Waiting for Superman

"I will continue to get paid whether you learn or not." This quote from the film, Waiting for Superman, really struck me while watching the video. The woman who said this was referring to a teacher she had while in school and how that greatly affected her and her attitude towards public school. Although I am not entirely familiar with how the 10 year program works for teachers, nor have I actually been a teacher, but I do feel that something needs to change. Not every educator who has 10 year, will have this outlook, but I do feel that this happens more often then we think. I understand that the intentions of teacher unions are good and that the idea of 10 year was to protect teachers from being fierd or let go without a reasonable explanation. However, I do feel that some individuals take advantage of this institution and may take less interest in teaching students if they feel they have job security no matter what. I would be interested to learn if other jobs have a rule in place, like 10 year for teachers. Just think what would happen if doctors said, "I will continue to get paid whether I help you or not." or if the police said, "I will continue to get paid whether I respond to your emergancy or not." I get the impression that not matter how long a person has been a doctor or how long he/she has been a police officer, if this person continues to not do their job correctly, they will be let go from the position. I do feel that teachers should be protected and that the 10 year idea has good intentions, but school administrators need to be sure that educators are doing their jobs well, and if they are not something should be done about it--possibly letting a person go.

This movie also caused me to think more in depth about what are we really teaching our kids? What messages are we really sending them? Are we telling them that to be successful you should become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, or another high paying profession? Smart people do not become hair dressers, garbage workers, factory workers, or other similar types of professions, but rather those jobs are for individuals that did not do very well at school. I strongly feel that we need to change our thinking about which jobs are superior to others. I almost got the impression from Waiting for Superman that we need to improve our school systems so that everyone can achieve and have the credentials to obtain a high profile job. I do agree, we do need to change our school systems and make it so that everyone can achieve and perform well, no matter the demographics of the school, but I also think we need to help our students break the stereotypes of what is a high profile job. To make our world function correctly we need  ALL of the different types of job. We need people who will work the factories, drive the buses, design bridges, teach our children, practice medicine, collect the garbage, etc. I think we need to encourage our students to pursue a career that is interesting to them and one they have a passion for. So, if a person who graduated validictorian of his/her class wants to go to beauty school and cut hair, we should encourage him/her to do so. We should not be questioning them and saying, "Are you sure? You can be so much more than that." I think that to change our negative stereotypes towards the kinds of people who hold certain positions needs to first change in the classroom. I feel that Waiting for Superman was portraying that in order to succeed in live one must become a doctor, business CEO, lawyer, etc.