Do Our Policies Prioritize Relationships?
Formerly a teacher, now an administrator-in-training, Chris Canter blogs about his yearlong assistant principal internship at Fulton County Public Schools in Atlanta, Ga. Canter was a 2010ASCD OYEA honoree.
Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan posted a letter on the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) website that placed teacher and student relationships at the center of every classroom. The letter has caused much public debate, and my own personal reflection on my experiences in Georgia schools.
I must say that I agree with the Secretary wholeheartedly: relationships are crucial. In order to engage students and fully influence their lives, we must know our students and their individual needs. Further, teachers need better data systems to monitor students, better training to use those data systems, and training on how to overcome challenges unique to their student populations (such as the effects of poverty, crime, and drugs).
I fear, however, that once again leaders are giving lip service to a good idea, with little means to address the real issues. If teachers are to build meaningful relationships, they cannot be inundated with historically high class sizes, and
