Melvina Phillips also said that it’s our moral imperative to teach every student the literacy skills needed to succeed in school and beyond. The moral imperative. That makes sense to me.
Not just, “I teach, the kid either gets it or not–it’s his problem, not mine. They should have the skills they need before they get to me.”
When Melvina said that we have a moral imperative to teach every child, it made perfect sense to me, but not to everyone in that auditorium. I wanted to stand up, face our faculty and say kindly, “Every teacher who doesn’t believe he has a moral imperative to teach all students these literacy strategies, kindly exit the building and find a new career.”
I wonder who should have walked out the door?
You are right. We could focus on those who won’t take anything away from Wednesday’s workshop, but that will not invoke the change our students so desperately need. Yes, it would work better if we had parent involvement, better desks, block scheduling, motivated students…., but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to make the small changes that might lead to big changes down the road. I was glad to hear Melvina say that it isn’t going to happen over night. We are beginning this in the middle of the year. We’ve spent 10 weeks training our students to our current style of teaching, and now we are asking to change. Not only is it an adjustment for teachers, it will be an adjustment for our students. Motivating a student to learn doesn’t happen in 1 lesson, teaching them how to read a text, doesn’t happen in 1 assignment… it is going to take time for them to form better habits. It may take another 10 weeks… or 20 weeks… or maybe when they leave our classroom and go on to another classroom next year. Baby steps. Small changes. But it starts with teachers willing to commit because, while it may not motivate every child all at once, it will motivate some, and it will be better for all.