I left middle school this year to teach at the high school level, I DID NOT LEAVE BECAUSE OF THE KIDS. With the normal exceptions the kids were pretty alright. It was a gift to see eighth graders come in as little kids, basically still elementary students, and leave ready for high school. Watching and aiding that transition kept me there for three years. What I couldn’t take any longer was the “middle school mentality”.
The structure of middle school, for me, was ultra intense. Every move of every kid had to be watched. They all needed to be kept in check at all times. It was a stifling atmosphere for me, and I thought for students as well. They came into middle school with a need for this structure and it worked in the sixth grade. But as the kids get older and ready for more responsibility they lash out against the structure and it causes needless conflict between students, teachers and administration. The structure becomes the enemy and the teachers and administration represent that structure so the “us against them mentality” develops. The way KY structures its middle schools teachers feel a tremendous pressure to conform. If you don’t you are cast out of the support loop and that is an exhausting place to be.
This is some of why I left middle school. I was tired of fighting against all of this and I hope that in high school I am able to create an atmosphere of independent learning in my room. I want to have my classes be my classes and not be forced into conforming to everyone else’s idea of what education should be about. Maybe it’s a pipe dream and I have over glorified the whole thing, but I enjoy teaching so I hope to find that there is at least a bit of this ideal at the school I am moving to.
No comments:
Post a Comment