i teach because...

I spent four 8-hour days unpacking standards for a school district. Throughout the arduous process, I reflected on teaching some thirty years ago before ‘no child left behind’ and ‘teach the standards’ became a thing. We had learning objectives, pacing guides, and criteria that had to be met for student achievement; however, it was never so intense, confusing, and boxed in as it is now.

Although the intentions are good… to ensure accountability, reliability and validity across the public school system… it is, in my opinion, also a detriment.  So much focus is on the standards that some have forgotten the child… the whole child.

Here’s my question… why did I become a teacher? to solely teach academics?  to solely teach mandated standards? to follow strict pacing guides that go on and on and on and on even though they can be indifferent to a child’s readiness and development?

Certainly not. I entered the teaching profession because I felt called to ensure children know they are loved and that they matter. I am a teacher because I want children to know that they have what it takes to realize their potential. I am a teacher because I know that for some, I am their only safe space… for some, I am the only adult they trust. I am a teacher because I believe each child is a unique, wonderful gift to this world.

Sadly, more than 34 million students in the United States have at least one type of childhood trauma. More than 16 million live below poverty and of those students, 6 million are under six-years-old (Brion, 2021).  Ruefully, at least half of all children, ages birth to eight years, in the United States have been exposed to or experienced one or more types of trauma (Bartlett & Steber, 2019; Miller & Flint-Stipp, 2019).

Trauma, real or perceived, does not discriminate. Trauma affects all cultures, all settings, and all communities.

Indeed, there is likely a trauma sensitive child in every classroom.

So, I ask myself… what is my priority? Is my priority the standard or the whole child?