Issues in public education and teacher responses

¶ … public education and how will you as a teacher address them?

The issues facing public education today are many and various. They include the achievement gap, the lack of parental involvement, class size, both economic and racial diversity in backgrounds, and the inclusion of special education students. As a teacher, it is difficult to deal with some of these issues, but there are ways to do so. Where the achievement gap is concerned there are remedial programs and tutoring programs available for these students. Much of the time circumstances in their family lives have caused them to fall behind in school. While their family problems often cannot be changed, they can be given extra help while at school.

The lack of parental involvement is another significant problem for school children today. Many parents do not know how to help their children in the proper way, and some parents either do not care enough about their children's education or do not know enough themselves to be of any help to their children. This cannot be changed overnight, but parents can be encouraged to spend time with their children and encourage them. This will 'help' these children much more than the parents actually realize and is very important. Just the simple act of letting children know that they matter boosts their confidence and encourages them to do better in school. As a teacher, one could send information home about this all-important issue.

There is very little that a teacher can do regarding class size. Often, class sizes are set by the school board, and some places that have created class size amendments have had poor results because of it. While a teacher might not be able to change the size of the classes that he or she has, there are ways to keep structure and order in a classroom, and ways to make sure that all students are treated fairly. Students can be allowed to work in groups to help facilitate learning, and some teachers recruit the students that are doing very well in school to act as tutors to those that are struggling. This allows all of the students to get more attention and help, and also allows the teacher to instill leadership traits and other capabilities into his or her students, along with showing them that there is no shame in asking for help.

Diversity is another very serious issue within public schools today, and it can be either racial or economic. Often it is both combined, as many of the lower income individuals and those that are struggling in this country are also usually of minority races. This is, of course, not always true, but it seems to be a generalization that proves to be true in many cases. Regardless of this, however, any students that are struggling with either economic or racial differences from their classmates can have a difficult time in school. Teachers should pay attention to their students and what they need. While it is possible to give too much attention to a student there is nothing wrong with making sure that all students know the teacher is available to talk with them should the need arise. Sometimes just knowing that there is someone they can talk to will be enough for a student. Naturally, any name-calling, bullying, or other behaviors toward a student should be stopped by the teacher immediately and it should be made clear that it will not be tolerated in the future.