I’m sure you are seeing what we are seeing. Faith in institutions is crumbling everywhere.
According to Gallup research, 11 of the 16 institutions it tracks annually saw a decline in confidence in 2023. “Most of the institutions rated were within three points of their all-time-low confidence score, including four that were at or tied with their record low. These are the police, public schools, large technology companies and big business.”
Many of the institutions it tracks were once the bedrock of American civic and community life – churches, schools, newspapers, and the medical system. They were the places that brought together diverse people through common needs, enabling them to flourish in ways that they could not on their own.
Only 26% percent of Americans had confidence in schools in 2023.
These national declines help explain what we see locally, like the rise in school vandalism and absenteeism, as well as declines in engagement and participation in clubs and sports. These factors, among many others, not only affect the students sitting in front of us. Teachers feel the weight of a system that is no longer working as it should and are forced to grapple with issues non-existent a decade ago before any content can be taught.
Why be a part of something if you don’t believe in it?
Why honor something when everyone else around you is dubious?
INSPIRATION
This moment is not all that different from what the Apostle Paul experienced when he wrote 1st Corinthians between AD 55 and 56. In his letter, he sought to address concerns within the church, including divisions, immaturity, and questions about spiritual matters. The book’s key themes include unity, the importance of love, the nature of spiritual gifts, and the resurrection.
Chapter 13, the “Love Chapter,” is where he asserts that without love, even the most remarkable talents, sacrifices, and acts of faith are meaningless. He describes love as patient, kind, and not self-seeking. Love is not envious, boastful, or proud; it does not dishonor others and is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs and rejoices in truth.
We think about how to turn skepticism into faith and how to cultivate hope when the seeds of distrust have already been sown. We are not simply asserting that love is the answer. But for faith to repair, trust to improve, and confidence to rise, we must possess the patience to endure, the poise to avoid anger, and the temperance to not dishonor. These seven quick fixes offer a path to a better relationship between the schools and the public.
No, “Quick fix” is not clickbait or a misnomer. It is the swiftness of staking a flag in the ground and declaring, “yes, we are going to do this.”
LOCKING UP PHONES
As our students enter school each day at Midtown High School in Atlanta, GA, they lock their phone in a Yondr pouch which they carry with them throughout the day then unlock with a magnet as they exit the building at 3:30. You can read more about the logistics and concerns here, but I want to focus on the impact this decision has had in my classroom.
To say the entire ethos of class has changed due to phones being locked up is an understatement. Students are more engaged in classes because they are simply less distracted. From the very first week without phones, teachers across all subjects noticed we were finishing our lessons early, often having 15 – 20 minutes left for lessons that we were barely finishing last year. We were covering content faster because we 1 – weren’t having to continually tell students to put phones away and 2 – we weren’t having to drag students through the lesson because they were so much more engaged. This engagement is more than students not wasting time by physically reaching for their phone but also provides students the ability to focus on a concept cognitively for an extended amount of time without mental distraction. This decision has benefits individually and as a for the whole class. Discussions are significantly better. Student collaboration occurs more often and is more productive. I don’t have to repeat directions nearly as much as I did last year. Students say they have less homework because they are getting more work done in class and enjoy socializing with friends instead of mindlessly scrolling when finishing work.
LATE-WORK POLICIES
This will be controversial, but I’m saying what I’m saying (Susan writing here). Late work is the bane of my existence. In English classes, especially where skills build upon one another, the ability to turn in work all at the end of a term is just unfair to teachers and not beneficial for students. The concept makes sense: penalizing a student for late work is a behavioral issue and should be considered a conduct grade not a grade that demonstrates mastery of a concept. I have found myself, however, grading mountains of work turned in at the end of term which is unfair to me and sets students up for grade grubbing or turning in subpar work that is done at the last minute. After the pandemic I (and most teachers I know) give little homework; the only homework is what is not finished in class and maybe some reading even though we even do most of this in class these days. And here’s what I see in my class: students either waste time or are working on assignments for another class instead of doing our classwork and then want to turn in the assignment late because they need more time. This is far different than late work due to extenuating circumstances (of course I am understanding of circumstances where students need extra time) but rather never starting the work in class then forgetting about it until the end of term or whatever the deadline is. Students will rise to the occasion and ultimately learn more if we hold them accountable.
PRESENCE
What does teaching look like in the 21st century? If we’re asking our students to be engaged, what does that look like for teachers? I started doing a course audit three years ago to see what we actually did in class and what grades I recorded. The first year was truly eye-opening as so many of my assignments were compliance based instead of providing students real opportunities to engage with the content and learn. I was also grading far too many assignments. Once I stripped down my curriculum to lessons that provided students to demonstrate growth in their learning, I noticed something else. I could not sit behind my desk and assume learning would occur with me physically and emotionally showing up and doing my part. Students most often match the energy that teachers bring.
PHILOSOPHY COURSE
The most influential course I ever taught was public speaking. Students entered petrified of standing and talking in front of their peers. Many delivered their “Last Lecture” in tears because they recognized how much they had grown, how powerful it was to share part of yourself with others, and how valuable the course would be moving forward. We need more classes like that. Students spend most of their time in school being told what to think, not how to think. What if more schools offered a course in a basic philosophy class, teaching students how great thinkers and great cultures over the millennia have grappled with the most fundamental questions? Students always complain that they will never use what they learn in school in real life,” so why not give them a class that teaches them how to think about life?
The book, How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing Your Personal Philosophy is a good blueprint for the class. It is collection of essays by fifteen philosophers presenting a thoughtful, introductory guide to choosing a philosophy for living an examined and meaningful life. It works its way through the ancient philosophies of the East and West (Buddhism, Stoicism, etc), the religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism, etc), and modern philosophies (Existentialism, Secular Humanism, etc).
A course that doesn’t revolve around a major exam, one that teaches students how to think and expands their minds by presenting them with different approaches to the good life may be just the thing to make students feel better about school.
MORE OPEN HOUSES
If our faith in institutions is crumbling, one way to change that perception is to invite people back into the fold to see what’s really happening. More open houses mean more contact time with parents. More contact time means greater control of the narrative. There was a physical separation between the community and schools during COVID, and that’s when Facebook groups assumed power over people’s perceptions of schools, and they haven’t relinquished that authority. The loudest digital voices still own the greatest power. But with COVID in our rear-view, we need to tell the story of what’s happening in our schools. Invite the families back in. Bridge the gap between parents and teachers. Restore faith in what we are doing.
EMPOWER EVERY TEACHER TO LEAD
The most undervalued resource in education is teachers. Teachers don’t want to be stuck on the hamster wheel, working day after day without any progress or direction. They want leaders who can offer a vision of what is possible, articulate why this possibility can benefit others, and determine the steps to achieve this possibility. When this happens, they see an end goal to their efforts. They understand collective responsibility. They have a way of prioritizing what needs to be done to achieve something great.
Teachers can’t be hypocrites, though.
If this is what they want from their administrators, this is who they need to be for their students. Students need to see an end goal to their efforts. Students need a clear articulation of their collective responsibility to the class ethos. They need to understand the prioritized actions and assignments that will culminate in a great achievement.
Every teacher is the leader of their own classroom. Now is the time to offer PD that empowers them to think this way.
Brian (a high school teacher and basketball coach on Long Island) and Susan (a high school teacher in Atlanta) met on Twitter (#rip) over a decade ago and became fast friends bonding over teaching literature, building classroom culture, and the importance of a good cup of coffee. Their book, 100% Engagement: 33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom, is forthcoming from Corwin in May.
