A Teacher's Journal: Shooting Our Own Feet

Don't get me wrong: I love my kids and wouldn't trade the relationships that I have with them for most anything-----but all too often,teachers who talk about changes to the teaching profession are openly shunned. Self-sacrifice is the trait we admire the most in our educators---and most teachers tend to wear that badge with great pride.

What I wonder as a career educator is are we shooting ourselves in our own feet when we passionately state that relationships with students is the only reward that we could ever possibly need. Are we setting ourselves up by promoting an altruistic ethos that the general public has widely embraced?

I sound heartless, don't I?

In fact, when I write about issues like this, I am often embarrassed by how selfish I sound---but teaching is incredibly demanding, and I believe that educators often cheapen arguments in favor of improved working conditions and increased salaries when we make statements like, "The greatest reward ever are the children in my classroom." The general public has little incentive to work with us to improve our profession if we repeatedly argue that relationships are what matter the most.

Who needs salary increases when smiles will suffice?

It is time for teachers to actively redefine our message so that non-educators understand that while our work is incredibly rewarding, those rewards have proven to be insufficient to retain the numbers of teachers that our nation needs to ensure that no child is left behind.

Leading educational researcher Linda Darling Hammond once said that incentives are plans that successfully encourage people to behave in a desired fashion. The kids of my classroom love my stories, so I use them as an incentive for good behavior----If you work hard for the rest of the day, I'll share a tale with you. It works for every kid every time. If the majority of my kids didn't like stories, though, I'd have to try something different, right?

What good is a classroom incentive if it doesn't appeal to enough students?

By that definition, are positive relationships with children a successful incentive for staffing our nation's classrooms? If not, why is it the only incentive that most educators ever talk about when speaking of their professions?