The most important work teachers do is with their students in the classroom, but so much of that work is not understood by the greater educational world of policymakers, researchers, and school leaders. Communication is needed to bridge that gap.
The education world is a big place. Having explored some interesting reaches in and around that world, and at times having spread myself too thin, I’ve recently come back to the idea that the most important work I can do is in my classroom with students. Nonetheless, it doesn’t work for teachers to do their work with their heads in the sand (so to speak), ignoring the wider world of education research and policy that continues to dictate and influence aspects of our teaching, our students’ lives, and our career paths. It is equally necessary that policymakers, researchers, and others involved in education outside the classroom are in constant dialogue with teachers and school leaders so their work makes sense and can have a positive impact on students.
So I’ve been playing a lot in my mind with the balance between the classroom as the single most important place in the education world and the need to be in dialogue with others in education, who occupy different spaces and roles but nonetheless are pieces of the same puzzle. If we all really want a first-rate education system in this country, then we need to communicate effectively about it. Communication takes time and effort.
Writing this blog has been a good way to be both in my classroom/school community and in conversation with a wider educational community. Here, as in many of my fellow teacher bloggers’ sites, the two worlds don’t seem so divided.
[Image credit: canstockphoto.com]
