There are some terrific ideas on this leg of the blog but unfortunately they are obfuscated by the offensive diatribe pontificated by "Whistlerpotpie".
The key reference is your thoughts as an "outside observer" that have very little validity and are certainly not based on reality.
I taught a thousand students ALL of them in the inner city. I did that by choice. I gave up a lot of luxuries in order to do best job I was capable of doing. I also worked in dangerous areas.
All of that involved spending a great deal of my own hard earned cash, giving to the poor. There are thousands of teachers sacrificing a great deal in the interest of giving these children the best education possible. And they go well beyond that.
There are kids without Christmas presents, clothing. One special ed teacher bought every kid in his small class a bicycle. No, these kids do not have bikes. They lack books, supplies, learning material, the most basic needs are not being met on Maslowe's Hierachy of Needs. They have no learning toys. They own NOT a single at home that they can call their own. Most live in Chicago yet have never even seen Lake Michigan.
I went through a box of paper a month. What else was there to do without books? I could hardly scan everything, although I think it is a terrific idea. But who can afford the machine? Besides there were none.
I was extremely organized at work.
Most teachers, in my humble experience, went into teaching as they have a deep affinity for children. The people who do not like kids, who cannot manage them, often get into administration.
Your mother may have been a hoarder. But what does that have to do with her chosen profession? One may very well be independent of the other.
The people on "Hoarders" strike me as being Clinically Depressed and certainly not involved in teacher prep. They cannot manage their lives and often live in filth. They need ongoing professional assistance.
1 and 2. Teachers are severely underpaid. Just do the Math. In the States of Illinois and California in order to maintain certificates and credentials teachers are forced to take the equivalent of a PhD worth of courses.
Male teachers in high schools are paid more than teachers in grade schools. Compare the salary to that of a nurse, yet another female ghetto. Then compare it to a professional with a PhD. Teachers are highly trained professionals. Period.
I never took a vow of poverty, did you?
Hours, days, school years are being extended under the ludicrous notion that kids that are in school longer will learn more. Small children learn best by play. They all need time to be kids. I do not understand why they do not just round up the kids and put them on a kibbutz and get it over with. Kids involve a commitment by parents when they chose to have them and with that comes a great deal of responsibility.
2. Many people grew up believing that waste was a sin, a shame. I still think that way. It was ingrained in you. There was guilt about the starving children in China; I would have been more than happy to send them my chop suey.
I am not referring to hoarding pencils.
This "zen:" business is yet another fad. Most have no concept of what Zen Bhuddism even is. I applaud people trying to streamline their lives, to get organized but I hardly see it appropriate to turn your nose up at people with conflicting values or are in fact struggling and are willing to settle for a little less- I just want to get things under control. Living in a cubby hole or mooching off people on the streets just isn't for me. But I do not have a problem with being chosing to do so.
3. Where is the evidence of teachers as technophobes? Older people might be a bit resistant as it is an unknown. I set up a database one summer of all the State of Illinois' ludicrous objectives, with pull done menus, radio buttons. Teachers are inudated with email. A teacher mentioned that you have to keep the inservice sheets full of blather for years or you may be called on the carpet for it. Teachers do their grade books on the computer. Computers are everywhere in the classroom (although the books may be missing). Just who do you think taught those kids how to use the computers? It certainly was not the semi-literate parents of the students I taught.
4. Teachers as Collectors of Knowledge?
I find that the most offensive. Teachers are life-long learners and highly respect education. Education is NOT the accumulation of papers- far from it.
Socrates said that true happiness is the learning of knowledge. I tend to agree. Life without learning is bland.
