Education Troubleshooting

I just read an article in a respected educational magazine that is a little disturbing to me. The article centered on the idea of creating a troubleshooting guide for educators.

The article states,

"The idea of an easily accessible database of common problems has immediate application to the teaching profession. Just as the AutoZone.com troubleshooting guide compiles years of diagnostic experience into a one-stop resource for addressing common car problems, online education troubleshooting guides can now codify predictable instructional rough spots and instantly offer tried-and-true solutions that are based on research and best practice. Educators in schools and school districts across the United States have begun to develop such guides."

Are they serious? Oh, from a distance the idea may have legs... if we are dealing with cars or computers, but we are not. We are dealing with students which should never be treated as a car or a computer.

The article goes on to state,

"The job of teaching is not to "execute" the paper curriculum irrespective of results, any more than it is the coach's job to execute the playbook irrespective of the score. The teacher's job is to flesh out the lessons in the curriculum and adjust instruction whenever needed to ensure optimal learning and performance. Given that purpose, teachers need a curriculum that provides troubleshooting advice and builds in opportunities to alter courses, as warranted."

There are many disturbing issues with this one paragraph, but let's just focus on one... students. Teaching is about students. It is about discipleship, mentoring, modeling and character building. Yes, it is most definitely about math, reading and the other disciplines, but the relationship between teacher and student is of the utmost importance.

This idea of education and troubleshooting is really a symptom of a much larger problem... an increasing student body and a decreasing faculty. Most public sector schools grow larger each year while most faculties remain the same or decrease. What will teachers do with 35 - 45 students in their classrooms? School districts are forced to come up with ideas like this one which appease the issue for the moment, but only for a moment.


Here's an idea... how about hiring more teachers and decreasing class size so each teacher actually knows their students by name? It can be done because private and faith-based schools do it every day for much less than public sector schools. If you are a parent that has a student in a public school, I encourage you to do some digging to see how much money your city/county spends on education. You will be amazed at how much money is spent per student, but then you will be amazed at the sad fact that most of that money never gets to the teacher, the classroom or your student. Instead, it is used at the district level or in the political arena to lobby for a cause that has little to do with education and more to do with an ideology.

As an educator, I am for every student in every school because those students are the future. Those of us in private and faith-based institutions lament with our brother and sister teachers in the public sector as each year it gets all that much more difficult. Do they need a troubleshooting database? Maybe, but what they really need is an environment where they are allowed to teach their students in a way that is personal and loving. Let's pray for some needed change in the right direction.