I don't know if you have heard this or not, but discipline is a serious problem in our public schools. It seems that studies show that if there are only a few disruptive students in a class, it significantly reduces the quality of education for the whole class. Do you really think that there needed to be an expensive study to figure this out? Universally, private and parochial schools do a much better job of education than do public schools. In black communities it is not the quality of the teachers, the facilities or the study materials that determines the very poor out come shown by schools in black neighborhoods. For some reason we seem to want to call these areas and kids "disadvantaged". "Disadvantaged" in what way? It is not money because there are clear studies from around the world that show the quality of education has little to do with how much is spent per kid. It has to be some thing else and that is "Discipline".
In so called good schools where kids seem to be doing better, it is not uncommon to hear kids say that they really like or love their teachers. On the surface this might seem like a very good thing. I can tell you that in parocuial schools you don't hear kids saying that they like or love their teachers. Their teachers are for the most part nuns. What they do is "respect" their teachers. I think that is what we need a lot more of in our schools if we expect the teachers to educate our kids.
Now for a little story that may have some application here. Many years ago I had a much older man working for me and one day when I was being promoted to a different job he came to me with some advice. He said this was advice that his mother had given to him many years ago and felt that it had been significant in his life and for that reason wanted to pass it along to me. It went like this, "Start out like you are going to hold out". I gave him a strange look and asked him what kind of advice that was. He replied that it might sound strange at first, but when he was a kid his family moved around a lot and he attended several different schools. The way this advice works is that on the first day of school you figure out exactly how you are going to handle yourself and you stick to that from that first day on. I thought about it for a while and finally grasped the significance of what he was saying. Think about it. It is the same for school, the teachers and the students. If on day one the teacher focuses on being your friend and making you happy, you will never truly respect the teacher. The same for you as a kid. If you start out as a wise guy, you will always be and expected by your friends to be a wise guy. The teacher needs to start on day one with the sole objective of gaining the respect of the students. Without respect, the teacher will not be affective as a teacher.
How about another story. I was talking to a friend today who was telling me about his nephew who had just gone into the Army and was in boot camp. He was surprise that boot camp was today much the same as it was for him over 50 years ago. The first thing the Drill Sargent said to the new recruits was, "I am not your friend". He then went on disciplining the recruits and in the end gained their respect and taught them more in 60 days than they had learned in our public schools in 13 years. If the Drill Sargent started out for the first week being the recruits "friend", he would have never gain the respect that he needed to get his job done which was to teach then how to "Survive", "Compete" and "Defend". Isn't it strange how this all seems to come together?
In some prior Blogs I have proposed that students not start public school until 3rd grade. That is because from K-2 what is needed is to learn what education is all about. During the period K-2, I have proposed that the parents have to teach their kids how to read, write and so simple math. During this process all will learn why and how to learn. Did you know that many nursery schools will not accept kids who can not "Feed" themselves? Parents have to teach them this before they are accepted. It is also required before kids can go to Kindergarten that they be able to tie their shoes and go to the bath room without help. If the parents can do this, then why not keep up the work until they can read, write and do simple math? If you were to dump kids at K-2 into a public school situations they will pick up more bad habits than how much they actually learn. K-2 is not free baby sitting. It cost the tax payers just as much for K-2 as it does for high school, $10,000 per year. I know that most people will think that I am some kind of radical, thinking the way that I do. The difference is that I have thought about this a lot and have seen education first hand outside the USA and most of my critics have not. When kids start public school in the 3rd grade it is to learn. School is not fun and games, that is for after school.
Teachers need to be respected not loved and they need to get that point across on the first day of class. Think about your best teachers, were they respected or loved? You make the call.
