Creating the "Others" in Education

I am a school administrator.  In certain segments of social media, I am the reason teachers are leaving the profession.  Shame on me.  In other segments, the parents are making teachers leave the profession.  And of course, the kids.  Those darn kids are so awful that teachers are leaving the profession.

Teacher friends, if you are someone who can scroll past these places because you know the issue is more complicated than that, God bless you.  If you can't stop consuming this content and it makes you angry, we need to talk.

If social media is good at anything, it is creating "others".  Those "other" people do not understand you.  Those "other" professionals do not put up with what you put up with.  Administration, parents, and kids are becoming those "others" that teachers should be pushing back against.  This is simply not the case.  Look at the post below.  It tugs at the heartstrings of teachers while not acknowledging that the very institution of school itself is being undermined.

Look at this one.  Nothing about this line of thinking is untrue.  The line in the middle says, "Teachers don't leave the job. They leave the conditions."  My feeling is that the graphic could be rewritten.    Maybe it should read, "Schools do not fail kids.  The conditions fail kids."  The school as a whole would benefit from these needs being met for every person at every level.  When were teachers not part of the school?  When the content creator, author, or public speaker needed clicks and views.  Don't take the bait.

My friends, I can take a joke.  This next one doesn't bother me, but it highlights my point.  I hear it more often than not that some administrator ruined the teaching experience for someone.  I'm sorry if that is you, but we are not all guilty for your experience.  The truth is, there are poor administrators just as there are poor teachers, custodians, and bus drivers.  The vast majority are doing their best with what they have and are happy to live under the bus (after being thrown under it) so others can thrive.  This is just another attempt at creating an "other" to attribute our problems and unhappiness to.

Folks, stop buying into this content that attempts to disassociate you from your school.  Our schoolhouses are in trouble, and everyone under our roof is welcome to join the cause.  Yes, new laws suck and make our jobs harder.  Yes, parenting is seeing a shift in priorities that do not match the purpose of schools.  Yes, screens are robbing our kids of the practice of social interaction, and that shows up as poor behavior.  And yes, we can engage each other to create a school culture that makes awesome kids without blaming each other.  Our schoolhouses can meet the needs of our staff, families, and most importantly, our students.  This is done by inviting people to the table and not excluding them.  Stop creating "others".