"It's People, Not Program" by Todd Whitaker
Today, when education is criticized the first scapegoat is normally the teachers. And that's with good reason; they are with the students every day and if they cannot have their students succeed maybe they are the problem. Yet, the teacher unions protects teachers to such an extent that it is an extremely long, tedious and exhausting process in order to fire any incompetent educator who has tenure. "It's People, Not Programs" is an excellent analysis that teachers are not the problem to a school's deficiencies but they ARE the solution. Every teacher I have known has had their strengths and weaknesses. The good teachers would teach to their strengths no matter if the students were able to comprehend the knowledge or not. Sometimes under good teachers, the average student falls through the cracks because they cannot accel like the gifted students and they are not being helped as much like the below average students. Great teachers are able to turn their weaknesses into strengths and are able to engage every student in the classroom.
Constantly new programs are being introduced into an educator's lexicon - these buzz words are the next great practice that will save all of teaching. But no matter how amazing the practice, the teacher still has to implement the program into their classroom. The example from the article "It's People, Not Programs" about the open classroom movement perfectly showcased this idea. The teachers are what made the practice successful not the concept of the program. In order to be an effective and successful teacher, educators need to constantly be wanting to improve. If you look at any great athlete they were never happy when they reached the pinnacle of their sport. Athletes constantly strive to improve and strengthen their game making sure any weakness is covered. Teachers must share the same values. Just because we gain tenure does not mean that for the next 20-30 years of our professional lives that we should sit back and relax. If new ideas are introduced, teachers should actively try to implement them and not be afraid of failure. New programs can only work in the classroom if the teacher wants it to work.
The programs that a school tries to implement may improve the students' quality of life but only if the teacher can effectively put the program into practice. Teachers are the reason for a student's success and failure. They hold a child's life in their hands and if they are not motivated to improve a student's educational life then maybe they shouldn't be teaching.
