Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Queens Teacher: The Ruinous Culture We've Created in Elementary Schools

Queens Teacher: The Ruinous Culture We've Created in Elementary Schools

The Ruinous Culture We've Created in Elementary Schools

The Ruinous Culture We've Created in Elementary Schools

Holiday breaks are periods of transition for many educators, both in K-12 and in higher education. Even persons outside of educational professions mark their time with holiday seasons. Are we necessarily better off than we were a year ago at this time? What have we accomplished and what is in store for us in the year ahead? As a teacher educator, the switch sort of flips for my students and I as we emerge from a limited clinical experience to the obligatory full-time student teaching internship. At its culmination, pre-service teachers earn the needed imprimatur to survive their first year in their own classrooms.

Over the last decade, in particular, extended holiday breaks in elementary schools mark another kind of unholy transition from teaching to something that could be called preparation. I wanted to take the time in this post to