We solemnly swear to be there when you need us. New teachers deserve nothing less. She candidly describes the frustrations most teachers feel because of the federal government's interference in our classrooms. I believe that teachers are leaving the profession not only because of low salaries, but also because of the frustrations imposed on us by federal regulations, as interpreted and misinterpreted by those around us. The methods of education making news as we enter the 21st century appear to be basically the same as when we entered the 20th century.
Reform revolves around calls for grade retention and teaching phonics.
The next level of expertise involves a desire to maintain the sanctity of the safe, conventional classroom, that oasis that offers our children a temporary stay against confusion. This is far too simple. The reality is that, yes, our children are different from how they were in the past, our world is different, and, no, we or they are not going back to the way we were. As Neil Postman correctly points out in The End of Education , the central tenets that supported public education in ages past no longer exist, at least not in the form they were in before the advent of the information age. Technology has changed how students learn, but unfortunately not how we instruct.