R – I just saw a funny post on facebook, a collection of memes; teachers reactions at common circumstances… “Teachers in May”, “When a student reminds me that I forgot to change the date on the board”, “When a student asks what to do after having just given directions.”  I laughed but also thought about why teaching is so unique.

I am not one of those teachers who believes education is the most difficult job in the world, we’re underpaid/under-appreciated, etc (there are those who are, but that’s a blog post for another time). But I do believe that teachers are by definition fighting a perpetual, never ending tug of war between being a professional and interacting every moment of every day with students who are at a profoundly personal level. Students do not attend school as “professionals”. We do, but they don’t. Consequently we have a moral and ethical obligation to meet them where they are as people, develop them as people, foster them as people and hold them accountable for their actions as people. All the while, we are expected to be professional.

Explain to me exactly how this works?

Additionally, I’ve used the analogy that teaching a classroom of students is like programing 20+ computers to do the exact same thing at the exact same time (curriculum). But instead of just PC and Mac platforms, there’s 20+ different platforms, only 10+ if your class is completely homogenous. At any given moment, two of the computers have the power off and you don’t know why, the keyboard is missing from one of them, the keyboard is there for two of them but inputs letters different than the ones on their keypad, three of them randomly turn off for no apparent reason multiple times during class, some of the computers have been through the ringer and others are virtually in brand new condition… you get the idea. We are expected to be consummate professionals and program them the same way academically.

Now throw in that every computer is a person with feelings, moods, perceptions, emotions. Fears, beliefs, biases. Hates and loves. If we program the computer successfully but don’t meet these emotion needs, we’re looked at as poor teachers and get (appropriately) called out by parents. If we meet the emotional needs but don’t get every computer to the same programming goal, we’re looked at as poor teachers and get (appropriately) called out by administrators. Oy.

Truth be told, we LOVE this challenge. That’s why we teach. Or is it? I wonder if the disillusion of so many in this profession is based on the fact that they entered their career based on the love of their subject matter as opposed to loving the challenge I just articulated above. I hate to say it, but I believe this is a question that holds even more weight when applied to music teachers. Did we go into music education because we first loved music, or because we first loved working with kids? Caveat: when I say “kids”, I am referring to all of them, not just those who love music as well. Do we love working with those students just as much as we love music? There’s the other tug of war.

As we approach concert season again, I think it’s good to be reminded that this is not about the concert, it’s about our kids, even as our programs are evaluated as the product by so many (I’ve written posts asking if we are guilty of having perpetuated that). As we get weary over the professional expectations of assessment, accountability, instructional practices, teacher evaluations, it is good to be reminded: that’s our job; that’s what we were HIRED for. But we cannot forget all the while: it’s about the kids. I find this tug of war exceptionally draining sometimes. But I still find it fulfilling, I still look forward to it, and I still believe that I do it relatively effectively so I know I’m still in the right profession for now. It’s exhausting but so worth it. Keep fighting the good fight as the school year winds down, keep the tug of war going. A lot of people are depending on you to do so.