Teaching in the Real World

Annelise Royles, English and Women’s & Gender Studies, ‘19

As aspiring teachers leave college believing that their education has prepared them for teaching in public schools, most of them spend their first year of teaching in a whirlwind of disillusion. This phenomenon is the result of the disconnection between how professors approach teaching and how teachers must succeed in an educational world full of red tape. These foundational observations were the motivation behind my second Self-Directed Learning Project, as I am a student who endeavors to have a lasting teaching career post-Kenyon. This post is a short synopsis of my findings for my project.

Part of my research included reaching out to a beloved English teacher in Mount Vernon; I sent her the syllabus and lesson plans I wrote for my first Self-Directed Learning Project, for which I attempted to write a comprehensive lesson plan using both Alfie Kohn’s Schooling Beyond Measure: And Other Unorthodox Essays About Education and the Ohio Department of Education’s standards for high school English.

(https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Operating-Standards/Table-of-Contents/Curriculum/Course-of-Study)

The many edits I made to my syllabus revealed just how little I knew about teaching; I concluded that this is the result of my lack of experience in a real classroom. Mrs. Krabill’s advice and expertise proved extremely helpful and spoke to my research from The English Journal, a publication which devotes its pages to teachers who reflect on what helps them improve their teaching. No subject is off limits, as the most helpful articles for my research included advice on how to work within district lines, how to come to terms with the expectations versus the realities of teaching, and how to approach teaching in a country plagued with racial tension. With all of this said, I will list two ways new teachers can cope with teaching in the real world.   

Teachers at Any Given School Must Work Together

One of the most common phenomena in teaching is a low retention rate. Many new teachers do not fully comprehend the intricacies of teaching approximately 80 students for a full school year. It takes innovation, patience, and nuance. Most importantly, new teachers often do not see any rewards for their work in their first year because experience is the only thing that can truly improve a teacher’s performance—and their own perception of their performance—in the classroom. Through mentoring, experienced teachers can help retain optimistic teachers who feel as if they are shooting in the dark. For example, a teacher named Piper began to arrange meetings with her department in order to collaborate on approaches to limiting state standards (Dail, Jennifer S., Michelle Goodsite, etc. 23). She described the goal of these meetings as “fill[ing] any gaps in learning” (23).

(http://www.ncte.org/journals/ej/issues/v107-6)

An example of said “gaps” is Ohio’s requirement for the 11^th grade: “RL.11-12.10 By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of range, building background knowledge and activating prior knowledge in order to make personal, societal, and ethical connections that deepen understanding of complex text” (“Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity” 5, Ohio Department of Education Model Curriculum Grades 11 and 12). Many of Ohio’s standards parallel this one, wherein the qualifications for learning are simultaneously vague and specific. How many stories, dramas, and poems will lead to ‘proficiency’? Additionally, what does ‘proficiency’ mean? Does the state measure it through standardized testing? If so, that is not helpful for any teacher. Therefore, a group of teachers who can attempt to answer these looming questions and take charge of the education they provide.

This collaborative effort made the tension between teaching according to set standards and teaching according to one’s teaching philosophy less daunting. This inclusive system may provide the support system required to feel as if teaching can be a career.

Teachers Need to Find an Online Community

The Internet can provide a worldwide community for a new teacher who feels alone. This is especially useful considering the social tensions in American schools. Class and race always affect education. Learning how to teach for underprivileged students—especially those who have experienced previous trauma with biased teachers—is integral to teaching every student across the country well. Online journals (such as The English Journal) and blogs (of which we know there are plenty) can provide the societal context required to rethink one’s positionality as a teacher.

I great example of this is a document one of my former teachers shared with me recently. It is a self-identified ‘crowd-sourced’ Google Document that provides sources on how to teach a diverse American literature course. 

(I would provide a link but access is only granted with a Google account.)

It includes articles written by teachers who reflect on teaching diversity in a system riddled with standards, such as “Culturally Diverse Literature:Enriching Variety in an Era of Common Core State Standards.” It also provides a long list of diverse American texts from which any teacher can choose a text to put on a syllabus. This ‘crowd-sourced’ approach to teacher support proves incredibly effective and can act as a crucial source for nascent teachers who feel overwhelmed by all of the choices they must make in this profession.  

Conclusion
Teaching requires collaboration between teachers and students, but is also requires a similar relationship between teachers. It is essential to show teachers that comfort in the profession takes time, and that their role contains value. Above all, teachers must be willing to be adaptable and innovative.