Teaching and Learning Issues in the School Setting

Teaching and Learning Issues in the School Setting
Teachers face all sorts of challenges in the classroom when it comes to teaching and
learning. Both my local educational climate and the larger climate experience similar
challenges. What is interesting is that no matter what the challenges, teachers are always
expected to give of their best. Teaching in the 21st Century environment is a whole different
ball game and teachers must always be on their toes and ready to pivot their strategies or
their ways of thinking at any given time. In reading the excerpt written by Ginley and
watching the video Voices from the field, it has become more and more apparent that teachers
have become many different persons to each student they interact with. To one student, they
may need to be mentor, to another counselor, to another a friend.

One of the challenges I believe teachers face is not having enough time. There never
seems to be enough of it. Ginley (2014) said it perfectly when she asked how you get to know
your students with a tight schedule. So, when you combine the overwhelming curriculum
which has to be taught within a certain time frame and not having enough time to cover said
curriculum, can be overwhelming at best. Although there are benefits to nationwide
standards, there are also obstacles that make it difficult to address all of these academic
standards in 180 days. As stated by Ginley (2014), decisions are being made by people that
are not interacting with the students in our classrooms. Everything looks easier on paper but
actually putting it into practice is not always cut and dry or easy. Students today have more
needs socially and emotionally (Stech et al, 2020).

With all that said, teachers are then expected to impart knowledge in such a robotic,
rigid way that it would essentially put a damper on the lesson being taught and the teacher
especially. Ms. Peggy Locke, a K-5 Special Education Teacher from the video entitled Voices
from the Field, said that she thinks “we've lost some kind of personality in education because
everything is so structured and standards-based and all of that” and it’s the truth. To satisfy

standards and deadlines, the teacher ends up losing students along the way. Students are not
properly catered for by means of use of manipulatives or even differentiated lessons for
example. Ginley (2014) basically highlighted the fact that there is the need to teach reading
and Mathematics yet there is a dilemma in trying to keep your job yet wanting to show
students how powerful they are outside of the standardized testing. For educators today, we
must follow a standards based curriculum that meets the needs of all diverse learners. Does
this leave room for creativity and imagination? It does not. Rather than come up with
individual ideas and activities, teachers must follow a set of guidelines put in place (Jacobs,
2022).

Under such conditions, it would cause a teacher to wonder how truly impactful their
teaching could be if teaching was left up to them. Most teachers if not all, spend most of their
time following this curriculum and not doing what might be deemed creative or innovative.
This is something that not only I experience, but other teachers as well. According to Peggy
Locke, a K-5 Special Education Teacher from Voices From the Field (2019) media, she
thinks “we've lost some kind of personality in education because everything is so structured
and standards-based and all of that” (para. 3). This could not be more true. If teachers were
given more freedom to create lessons and differentiate based on their own personal thoughts
and creativity, I believe the education system would be less robotic. So, it definitely hit home
at me that whether you teach on a small island like mine or in USA, we are all in this together
and experience similar things.

There is a saying in my country that says ‘Taking time ain’t laziness’. Taking the time
to teach concepts and making sure that all my students grasp said concepts is my way of
dealing with ‘pressure’. My children are happy, and I am happy at the end of the day. We get
to enjoy and understand the lessons and its more productive that way. The profession of
teaching is changing due to the changes in society. Like others, my role as a teacher includes

many different hats (nurse, counselor, advocate). These diverse roles are not taken into
account when new rules or laws are placed on the teaching profession. To overcome this I
decide to be the best I can be every day for the students that I serve. I remind myself to focus
on the areas that I have control over and that I know will make the biggest impact on their
growth (either socially or academically). I make a committed effort to show them that they
are valued and successful.

References
Ginley, M. (2014). Kids Are Far More Than Test Scores or Why I Continued To Teach In
Spite Of It All. In S. Nieto (Ed.), Why We Teach Now (pp. 23-35). Teachers College Press.

Jacobs, C. (2022, February 22). 5 major issues in Education Today. Classrooms. Retrieved
July 22, 2022, from https://classrooms.com/5-major-issues-in-education-today/

Stech, S. et al (2020). What is Happening to the Teaching Profession Today? Studia
Paedagogica 2020, Vol. 25 Issue 2, pp. 5-10.

Walden University, LLC. (2019). Voices from the field: Learning environments and changing
students [Video]. Walden University Blackboard. https://class.waldenu.edu