23 Oct My own job sucks so…

As we work to transform schools, I’m surprised at how often I hear some variation of the following from parents, school board or community members, and maybe even educators:

I have to do whatever my boss says. I don’t have much voice and choice in what I do. Kids need to learn how to follow directions or they’re going to lose their jobs. They can’t just do whatever they want at work.

I think at least three things are worth noting here:

1. There’s a big difference between a) adults who get to choose whom they work for and also get to leave when they decide that working conditions are bad enough, and b) children who are forced to go to school due to compulsory attendance laws and are then punished both academically and behaviorally if they don’t comply with all adult directives while they are there.
2. It’s a weird and dismaying statement to essentially say, ‘Well, my own job sucks so we should in turn treat children as passive objects so that they become disheartened, disempowered, and compliant,” as if there aren’t self-employment / entrepreneurship options or more employee-affirming work environments to choose from.
3. It’s a large leap from children should get to have some meaningful agency in their own learning process to children should get to do whatever they want all the time and never have to listen to adults. I wonder why so many people hear the first one and react as if we said the second one?

Have you seen this dynamic play out in your own conversations with school stakeholders?

As we work to transform schools, I’m surprised at how often I hear some variation of the following from parents, school board or community members, and maybe even educators: I have to do whatever my boss says. I don’t have much voice and choice in what I do. Kids need to learn how to follow directionsStudent Agency and Voice, compliance, student agencyRead More