MLK and Letterman remind us to pay attention to our drum major

Reflections on a snow day: On this, our sixth snow day of the school year, I have decided to allow myself a limited amount of time to write while my two unsupervised children make forts and destroy the house. I have a strict time limit, otherwise this entry might stretch into a week-long project.

Dr. King and David Letterman headline my learning today. The iconic late night entertainer was an unexpected answer to writer's block after many futile attempts trying to write about Martin Luther King's lessons for today's world. King and Letterman are a unique combo and their ideas laid out in this blog post are worth connecting.

Dr. King (undated) - AP, creative commons

I spent a lot of time leading up to Martin Luther King Day pouring over his “B-side” speeches and writings looking for something new to help me make sense of the modern political landscape.

That’s when I discovered his Drum Major Instinct speech from February 1968. I was familiar with the portions where he spoke eloquently about his own eulogy (Link here) and famously said, “I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others... I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity."

It was the other parts of his 35-minute sermon that made an impression recently though. In light of of President Trump’s January 2018 reference in an Oval Office meeting to El Salvador, Haiti and African nations as “shit holes” Dr. King's words from fifty years ago struck a chord.

“Do you know that a lot of the race problem grows out of the drum major instinct?" King declared. "A need that some people have to feel superior. A need that some people have to feel that they are first, and to feel that their white skin ordained them to be first.”

I read the speech several times, listened to it and parsed the passages, playing them against the video reels in my head from Charlottesville, Ferguson and news stories about good people recently deported from the United States.  

President Trump continues to both exploit and expose racism in the United States. Sure, Trump’s disgraceful remarks reveal his character, but they also beg the question, who are we?

Who we are is complicated. It is hard to accept a reality where a sizable portion of our electorate either has the luxury to ignore the consequences of Trump's words and actions or worse, chooses to support him despite the negative consequences. Maybe worse, some people are unaware that silently looking away is accepting the Trump world view and that also has consequences that will be difficult to fix. Sadly, children can get swept up in adult complicity and that's where schools can play a vital role in calling out intolerance and bigotry. Even in the age of Trump, American values like diversity, equality and civic engagement can still be taught independent of politics or ideology. This is one of the great social studies education challenges of our time.

The prejudice and fear underlying the current debate about refugees, immigrants and border security (AKA "the wall") are evidence that it will take more than the passage of another five decades to heal our open racism wounds in the United States. With each mean-spirited tweet and hateful rant by the president, the opening for for a worthy policy debate gets swallowed by Trump's shadow. King’s 1968 Drum Major sermon was a warning to Americans about what can happen if unfit leaders obtain power. Meanwhile, in 2018 too many people have taken cover under Trump's shadow and chosen him as their drum major. Acknowledging the intolerance and prejudice espoused by President Trump and making honest efforts to do better is as important today as eradicating racist voting laws was in the 1960's.

About the impulse for people driven by ego and intolerance King reminds us, “...The final great tragedy of the distorted personality is the fact that when one fails to harness this instinct, he ends up trying to push others down in order to push himself up. And whenever you do that, you engage in some of the most vicious activities.” With conviction, King added, “God didn't call America to do what she's doing in the world now.”

King's words in 1968 were a harbinger of modern America. Policies carrying the stench of bigotry cannot be separated from the words and deeds of the man who promotes them. It has become increasingly more difficult to separate the merits of policy disagreements from the ugly insults President Trump uses to disparage minorities, his opponents, the media and sometimes even members of his own political party.

Remaining vigilant and seeking the truth may be exhausting, but not doing so could lead to a crisis.

How was I not aware?

John Lewis (far right) with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (center) leading 

a march in Alabama to protest restrictive voting rights for 

African Americans in 1965.  (Public Domain)

David Letterman brought this topic full circle in his conversation with President Obama that recently aired on his Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.

A portion of the interview centered around the courageous work of US Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) during the Civil Rights Movement. Lewis and King organized the March from Selma to Montgomery, later known as Bloody Sunday due to the violence that ensued at the hands of law enforcement.

Letterman and Obama reminisced about the bravery of Americans throughout history who blazed a trail for others in their quest for a more perfect union. In the interview, President Obama marveled at the ordinary people who courageously took action and joined together to make change. He remarked that presidential leadership involves more than governing and he credited his wife Michelle Obama for bringing that fact into focus for him.

“One of the things that Michelle figured out, in some ways faster than I did, was part of your ability to lead the country doesn't have to do with legislation, doesn't have to do with regulations," Obama said. "It has to do with shaping attitudes, shaping culture, increasing awareness.”

Increasing awareness of the current US challenges may be the first hurdle we need to clear in order to dig into the more complicated work of creating a better future. We need to overcome narratives by the current White House and their allies that tell us everything is just fine and that real problems related to economic inequality, racism and sexism do not belong to all of us to solve.
.

President Obama made the point that hard work and talent are necessary to lead effectively, but that good fortune and luck also play a role.

To that point Letterman claimed luck helped propel him to a national platform as an entertainer. He made that point by suggesting that the failure to respond with empathy to the real struggles faced by others is part of our American legacy.

President Obama and David Letterman backstage as part of the hour-long 
Netflix special that aired in January 2018. Photo by Joe Pugliese / Netflix

“Mr. President, this is what I’m struggling with at this point in my life: I have been nothing but lucky,” Letterman solemnly stated. “When John Lewis and his friends [marched across the bridge], in April of ’65 me and my friends were driving to Florida to get on a cruise ship to go to the Bahamas because there was no age limit to purchase alcohol, and we spent the entire week, pardon my French, shit-faced,” Letterman quipped.

“Why wasn’t I in Alabama? Why was I not aware? I have been nothing but lucky.”

Letterman’s response hit home and made me realize that the American story that we talk about in schools is at worst contrived and at best incomplete. Letterman’s conversation with President Obama has prompted me to raise my own level of awareness.

I never want my students to say in ten, twenty or even fifty years when they look back at this period in our nation’s history, “Why was I not aware?”

Intentionally tackling issues and raising awareness in schools

The challenge to tackle these tough topics does not rest solely on the shoulders of educators, but we are a critical part of the solution. We should feel a profound sense of opportunity as educators because we can help students usher in a better way of understanding our world.

This documentary from 2017 is on my list to watch 

as soon as possible. It was nominated for an Oscar and 
won the Audience Choice Award for the Best 
Documentary Feature at the 2016 Chicago International 
Film Festival.

Yes, we can read and discuss James Madison and James Baldwin. Modern black authors like Ta-Nehisi Coates and the classic standard-bearers like Toni Morrison and W.E.B. Du Bois (List here) can be intertwined with textbook accounts of American history and politics. A start here is better than the alternative of reading chapter three and regurgitating cookie-cutter answers.

“Why was I not aware?” is the same question so many people were asking leading up to and since the 2016 election of Donald Trump. The roles of gender, race and economics in the 2016 election should be examined beyond 2016 though. I cannot answer the question, 'Why was I not aware?' for all of my readers, but I am honest with myself in admitting that I have had the privilege to not be aware.

That unawareness and how it manifests itself in specific beliefs and social constructs has to be part of the American story we boldly navigate in American schools. This is part of my own learning and it has pushed me to wonder if maybe we failed by teaching kids to memorize state capitals at the expense of asking them to think more critically about why inequality exists. My exploration into these topics is fueled by my growing concern that young people are giving up on the institutions and the people who serve them. Civic duty and service to others are at the foundation of the American spirit. We need well-educated and optimistic young people to take the reigns soon. My goal is to cut through the shame and blame and open myself up so that I can be more aware. Teachers need to model curisoity and discomfort with topics like race that are a critical part of the American story.

In doing so, I hope I help my students do the same - whoever they are, whatever their story, wherever their journey originated and whatever their political and ideological leanings. We all have a responsibility to dig a little deeper. For me, this aspect of my teaching and my being is very intentional. President Obama provided some insight about digging deeper and confronting racism in his recent interview with Letterman.

“It turns out that we come up with all kinds of reasons to try to put ourselves over other people,” Obama said. “Racism is a profound example of that, but obviously biologically there’s no actual reality to it other than we made this thing up. We made it up.”

My goal is to spark curiosity in students. We begin with the messy work of diagnosing problems and for me and the 150-plus students I teach, there is not a road map. We are not afraid to create one though.

Lately I have been listening to and reading speeches by prominent American leaders, investigating how their ideas might apply today. In my quest to make some sense of the vitriol and tribalism that is swirling around the Trump Administration, I have firmly landed on a few truths about my role as an educator:

1. Students and teachers need space to explore important topics in a safe setting where “right and wrong” takes a backseat to “learning and understanding."
2. It is critical that teachers at every level help young people grapple with the implications of privilege, bias and complicity. A failure to exercise our “empathy muscles” in school weakens the prospects for lasting change.
3. Mutual respect, trust and solid relationships in a classroom are a minimum requirement and those aspects of a learning culture simply allows for the work to begin. Expecting people to act boldly and truthfully requires a culture of learning that encourages people to change their minds when new information persuades us to think in more enlightened ways.

This book really opened my eyes to how 
much I don't know about the American 
experience. I agree with Toni Morrison 
- this is required reading. 

Read Coates work HERE
and HERE 

As a social studies teacher I have a responsibility to my students to provide an accurate historical context and a fact-based account of the events shaping today’s news cycle. I never expected that agreeing to the same set of facts would be so difficult. The time it takes to digest basic facts should be balanced with lessons about topics like prejudice, inequality and systemic challenges facing all of us. Letterman's conversation with President Obama encouraged me to stay mindful of what is at stake for our students.

I was reminded of President Obama's words following the murder of nine black worshippers in Charleston SC at the hands of a white supremacist when he called on Americans to make lasting change in regard to race in America.

"None of us can or should expect a transformation in race relations overnight," Obama said. "Every time something like this happens, somebody says, 'We have to have a conversation about race.' We talk a lot about race. There's no shortcut."

Perhaps one of the most glaring weaknesses of our republic today is our failure to recognize that racism still infects our politics and intolerance continues to pull the levers of American democracy fifty years after King's passing.

President Obama is right - there are no shortcuts. So, let's get to work today so that this era can mark the point in our history when we finally acknowledge our unawareness and actually do something about it. That is a legacy Republicans and Democrats could all be proud to claim ownership.

NOTE: Dr. King's Drum Major Instinct sermon was adapted from a 1952 homily by preacher J. Wallace Hamilton.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR of CIVICS ENGAGED: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and journalism teacher in Michigan since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2002. Gregory is a Michigan Education Voice Fellow and he has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students find their passion for learning. You can follow him on Twitter @CivicsEngaged.

Taking on Something New

Working Together to Make the Digital Portfolio a Success

Photo from City University of Seattle, Creative Commons

Background: As the co-chair of our school improvement committee I was tasked with leading our freshmen class (about 300 students) and high school teaching & administrative staff (about 60 adults) in the development of a school-wide initiative for the individual creation of a digital portfolio. Each incoming class will take part in the digital portfolio experience so that within four years, it will be a school-wide program. We hope to advance our program at the middle school as well. The connections to our high school curriculum and the post-high school planning for our students is being defined and developed by our high school building leadership team with staff input. The school district I serve includes one high school (approximately 1,200 students) and one 6-8 middle school (around 800 students). There are three K-5 elementary schools and a Pre-K program as well.

Before I dive in, I want to thank my colleagues for adding ideas to our framework and challenging my thinking about the digital portfolio experience. Your questions led to the creation of this blog post. In this post, I am intentionally going straight from my heart to explain the intended “learning targets” associated with the digital portfolio experience. I decided that reviewing research and our school improvement goals for this blog post would take away from the authenticity these topics require.

I hope my explanations below will help you find meaning in the digital portfolio experience.  

Why are we doing this?

Great question and perhaps the most important place to start. My work with our staff last week opened my eyes to how important it is to have the “why” in place before taking something like this on as an entire staff.

Part of my story going back to Ionia, Mich. and my family. By sharing our stories,  
we are more likely to connect. I am on the far right sitting in my mom's lap  (first row)

TELL A STORY: A digital portfolio is intended to tell a story. The portfolio itself is the medium to tell that story. The creation of the portfolio is the learning experience. A digital portfolio is a learner-led experience that can be shared easily. We are all unique and those traits that make us the “characters” we have turned into over time add to the personality of our school culture. The question, “Who am I?” is the beginning of our story for the digital portfolio experience. All of our stories will evolve over the life of the portfolio. Sharing who we are enhances the learning environment, making our school a more welcoming place where building positive relationships is embraced by students and staff together.  

REFLECTION: Any experience that helps us reflect on our learning and our role as educators is positive.The portfolio emboldens each of us to dig in on that reflective practice on our own terms and at our own pace. We spend hours planning and teaching. We dedicate time to professional development and we can all agree that the PD we get the most out of usually involves the experiences we choose and the experiences that are closest to our hearts. A digital portfolio can be the launching point for each of us to dig in and share with an audience those learning experiences we are most passionate about and eager to explore deeper.

Photo By Nick Gregory

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING GOALS: The creation of a digital portfolio helps the creator develop useful technology and storytelling skills on the learner's own terms. Perhaps more importantly, the digital portfolio experience allows the creator to highlight and explore several disciplines, learning styles and methods of communication simultaneously (writing, video, audio, graphic arts, etc.). A digital portfolio is fluid in nature so investing in this medium encourages risk-taking, trying new things and manipulating technology. Twenty-first century skills benefiting everyone naturally translate into a digital portfolio learning experience. The digital portfolio is a dynamic work in progress. 

CLAIM YOUR EXPERTISE: We should celebrate the fact that our students have talents and passions that span a wide spectrum. As we claim and share our interests we are empowering our students to place some trust in us to do the same. Everyone reading this is an expert in something. Beyond that, TEACHERS ARE EXPERTS in the craft of teaching. We should claim our expertise and share it with an audience. We invest ourselves in a multitude of professional endeavors related to helping youth and leading others.

We all know of colleagues who are doing awesome things professionally that are worthy of shining light upon. In order to build a culture that is based upon collaboration and risk-taking, claiming expertise will help our school continue to improve. If a portfolio can be one vehicle where we re-frame expertise as an asset to our learning community and dismiss the idea that it is bragging, we will exponentially add value to our school culture. Taking advantage of this opportunity to remind our students and others that our passion and drive extends beyond merely showing up is a win for education.

For our diverse student body, the digital portfolio encourages them to explore and claim their own expertise. There is tremendous educational value in explicitly identifying interests and claiming expertise.

SHARED LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Our mission to build positive relationships with students and among our staff is enhanced when we share a learning experience. Navigating the challenges together and even calling into question the value of this experience makes our learning valuable. My favorite part of leading this endeavor has been leaning on my colleagues for advice and having my ideas challenged. For many people on our staff, the digital portfolio will offer an in for us to help one another. Many of our students will thrive as they see opportunities to help classmates and adults with portfolios. Start where you are on this experience. The best conditions are set for learning when we get out of our comfort zones and share in some collective vulnerability.  

My Professional Portfolio:  https://ngregory48846.wixsite.com/nickgregory

My next blog post will include the following digital portfolio topics:

• What is my role as a teacher? 
• How do I start? 
• Who is my audience?

An Open Letter to Students Who are Tackling Racism

A letter written by me to our high school drama students in response to their incredible performance of Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. I am posting it here to spread the great news about the impact engaged students have on the world. It is our responsibility to foster a culture in schools where ideas turn into action. Kudos to teacher-extraordinaire Lori Thompson for her direction of this production and her remarkable leadership helping all of us make meaning through our struggles. This letter was given to each member of the cast and production team.

The Dream is Now, Detroit. By Nick Gregory

You are an all-star.

I figured since a few of you have been on the receiving end of my high-fives in the hallway or praise in my classroom, you should know why I am so fired up about your role in the FHS performance of, To Kill a Mockingbird.

I am writing this letter to you because you pulled something off that some people spend a lifetime trying to do; you significantly moved the needle toward progress. I do not say that lightly.

Working for progress is tedious work and it tests our patience.

The fight for progress can make us feel isolated. Striving to get to a better place can be lonely.

A true commitment to progress makes us vulnerable as we reflect on our own imperfections and flaws.

The process of making progress can be discouraging at times.

Voice of Hope, Detroit. By Nick Gregory 

Your performance and the honesty with which you delivered it brought all of the above truths about progress to light. You revealed the complicated layers that make confronting bigotry and racism challenging. All aspects of the evening - the acting, the character development, the video montages, the set and direction, the Q & A - it came together remarkably. You reached hundreds of people directly from the theatre alone. Add to that your interactions with guests, in Flint, with your families and among your peers and the scale of your influence expands dramatically. More importantly, you will continue to fight for good ideas and so will many of the people who shared this learning experience with you.

Never underestimate the power of ideas and our capacity to evolve as human beings.

Your effort, focused study and the exhausting rehearsal that went into authentically delivering To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates respect for your audience and your belief in something bigger than the “show” itself. I admire your dedication. Truths about hate and love that have existed for more than the eighty years since the story was set, came to life in the theatre Saturday night.   

You did that. You helped people think and feel the tough stuff. Your work creating positive change in our world is only beginning and that excites me.

A few other ideas came to mind in the days since I enjoyed your performance.

Risk

Judge Not, Detroit. By Nick Gregory

Putting yourself out there to be a part of a team is a risk. Collectively, you got to a deeper level of understanding by opening yourself up to learning from new experiences and difficult conversations. It is inspiring to me and makes me want to keep reaching for more.

Empathy

We can never have too many reminders about the importance of “walking in another’s flip-flops” and opening our hearts and minds to the experiences of others. Empathy is a function of love and there’s no such thing as a surplus of love. You reminded me that empathy is greater than a set of actions or deeds. Empathy can be taught and modeled.  As a teacher and a dad, that’s a reminder I appreciate. Thank you.

Evolve

We have the power to change. Every person, regardless of age or background, is capable of change and forgiveness.

When I was in college, my uncle referred to a good friend of mine as a “Sand-N-word”  and it shook me up. My friend is Indian and has dark skin. My uncle was looking through some spring break photos I brought to a family gathering and he spewed his hate so casually that it caught me off-guard. He said it as though he was describing an obvious feature like his jet black hair or his goofy smile and I remember feeling helpless. My uncle’s bigoted slur hung in the air the entire day. I struggled for a long time with the fact that I never spoke up back then. I don’t remember exactly, but I am sure I was weary of creating tension with someone I loved.

At that time, I was not willing to go there.

I told myself for a long time that my uncle was just set in his ways and he was still a good guy (which is true). I questioned why he volunteered his hate so easily when it was not even solicited. It’s not like there was a heated discussion or a relevant topic that at least provided some context for his toxic attitude. Years later, the stench of his insulting remark has mostly evaporated, but traces of it still hang around in my mind. I began challenging myself to think about things like, how do we unlearn hate? I never wanted to feel helpless about speaking up again.     

Fast forward seven years and I had fallen in love with Beata, now my wife of eleven years. Beata is a first-generation Iranian-American whose parents immigrated to the United States in 1978. Like my college friend, my wife has dark skin, dark hair and her ethnic features are striking. By the time we got married, I decided that the discomfort my uncle might feel around my wife’s family with their accents and cultural customs was his burden, not mine.

Horrible slurs and insults like the one I heard years prior would never happen again in my presence. At first, I was not sure if my uncle changed or if he just toned down his rhetoric around me. Today, I believe that he has changed. He thinks differently than he did a decade ago.  

As I have fallen more in love with my wife and her beautiful family (they’re now my family too), I appreciate how their unique life experiences as US immigrants have influenced Beata. My in-laws have opened my eyes to an American Dream that I never had to contemplate growing up. They have also opened my eyes to valuable experiences that have shaped their view of our nation’s struggles. When we gave birth to our own children, I began re-thinking my own ideas about love and hate; bigotry and inclusion. I guess you could say that like my uncle, my ideas are evolving.

What has changed most for me is that I no longer feel that the racism others have learned is their burden alone. The hate and baggage others carry is my burden too. It is also your burden.

Racism and prejudice are rooted in sins that our nation has been living with for centuries and acknowledging that truth is a critical first step. This hatred cannot be denied, nor can it be justified. As we have learned, silence in the face of hate is support. Sometimes the bigotry is softly disguised as indifference, but it is still wrong. We know that prejudice can be  expressed in both subtle and overt ways. Neither are acceptable. I am learning though that there is such a thing as a “recovering racist” and that people can change. People do change. We learn how to change - some slower than others - but we learn with experiences and we learn with practice.

Your performance was a testament to that practice. It takes practice. The work does not end with one act or an epiphany. Commitment to helping others doesn’t really end,  it just changes as we grow. You reminded me of that truth. Thank you.

You appear to have examined so much of this long before many adults do and I am grateful. It helps me remain optimistic. Hopefully your feelings about diversity and tackling our differences by listening with open hearts is reflective of your generation. We, the adults, need your help. I got to witness your leadership on stage and in the conversation that followed.

One Step at a Time - Building Bridges, Detroit. By N Gregory

Keep this conversation going.

The good ideas will always be worth fighting for, even when all of the usual indicators might say those good ideas are losing. The ideas only lose when people give up. You put on display a favorite quote of mine: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” (Attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt and I believe the origin is from a Chinese proverb).

You reminded me Saturday night that it is important for me to keep my candle lit, especially when the nasty winds of hatred are swirling all around us. I am committed to contributing to “going there” to “get there.”

I am inspired that you are elevating your voices and providing the light we need so badly in our nation right now.

Grateful. Proud. Fired up.

Sincerely,

Mr. Gregory   

Michigan Students are Depending on Educators to Lead

Teachers & Administrators need to Join Forces and Act Decisively to Tackle Systemic Challenges in our Schools

Educators are uniquely positioned to lead. We impact more lives than anyone outside of students’ homes, and in communities all over Michigan we have immense social capital.

That capital doesn’t do much good, however, if we fail to cash it in by advocating for fundamental changes within our profession. Teachers, school leaders and boards of education throughout Michigan must turn their social capital into political capital and fundamentally change our approach to teaching and learning.

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE), led by Superintendent Brian Whiston, has set out on an ambitious goal to make Michigan a Top Ten state for education within ten years. Considering that Michigan ranked 41st in fourth-grade reading in 2015 and 22% of of our students failed to graduate on time, it will take bold action to solve our challenges. In a state where more than 70% of eighth-graders aren't proficient in math, Michigan educators have an awesome opportunity to change the future of our state by demanding drastic changes to the way we approach education. (Detroit Free Press - June 22, 2106)

For our students to realize their potential, educators spanning the ranks of the profession need to responsibly address the problems that have been holding us back for the past two decades. We need to devote our collective energy to improving our education system and spend less time assigning blame. The way we do K-12 education in this state needs an overhaul, and recognizing the current landscape requires honesty about our failures. We need to stop paying lip service to collaboration, long-range planning and the value of teamwork. We can start by dedicating our resources to four areas where we struggle most.

Consistent Collaboration 

The finest school districts in Michigan have mastered collaboration among staff, students and the community. Unfortunately, these educational hubs of innovative collaboration are the exception not the norm. In some of our poorest schools collaboration occurs out of desperation to make up for a lack of resources, but that’s not enough. Teachers want to plan and work in effective teams, and unfortunately we lack content-driven, expert-led collaboration with peers. (Education Resource Strategies, April 2017).

It is rare for school administrators to have both the resources and expertise to work alongside teachers collaboratively. Teachers would embrace collaborative planning time, peer accountability and teacher observations with constructive feedback yet we find ourselves mired in school business driven by a compliance mindset.  

Our energy is devoted to meeting requirements for teacher evaluations designed to score us so we can be ranked and sorted rather than helping us improve instructional delivery. There is little time to work with other professionals on the craft of teaching or to develop unit plans for learning that transcend a traditional classroom setting. In Michigan schools, there is a premium placed on things like obtaining, “State Continuing Education Clock Hours” or attending required professional development sessions that do not involve clear goals. Far too often teachers struggle to connect mandated professional development  to student learning.

Every profession has its share of compliance issues, but from their inception schools were not designed with change and collaboration in mind. In tight financial times, there does not seem to be much interest in investing in leadership training and collaborative strategies that will improve the culture of learning. Schools are brimming with talented professionals whose ideas live in isolation. Veteran teachers lose interest working in small confined spaces and beginning teachers struggle to get their footing when there is little in place to unify teachers. As school systems try to catch up with a changing economy, dedicated professionals are handcuffed by old thinking.

Clear Targets

Most veteran teachers will admit they feel the education policies coming down from Lansing are the result of political battles that have little to do with student outcomes. School leaders react to the legislation accordingly and priorities shift without much explanation. Teachers, administrators and school boards are on the same team, yet we struggle to pull together and advocate for sensible legislation.

Teachers, administrators and school boards are on the same team, yet we struggle to pull together and advocate for sensible legislation.

There are more than 100 games that can be 

played on a standard pool table. Wouldn't 

you want to know which game you are 

playing before starting the game? 

At the building level, ideas that actually hold important meaning become “buzzword victims” every school year. Our acronyms have a nine-month shelf life and become fodder for staff lounge laughter. One year it was HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills), then Differentiated Learning, and finally RTI (Response to Intervention) the next year. Necessary concepts and stated goals are fleeting because we fail to examine how these concepts might fit within a bigger framework. Simply put, that bigger framework just does not exist in many Michigan school districts.

It is difficult to find meaning in ideas that stand alone. Integrating our “buzzwords” into relevant practice is not a realistic target. We lack the ability in education to measure meaningful progress in relation to our new buzzwords and, quite frankly, I am not sure we’re all that interested. Educators lack confidence in a law-making process that usually does not include a seat at the table for teachers. A clear vision for education is hampered by all the uncertainty in Lansing.

Ironically, for the last couple of years Learning Targets have been a popular point of emphasis in our instructional delivery across the state - just another moving target to fit in with our other buzz words and a confusing teacher evaluation process. I am, however, encouraged by the MDE Top Ten in Ten campaign because there are clear targets. Now we must find the political will to support the MDE plan in order to achieve the ambitious goals outlined.

Short-term Thinking

Educators have grown so used to survival mode that our default setting is often indifference when it comes to long-range goals. Think about it: Education is the subject of incredible public scrutiny and divisive political battles. Educators are operating in an environment where pay freezes, health care and pension uncertainty, and public criticism are the norm. Having little sense of control takes a toll.

At the local level, many school buildings operate with a weekly or day-by-day survival goal. Even in high performing schools, when plans from the top roll down to teachers they often die on the vine. Great ideas can struggle to gain traction if they require long-term planning or too much risk. Teachers passively fill up their inboxes with a new “something” confident it will drift away soon enough. It pains me to admit this, but it’s the truth.

It goes something like this: An educator, sitting in a staff meeting, nods in agreement about mapping out a new mission statement for the school about developing reflective, caring and principled learners for a global society. Meanwhile the copy machines are down, two students were added to your crowded classroom and you’re wondering if the rumors about another round of layoffs are true.  

So, we function, because that is what we have learned to do best. Some school leaders are more supportive than others, but uncertainty has stunted the educational leadership capacity in Michigan. For many reasons, educators are deeply concerned about the future of our profession. Building leaders cannot adapt to new accountability measures and best teaching practices within a system burdened by decades of institutional norms. We are tired, and sometimes we’re infected with a short-term mindset presented too often as cynicism.

Educators must stamp out cynicism so we can make the kind of progress our students deserve. A short-term mindset  is one of the most difficult challenges facing our profession, because it has been developed as a coping mechanism - a survival tool of sorts. The problem is that short-term thinking robs teachers and students of creativity, innovation and the ability to build trust. School leaders and teachers who fail to collaborate on long-range goals eventually suck the life out of learning for everyone involved.  

A short-term mindset is one of the most difficult challenges facing our profession, because it has been developed as a coping mechanism - a survival tool of sorts.

Mentorship and Feedback 

The absence of mentorship and feedback is the unfortunate result of the three previous failures. Teachers in Michigan are adapting to a teacher evaluation process that is designed to provide continuous feedback, but instead sorts and ranks teachers. In addition, many schools did away with mentorship programs after the economy tanked in the mid-2000’s. As a result of both of these developments, outdated instructional methods persist and evidence-based teaching practices lag.

This energy conservation report is the extent of feed-

back a teacher might receive in some Michigan schools.

Feedback aimed at supporting best teaching practices has a ripple effect. As I struggled through my first year of teaching, the assistant principal took the time to mentor me and help me develop meaningful units of instruction. We had a teacher induction program to support new hires, so our successes were shared. These experiences led to meaningful conversations and contributed to better classroom instruction. Fast forward more than a decade and I have witnessed the responsibilities of the assistant principal role double and support for teachers cut in half.  

Some Michigan school districts invest in instructional coaching and promote feedback among staff and students. We need to step up our game in Michigan when it comes to promoting, funding and adopting best practices state-wide.

Students are left behind when we fail to realize the impact school leaders and master teachers can have as mentors. Most administrators were classroom teachers and most would prefer to devote their energy to mentorship. Teachers thrive in school cultures where collaboration, risk-taking and new ideas are celebrated. Continuous feedback is the lynchpin for improving instruction. We know leadership quality and teacher performance drive student learning, and it is our responsibility to urge our schools to do more on both fronts.

We know leadership quality and teacher performance drive student learning, and it is our responsibility to urge our schools to do more on both fronts.

The worst part may be that no one is paying much attention to the cost of our indifference as school employees. Improving our teacher evaluation system is a great opportunity for educators to collaborate, and that opportunity demands we set aside old labor disputes and animosity. Inaction hurts morale and hinders student learning.

Teachers are rarely invited to evaluate school leaders and provide feedback regarding employee engagement. One of the best ways to ensure we are engaging students is to make sure the staff is professionally engaged and eager to learn. We should be working together, but we can’t do that if we allow frustration about outside factors to stall progress.  

Cowering in fear before these obstacles is cheating our children and diminishes our profession. Michigan communities need teachers and school administrators to consolidate our political will and deliver on our commitment to Michigan students. Michigan needs bold leaders, energized teachers and a unified voice advocating for students. Unless that happens, the MDE Top Ten in Ten plan will serve as the evidence of our collective failure and inaction in the face of adversity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR of CIVICS ENGAGED: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and high school journalism teacher since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2003. Gregory is an America Achieves Lead Fellow and he has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students find their passion for learning. You can follow him on Twitter @CivicsEngaged.

DISCLAIMER: This blog includes ideas and topics serving as a composite of issues from various sources. The issues raised in this blog are not specifically or solely motivated by the policies within the author's own school district.