Challenges Faced by Teachers Today

Teaching in our country today is not for the faint of heart. For many years, between 40 and 50 percent of public and private school teachers leave by the end of the fifth year of starting their career. This came from an estimate by Richard Ingersoll, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading scholar on the nation’s teacher workforce. It’s no coincidence that new teachers don’t withstand the challenges of the profession.

Teachers today face many challenges. But some persevere in this profession, being that there is no greater reward than having a positive impact in the world, and helping a child grow intellectually or as a person. Teaching is a dynamic profession. No two days are the same, no two years are the same, and as children learn through the school year, teachers are constantly shifting and adapting to meet those needs. Some of the biggest challenges teachers are facing today include curriculum changes, balancing immediate and long-term needs of students, and compensation for time.

Curriculum Changes

Changes in the education system are never easy. Transitions that change how teachers teach and students learn to take time, trial and error, and a period of adjustment. There is always a time of tension between what was and what is. But change is not always a bad thing. As we change and evolve as a society, the way we learn, think and grow changes. We must adapt. Much of this adaptation starts in the classroom, where we are taught to think, learn, explore, and be challenged. Or are we? Are we teaching students how to think on their own or what to think? It's an important question to ask. Are we developing adaptable, questioning, and thoughtful pupils, or ones that merely know how to go through the motions and get a certain mark/score? Both matter, but how are we making lifelong learners, not just part-time test takers? This comes down to what we teach and how we teach it. Common core is becoming widely used across the nation, attempting to address both issues. The backlash when implemented was obvious. This was not how teachers were taught to teach.

Wagner, an education scholar notes that "most educators are risk-averse by temperament.... Most people have entered the teaching profession because it promises a high degree of order, security, and stability". Organizational change, however, requires friction: disagreement, open conflict, anxiety, disequilibrium. "In schools...," Evans adds, "conflict avoidance is a way of life. Teachers are, after all, people who thrive in — and often prefer — the company of children and adolescents and who try to accentuate the positive. Would we want our children taught by people who didn't?"

And of course, we want the positive mentors that an overwhelming amount of teachers’ model, but shifts are always challenging. Especially in environments as structured as education. But instructional changes in education seems necessary in schools, now more than ever. Especially in math and sciences where the U.S., as a first world nation, is falling drastically behind compared to other countries around the world. A shift in learning and teaching is necessary. One common core curriculum called Swun Math is a switch-up among traditional teaching methods. It was developed by an immigrant teacher and focuses on real-life application, taking math from an abstract concept to something applicable to daily life. The lack of day to day relevance or application in math is one reason that students tune out or find it uninteresting of frustration. Relevance is key to keep students engaged and curious.

It’s challenging to teach in a different way than how you were taught as a student, and how you were trained to teach. The stand-and-deliver model of teaching and learning, with the teacher at the center of instruction, is increasingly unsuited for today's youth.

Also, many other first world countries use standardized testing. It’s a way to measure what students are learning objectively. It’s a tool to measure how students are doing across the nations with the same material and same assessments. Kids are adaptable and moldable. Sometimes it seems like the adults who have the hardest time adapting to a new curriculum. As young minds form, they can absorb new information.

The world that children are born into today is not the world, you or your teachers were born into. Each generation faces a different set of challenges to overcome. They will need different skill sets than generations before them to face and solve these problems. With advancements in technology and globalization, the world in last 100 years has changed more than the rest of history. Our education teaching models attempt to keep up. A challenge, but one that teachers rise to every day they enter the classroom. And then there are the challenges that teachers face with each student and classroom dynamics.

Balancing Immediate and Long-Term Needs

Any given classroom is a complex learning environment. Each student brings different ideas and experience into the room. Some come with bellies full of a warm breakfast, some come hungry, some come with new shoes, some come from broken homes, some come from families who read with them every night, and some come from families who don’t have any books. It’s a constant balancing act of meeting immediate needs, planning for long-term ones, meeting the expectations of parents, the school, and community. No small task.

For example, Sally has been disrupting the lessons and other students trying to finish their work all morning. She has a hard time focusing and seems irritable. At lunch, Sally is sitting on the carpet reading books. You go over to her and ask why she isn’t eating lunch. She says that nobody packed her lunch this morning. You look up her lunch account and see that there is a negative balance. You ask Sally if she had breakfast this morning, she doesn’t answer. The immediate need is getting this student something to eat. The long-term needs are being proactive from the situation reoccurring and making sure the student has sustenance to help her focus during the lessons.

Immediate student needs can range from disruptions during lesson plans, hunger, questions, etc. Longer term needs can be academic or emotional. While one student may be proficient in reading, they may lack math skills. And while one may be proficient in science, they cannot spell and sound out words. While one student comes from a home where sharing is emphasized, one student has never had to share anything in their life. No two students are the same. And each day they bring in new and different experiences. They are not the same as they were yesterday.

Everyone comes with strengths to build on, and areas to improve upon. It can be a challenging to meet test standards when students enter the year at different ability levels. Along with needs of the students, many teachers face pressure from parents, the school, and community. Student behavior is also an issue that needs immediate and long-term addressing. If you have a student that is constantly disrupting the lesson and you won’t get through the lesson unless this student is addressed, all the other students suffer when the teacher must stop and address this issue. It becomes a larger issue when this happens every day. So how do you meet the needs of students who come well behaved and prepared when you are constantly interrupted by others? A challenge that teachers face every day.

Parent teacher relationships can also prove challenging. It is difficult to make a phone call home about student behavior to have a parent say something along the lines of “my child would never do that.” Managing expectations and communication between parents and classroom behavior is a delicate but necessary conversation that takes frequently takes place. While some parents are very involved with their child’s learning, some teachers must work hard to get parents interested. While some PTA’s are flooded with volunteers and funding, some PTA’s can’t get going because a majority of the school come from double income homes that work non-traditional hours to pay the bills. Many dynamics are at play about the degree of involvement parents show or can show.

Teachers are also meeting the goals set by each individual school. Most schools have a vision, or core values that they ascribe to and it’s the teacher's job to teach and instill these in the minds of students. On top of teaching a broad range of subjects, teachers help students learn about values and integrity. These lessons will last with them and be deep-seated long after they can recall what the seven continents are. I'm sure we all have one teacher that taught us a lesson that a book simply couldn't.

Compensation for Time

It’s no secret that teachers aren’t rolling in money, they are public servants. Teachers are one of the most underpaid and overworked professions. Unlike doctors, dentists, and lawyers who all hold important and service-oriented jobs, teachers do not match these businesses regarding compensation. Although the schooling, training, and expectations are on par. On top of teachers not getting paid enough, they often put in well over 40 hours a week and use their funds to buy school supplies and items for their students. Although one does not choose the education career for its lucrative nature, it seems like we should reward those who enter it with a higher base income. Higher income might incentivize teachers to stay in their positions longer than what the current burnout rate is showing.

We also do not give teachers the same respect as other professions. They are critiqued and criticized by parents, staff, and administration both within the schools and the district level. It’s not that teachers are not praised or appreciated, they are just often under the microscope by multiple parties. The pressure for teachers to ensure student success is coming from many directions. This amount of pressure can turn into emotional stress for teachers, and most would do anything for their students, and can easily push themselves to a breaking point. It is important to draw a line and know when you have done all you can do, and still get up and do your job tomorrow.

For the Future

Teaching has always been a challenging and rewarding profession. Many of the battles teachers face today they have been facing for a long time. And though teaching can be frustrating for both students and teachers, if you are reading this, you can thank a teacher. If you can type or write you can thank a teacher. Someone took the time and cared to make sure you were growing and learning. And although teaching can be a thankless position, there is burnout, and challenges are faced in the classroom, teachers still show up every day to nurture, teach, and care for the minds of the future.