiring to have teachers play the victim card. No one forced them to be teachers. No one forces them to stay in a job if they can’t stand it anymore. It isn’t a perfect world, nor is it supposed to be. The taxpayer is not responsible for making teaching a ‘dream” job. Get rid of the union protection and replace it with competence and competition, then education will improve."  - Comment on Representative Pike's letter to educators.  

The quotes above are distressing, but in order to stop the vilification of public school teachers, we need to collectively raise our consciousness in regards to how we present ourselves.

For those of you who have posted such material, this post is not meant to wag a finger in your face. (There would be a finger in my own face if that were the case.) This is simply one teacher's effort to focus our thoughts on how we present ourselves to the larger public. You may disagree with me, but I hope I've given you something to think about.

I end this post with one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite people in history. It expresses how I feel about teachers and teaching - let's make sure more people see it this way, too.