Another Perspective on the Teacher Shortage

Although this is not a new issue, I began giving this real thought in the last couple of weeks.  Thanks to some Tweeting by Scott England and a good conversation with Senator Dale Fowler, I began to actually consider not just the complexity of the problem but a side that maybe we don't talk about enough.

I first encountered the beginnings of the shortage several years ago when I struggled to find Family Consumer Science candidates for my high school.  Traditional posting was not getting any applicants and conversations with SIUC were revealing the fact that they just weren't turning out any teachers.    On top of that, there were not many avenues for non-traditional certification for this obvious area of shortage.  We eventually clawed our way to a provisional certificate for a teacher that only stayed two years.  

The Illinois State Board published it's response to the issue this year with a seven point plan for tackling the problem.  It promotes practices that educators have known could be effective, but we had to get to an alarming juncture to push action.  Senator Fowler says this is legislative priority for him and it should be.  Our region is not only having trouble finding teachers, it is having trouble making teachers.

I love telling the story of my first paycheck, that is to say that I forgot I was getting paid to teach.  I was so in love with my work that when my first check arrived, it was a happy surprise.  The difference between now and then is that I'm not a Millennial.   I come from the time of thinking that a college degree equals not only success, but happiness.  Millennials just don't feel this way.  In fact, there are a good number of them that support charters and vouchers if it means a better education for a student that might not otherwise get one.  Other polling and research suggests that Millennials see teaching for average people and that the profession is undervalued.  If they don't see college as valuable to being successful and that teachers are just average people, what chance do we have to convince them to go into teaching.  After all, college is a financial commitment these days.

A contributing factor to the teacher shortage is the student debt situation in this country.  I willingly took on my debt as a social mobility tool.  That was my way out of poverty, but for some student loans keep people indebted for life.  Forbes offers staggering statistics about the $1.5 Trillion that we owe nationally in student loan debt.  Let's put two and two together.  Young people that already struggle to see the value of college to be successful will be hard to convince that they should take on a large amount of debt to make a difference.  This is not something you will find in ISBE's seven point plan but it is a reality we need to address.  Check the graphic below.  It is a problem in Illinois.

It is not wrong to say that we need to change the rules and laws around teacher recruitment, preparation and retention.  It is definitely needed.  As all challenges worth taking up, there are several points of entry and the desire to actually go to college to be a teacher is one of them.  I can preach all day about how awesome it is to be a teacher and how it has changed my life, but it feels like the commitment to get there may be too much for so many.  Sure there are programs for student loan debt relief for teachers, but you have to teach for five years to qualify for them.  That doesn't attract people to the profession.  Maybe this needs to be an area of policy consideration too.  It may just help address our teacher shortage.

The Best Version of Yourself

It seems like this year I have encountered lots of disappointment in the various arenas of my world.  That is not to say that normally I do not have to manage differing degrees of disappointment but recently it sure seems like it is dominating most discussions.  It is taking many forms too.  Job dissatisfaction, mad at teachers or coaches, politics, and just plain being down on life are daily conversations and it can really wear on a guy.  I try hard to listen and be accommodating, but I really try hard not to let it bring me down too.

The best response I can give these poor souls is to just be the best version of yourself that you can be.  I think that is all you can do to make it in a complex world with so many twists and turns.  When you are being the best version of yourself that you can be, the noise just starts to go away and you are confident in your decision making.  So how can one do this? 

Live off of your uniqueness, not your troubles.  Everyone has a talent, skill, quality or characteristic that makes them unique in some way.  I attended a training last week in which a speaker told the crowd that they were not special.  He further explained that each of us were miracles instead.  He pointed out the the odds and probability of just being in that room at that time.  What are the chances that your parents would meet and their parents and so on.  The math is difficult to grasp, but he had a point.  There is really no one just like you and you should see your station in life as an opportunity.

Let your faith guide you.  I don't care what faith you belong to, but all of them ask this of us.  This is no accident.  As Christians we are asked to chase Christ's example and love others as God has loved us.  To forgive others as God forgave us seems to be the speed bump that we all hit.  People do wrong us at times and it makes us question and compromise the best version of ourselves.  Stay the course my friends.  If we all forgave each other collectively without any expectation of reciprocity, it would make a huge impact on how we live and treat each other.

People will gravitate towards your best version.  This is the best part of being the best version of yourself.  All of your relationships will be more genuine and rewarding.  When people value you for your uniqueness and kindness, they will want nothing exchange from you other than to be part of your world.  Can you identify those who are always demanding more of you?  More than simply being part of your experience on this Earth?  We all know who the toxic people are because they are easy to spot, but don't alienate yourself from the people that really get you.  They deserve your time.

I know all this sounds elementary and not really a ground breaking set of ideas.  Think about it.  We let conflicts convince ourselves that we are not good at being us.  We often ignore the messages of our faith instead of setting guideposts based on it.  We build relationships around give and take  instead of how people can compliment us, and then complain about all the drama.  Just be the best version of yourself that you can be.  It's difficult but I'm working on it.  Life's too short to be unhappy.