The Next Generation of Educators

Today I wanted to share some optimism for the future of Education. Too often as school district administrators, we must analyze the fiscal and political challenges we face and make recommendations or decisions that are from this pragmatic lens. Writing these articles on LinkedIn has provided me with the luxury that we often do not get on a daily basis with the driven politics of schools, and that is time. Time to be able to research and evaluate an issue; Time to truly access and analyze data; Time to talk and listen to other Educators; and most importantly, time to reflect, synthesize, and evaluate options directed at supporting student achievement. For those who have been reading this series of articles, it should not be a surprise that I deeply believe that the fundamental core focus for education should be on improving student achievement; we want to see the next generation ready to correct and expand on the opportunities we missed. My next article on LinkedIn will be an "origin story" that describes my first day in public education as a substitute teacher. as I wrote it I probably was the proudest of my career decision as I have been in more than 30 years. While the story will be about me, it really was meant to be an homage to those who wake up early, and then stay late, just to support students they may only know for 180 days, and do so every year with an enthusiasm that we sometimes forget we used to have as we moved through the "educational system."

Yesterday, August 17, 2022, however, I was able to do something again, while experienced vicariously, that I will take with me to the grave. On January 6, 2000, my wife and I were blessed to have a child. Like every parent we wanted our daughter to have the opportunity to create her own pathway in life. Our own childhoods were mixed and we wanted our daughter to have the foundation and know she had "help" all the way into adulthood if she needed it. The feeling of security of knowing that there will always be a safe place to return to is one of the greatest gifts a parent can provide their children. For my wife and I, this was of even greater emphasis because we have raised our daughter without any help as fate would create a situation where the only family we have is the 3 of us, with no security of grandparents on either side from the time before she entered public schools. I have always looked at my personal and work lives as being separate, and it has allowed us to have such a variety of experiences that people who only know us from one or the other would be surprised to see the dichotomy between each life. Because of those experiences, I really never thought she would work in Education, in fact, I remember at times taking her with me to board meetings when child care was unavailable. I figured seeing the politics and structural aspects of the work would lead her on a different pathway.

The world is an amazing place, and the opportunity to travel and meet people from different parts of the world I believe can be an education within itself. Starting when she reached high school it became our priority for our daughter to see the endless opportunities that exist, and also discover and experience the places that created the culture, learning, language and ways of life that we experience today. During the year we would save our $5s (this is another story on that strategy for another time) and come late June or early July we would be off to explore the world, starting with Europe. Before she turned 21, our daughter had traveled to 21 countries and understood humanity in ways she might not otherwise have experienced. It is one thing to read the History Texts or view the masterpieces from books in AP Art History, and quite another to walk among the real items in the Uffizi, Louve, Hermitage, and St. Pauls Cathedral within the Vatican.

Well, I should have known better the pathway she would take to start her career. Our daughter graduated early, in just 3.5 years this December from the University of San Francisco with a Major in Sociology and minors in Childhood Development and English, and immediately moved into her Master's program. In the spring she did the first round of Student Teaching in Ethnic Studies at a high school in the San Francisco Unified School District. In June, right before we all went to Europe again in recognition of her graduation she informed us that she was selected to teach High School World History at the same high school as an intern (until December when she will graduate again with her Master's degree and Single Subject teaching credential). Her longer-term pathway is to teach abroad, which looks to create an entirely new set of experiences for her, and us, to learn from in the future.

Today, I was working with several school districts, as part of my own new journey as a quasi-retired school administrator, the discussion was on building a foundation to support student achievement and starting with the most fundamental gateway to that achievement being a focus on student attendance. During one of those meetings, I overheard when our daughter called my wife during her lunch break on Day 1 as a professional educator. What she said was she felt comfortable in the classroom, that she had made connections with her students already, and that they were able to connect with her and still respect that a 22-year-old teacher who was a high school senior when her students were in 7th grade could facilitate their learning. Having interviewed many new teachers and school employees over the past 3 plus decades, the most important trait I look for (even before content knowledge) is the ability of the individual to connect with students, colleagues, and constituents, so hearing the instant connections from her was a very positive sign.

Last night my daughter called again tonight to share a story. At her high school students are only able to take 2 AP courses per year due to the fact that the site is small for a high school with fewer than 1,000 total students. One of her sophomores shared that she wished she could take another but understood she could not. My daughter's response was "I have the AP text and materials and we will be covering the same content, just differently. If you are interested we can work together on some additional side work and you can still try to take the exam." At a time where we continue to examine equity of outcomes and access, these are the types of stories that should help us explain to our legislators why we must fund schools adequately to support our educators who are doing all they can to make a difference, one classroom at a time.

As an educational leader, I have dedicated my time trying to remain grounded as a teacher to support all those that work with me. My definition of a teacher may best be described as a facilitator. I believe in using stories, and situations, to have conversations with others to help them to grow and be able to make decisions using multiple points of view. My relationship with my daughter is interesting in the fact that she will not do anything I suggest (it is clear that she is already a more pure educator than I could ever have imagined, and way more advanced than I was at that age). I did get to talk to her over the weekend when she felt a bit overwhelmed because she had never been in charge of classes on her own. I reminded her that many of us in Education feel that way, and pointed out the fact that teachers have been required to reinvent themselves and teach in completely different ways each year for the past 3 years. With all of this changing, education has come to a point where everyone is a first-year teacher.

I reflected on that conversation as I listed on about the first day, and it was clear that our daughter figured things out independently and was going to be her own person. She explained how she announced to her students that they are in charge of their learning. She outlined all of the content and areas she would cover, but then told me something she did that was unexpected.

After she finished she then asked every student to reflect and tomorrow tell her if there is anything that they absolutely feel they could never do (give a speech, etc) and if there was anything that they absolutely want to focus on and learn more about (Fench Revolution anyone?). She clearly connected with students and made them feel that learning will be relevant. She also went beyond the cartoon above by making sure that there was a mutual investment in teaching and learning that would occur in her classroom.

I asked her about the student's behavior and whether they tried to "test" her right off remembering my own experiences, especially in middle and high school. In response, she just relayed how she discussed the school's cell phone policy in response to addressing my question. The policy states that teachers should confiscate cell phones if they became a distraction to learning. She then explained how she told the students that in her classroom things will be simple.

She does not want to take phones and won't. Then she explained to them that if a cell rings the student should answer, on speaker, and she will be glad to join in on the call with them. If they receive a text, no problem at all, because she will also stop the whole class, and can have the text read to see what is so important. Finally, if they are on Tik Tok the student should be prepared again to share with everyone, and she will ask them to create a persuasive argument as to why that Tik Tok is more relevant than the class at that moment. She further stated that if it was more relevant, then she would shift focus to support that discussion. Our daughter was amazed and relieved when she watched the students quickly drop their phones in their backpacks or pockets and look back up at her wondering what they would discuss next.

While these quick anecdotes are mundane in nature I cannot help but think:

1. On day 1 a brand new teacher set clear expectations for the class and they bought into her as a viable role model.
2. Students exited the room feeling the course would be relevant to them. In fact, she shared that a couple of students were confused and came to her class even though they were supposed to be in a different class. The students waited until the end of class to talk to her and when she asked why they didn't leave or ask for help earlier, they said they were too busy engaging in what was happening in the room to figure out they were in the wrong place until later
3. This is my own takeaway: As public educators, we need to support, foster, lead, and feed our newest educators because they will do more for students than we could have ever hoped. And, we really, really need them.

I posted this because I am both proud and optimistic. When you read my next article on my own personal origin story of day 1 in Education on LinkedIn, it will become evident that in this family the daughter is already surpassing the father. This motivates me to stick around to see what happens next so I am going to go get in a workout in because I want to be around in 32 years to see where she goes! Even more astonishing is that 32 years from now she might still have another 11 years to go before possible retirement. So until 2065, I know where I will be watching and learning, so I had better get back to those workouts.

I know one more thing. If I was still working in an LEA I think I would make it a point to go to a school tomorrow and thank the new teachers at that site for joining our profession. I hope everyone considers doing the same.