The teacher shortage is a decades-old problem and not a new concern<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple studies show that a cliff like that happened in 2008 when teacher responses to questions like, \u2018Hey, I like my job\u2019, or \u2018I\u2019m very likely to recommend\u2019; all of that kind of fell off a cliff in 2008. So, it\u2019s been on this downward spiral for a while. When I say this is not a new problem, I mean, this is literally a decades-old problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morale, to me, is almost always like a climate issue that\u2019s dictated by culture. So, when someone says hey, the morale is low, my question is, so let\u2019s define the culture. Are we recognizing, appreciating, honoring, Valuing, or collaborating with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re doing those things, even if morale is low, it\u2019s most likely to bounce back, if you\u2019re not doing those things, and the morale is low, then we\u2019ve got a serious problem that we need to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your book \u2018Students Voice-from Invisible to Invaluable.\u2019 discusses the importance of students\u2019 voices in learning. Do you think post-covid, the student approach to learning has changed?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I think that people are changing. Students are reflective of society. And I think, in some ways, they are demanding a greater voice in their learning, and there are positives and negatives to that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe, every school wants to create community contributors that can communicate and able to think critically. I think that\u2019s pretty universal, whether in Country A, Country B, or whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If we want to create people that will make society better and be able to think critically, there is such a thing as experts, and I believe most of our teachers and leaders have expertise. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Students\u2019 voices in learning is important for effective learning<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, for lack of a better term, even though I don\u2019t know if one exists like a democratic model of education, it might not be what\u2019s best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn\u2019t mean that students shouldn\u2019t have some choice in how they demonstrate their knowledge or the things they may study to practice the skills we say they need to master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 One of my all-time best examples of this is- we had a foreign exchange student early in my career that came from Bosnia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we were discussing the antecedents and causes of war, and the teacher wanted the class to focus on the United States Civil War. This person, a foreign exchange student, came from a war-torn country that had just experienced war and wanted to practice and master all the same skills but with a different prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In my view, if we don\u2019t listen to student voices in a case like that, that\u2019s almost educational malpractice. But, that said, those types of examples are only sometimes there, which means that if we want students to research a classic novel and they want to do it on our recent publication in a magazine, those are two different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, there\u2019s this ray spectrum between trying to maximize and emphasize students\u2019 voices. And then also saying there\u2019s a right and wrong way to do things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think is the biggest gap in classroom teaching today: access technology, teacher shortage, classroom environment, or any other?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The most significant gap still exists between what is being measured in terms of how schools are reported. Some countries are considered successful in terms of education and what is likely to put kids in the best position to succeed tomorrow. So, for instance, in our district, we are very fortunate to have a lot of students that go to Ivy League schools and go to the most prestigious schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also have many students in our area that enter directly into the workforce, the military, or whatever. Our desire to remediate any possible gap so that our test scores would look great sometimes run counterintuitive to what we could best provide for kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second gap for me is geography. To explain, we are a small rural school, which means that my students live 60 miles to the East. They would have a much, much larger variety of offerings to take both on this-the advanced academic side and the excellent education side, simply because the schools are bigger and the volume of money that flows through, and the number of classes that can be offered are dramatically different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correspondingly, if you go 20 miles north, we have an urban center where education is much further because the school environment is different, where, you know, we might have a fight or two a year, they might have a fight or two an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These students are having these vastly different experiences, So, when I look at education holistically, the biggest concern is that there\u2019s just inequity by geography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would you like to give a message to our readers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s to make sure that we\u2019re doing meaningful work. If you ever find yourself in the throes of the day, the week, or the month and you\u2019re wondering \u2018why\u2019, don\u2019t ever lose that question of\u2019 why\u2019. If we lose that question, then the status quo is just going to be pervasive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we keep asking \u2018why\u2019, finding better solutions, and trying to make meaningful use of every hour of every day. We can do really good work on behalf of kids and our communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the Full Interview<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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