Autonomy and fads

Let me bring up the same old argument, and then let me completely sidestep it for another critical solution.

This morning I ran into another discussion of why American teachers get wrapped up in so many fads and why aren't they better grounded in scientific learning principles. There is always some blame directed at the US fetishization of teacher autonomy, and the counter-argument is that teacher autonomy is needed, at a minimum, to allow teachers to resist being forced to implement the latest fad that some administrator decided is a must-do.

There are many long, complicated responses to this debate that I could unleash (and I have), not the least of which is that great truth about teaching-- you need a balance of whatever you're talking about. Teachers need flexibility and a certain amount of autonomy, but they also need guardrails and direction.

But never mind that (for the moment). Let me suggest one other huge change that would help.

Teachers should be in charge of the teaching profession.

Look at the medical world. If I want to start a program to educate new members of a medical profession, I have to get that program certified by a board composed by members of that profession. Graduates who want to enter the profession have to clear certification from groups composed of members of that profession. At every step, for every gate that is kept, the gatekeeper is someone from that profession.

But teaching? If I want to start a K12 teacher prep program, all I have to do is convince some bureaucrats. And I can staff that teacher prep program with people who haven't seen the inside of a K12 classroom in decades, or even ever. My professional certification depends on testing created by people who are not actual teachers. 

At every gate, the gatekeepers are people who are not teachers. Research, published teaching materials, curricular programs, government oversight-- we just accept as a normal part of the profession that absolutely everything outside the classroom is under the control of people who are not actually teachers. We even figured out a way to make the problem worse-- run Teach for America products through a classroom for two years so that we could elevate people who aren't teachers but pretend to be teachers (even though they never even intended to be teachers) can sit in positions of power over the profession. And as a cherry on top, we get plenty of voices denigrating teacher expertise or dismissing teacher concerns as just "putting the concerns of adults over those of children" or just the noise of a special interest group.

If I think I've got a great new idea about how to conduct brain surgery, I have to convince an actual brain surgeon to try it, and if that surgeon thinks it's a good idea, they still have to convince other actual brains surgeons. If brain surgery were teaching, I could just convince some legislator that my idea is great and they should pass a law mandating my technique be used by all surgeons.

Hell, we can see how it would look as we currently have a wave of powerful amateurs harassing the medical profession and sneering at science. So fads, wacky notions, and ideas that "make sense" if you've got a thimbleful of medical wisdom in your brain. 

It's not going well for health care, but it's a normal day in education. With few education gatekeepers, every kind of fad can slide through, with classroom teachers left to sort through it all. Why do teachers value autonomy so much? Because they can't trust the wide array of people who want to tell them exactly, precisely how to do their jobs. 

None of this is meant to suggest that useful teacher partners can't come from unexpected places. Grown-ups transitioning from other fields. TFA products who choose to stay and really enter into the profession. Scholars and education professors and even thinky tank people who have thoughtfully studied the field and the profession. Some of these folks can turn out to serious allies in the work-- but it's up to the teacher to sort them out on her own. The networks that teachers build aren't just to help them figure out best practices, but to help them figure out who they can trust.

Dozens of various ideas about how to do the job, layered on top of the many stakeholders who also have their own priorities and preferences. Teachers want their arms and legs free to dance with and around the many partners and obstacles that come with the job.

Not every teacher is going to make the best use of autonomy, just as some teachers become too attached to ineffective instructional ideas. And nobody tells you that this is going to be part of the job, that you may have to rebel against your administration or your government or your old college teachers, that you may have to figure it out on your own.

Is it possible to create a professional ecosystem, a gaggle of gatekeepers who filter out fads? I don't know. I know that a website of "what works" curated by non-teachers is not useful. I know that professional groups that exist outside the school walls and so must simultaneously try to catch the ears of both other teachers and policymakers offer only a little help. And yes, there are teachers who really revel and joy in the vast unfiltered system. 

But if your question is "Why so many fads" or "Why don't good practices get more traction" or "Why do teachers care so much about autonomy," the questions share part of an answer-- the education space is a big pool with a hundred different unfiltered hoses pouring into it, leaving classroom teachers to try to swim around and exercise their professional judgement about who or what to hold onto.