Small Moves and Structural Issues

I've been thinking a lot about the huge structural issues that face us in education
Especially this year, as I started it with a group of other teachers being told to to brainstorm ideas outside of the box to fix issues. Then we did, and we're told, oh now we can't do that because of x, y, and z BS.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

My students struggle with the fact that the Castilian Spanish they're taught isn't the Mexican based Spanish they speak. They are made to feel less than because of this.
They struggle with math. Why do they need geometry? Algebra II? Pre-calc? Calculus? If they don't want to be mathematicians or engineers or scientists, why are we setting them up to fail? What if instead they could take coding? Financial literacy? Statistics?
Why do they take biology then chemistry then physics?

I think in many schools the structure, the "we've always done it this way" habits ride slipshod over asking pedagogical questions.

Why do we start high school at 7 or 730 when research tells us this is an awful idea? In most school systems it's because of athletics- games have to be at a certain time, so school days are programmed backwards.

Why do we continue to have bells? Teach classes in a certain order? Teach certain classes at all?

How often do schools, districts, stop to ask- why are we doing this? Where are we? Where do we want to be? What best serves our students?
Not in a lip service way, set within canned curriculums and narrow definitions, but in a real, enact true change way?

A common ask on social media is, "I'm looking for something to engage my English 9 students, what can you recommend?"

I used to answer these prompts with questions-
Who are your students?
What do they like?
Where do you teach?

There is no one size fits all to these questions. There is no one best practice, one good lesson, one great book choice.

I no longer answer these prompts, and fair or not, cringe when I see them, and the inevitable answers that follow.

It seems to encapsulate a lot of what I think is wrong with education these days. If you want to know what will engage your students ASK them. Ask them what they like, don't like, and what they want to study, trust me, they'll tell you. If you're not sure if they'll like a book, bring in copies of choices, give book talks, and see what they think.

Certainly I think it's important to stay up to date on the conversations about representation, windows/mirrors/sliding doors, and accurate history when choosing texts. But while these conversations are invaluable for shaping your thinking, the onus is still on you to make informed decisions. You can read how to disrupt Romeo and Juliet, find ideas on how to teach it in a way relevant to your students, but no one else is facing YOUR students every day. They don't know what will trigger Student A in your first period, or confuse Student B in fifth period. You are the one standing in front of them, so only you can make those choices.

Likewise, I don't understand how teachers can teach the same thing year after year. You don't have the same students, with the same backgrounds, same interests, so how are you teaching the same content, the same lessons, the same assignments? And then complaining they aren't engaged?

To me these snippets are evidence of the larger issues in education, that not all teachers are tailoring teaching to the students right in front of them.

Yes, there are skills each teacher, department, school, needs to prioritize. Things students should know. How to evaluate sources. How to support a claim with evidence. How to read and respond to a text. But none of those skills can't be taught with THUG rather than To Kill a Mockingbird. Ask your students what they think they're good at, what they struggle with. Design pre-assessments so you can SEE what concepts and skills your students already know, what you can skip, what you need to spend time on.

Check in with your students, over and over and over again. Why were they able to identify the theme of last week's story but struggle this week with the poem? Be explicit with them on why you're doing or trying certain things then ask for their feedback.

I'm not saying you have to stun the world with original ideas that remake the universe. The best teachers recycle ideas from others and make it their own. But when I use something in my class it's because I've decided it is what is best for MY students. It's the difference between deciding my students need a graphic organizer to help them see their essay plan and Googling for one that will work, and buying an entire writing unit off Teachers Pay Teachers.

I the think the least we can give our students is an education within the walls of our classroom that is designed for them. We may not be able to redesign the entire institution of education (although I've yet to hear a good reason why not) but we can at least do this, we can ask ourselves every day, with every resources, every text, every assignment- what is my pedagogical reason for doing this?