cogs THAT blog
“School teachers are just cogs in a machine”
WOW! What a powerful statement. There was a time when I would not have necessarily agreed with this, but in today’s society of NCLB, this seems to be the definition of a teacher. When I think about cogs or any component designed/built to run a machine, my mind immediately thinks of all the training teachers go through, new ways of teaching we are taught, and new ideas we are encouraged to implement. The only problem is the machine we are put into does not support our format. The Machine as it were only wants us to stick to the basics, teach the canon, PREPARE FOR THE TEST. How are we expected to enrich young minds and expand their thought processes, if all we do is teach the same works and then drill standardized test information into their heads? I would like to “rage against the machine” (lol), as I am sure other educators would as well, but in doing so we risk losing our jobs and jeopardizing our livelihood. So, until Washington catches up with real life I guess I will be the best clog I can be in this well-oiled machine!
In chapter 9 of Postman, he says that the belief that all things have, do, or are, does not necessarily reflect the structure of reality. This couldn’t be more true as it relates to teachers. As I said before, I believe that there are many teachers who would love to incorporate new and inventive teaching methods in their classrooms, but are unable to because of pressures from outside political forces. In 3391, we often talk about what we would do in our ideal classroom, and I think ideally we would all have invested students and parents who were open to new ways of thinking and teaching. But in reality, we have disinterested students and either hover parents or ghost parents, and the added pressure of NCLB.
Another thing Postman addresses that I think would be great in an ideal classroom setting is how each teacher would spend an immense amount of time teaching a single subject, focusing heavily forming questions, working through definitions, as well as the metaphors associated with the subject. These things as well as some of his other ideas are just impossible in today’s classroom.
