Supply It: What "Teaching Is A Noble Profession" Really Means

By Daniel C. Manley

"Teaching Is A Noble Profession" is the most common compliment society pays to teachers, but they are just as quick to blame them for the failures of the education system. If teachers are going to be faulted for upholding substandard conditions, then maybe it's time for teachers to endorse a new standard. Shed your scapegoat status and eliminate

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stand & Withstand Integrity Group LLC
• Release date: Jan 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781736973660

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Copyright © Daniel C. Manley 2021

Layout: Stand & Withstand Integrity Group LLC

Cover Design: Dante Davis Design

Editor: Troy Butler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Publisher and author make no guarantees regarding the level of success you may experience by following the recommendations and principles contained in this book, and you accept the risk that results will differ for everyone. Examples presented are exemplar results, which may not be the outcome for all, and are not intended to represent or guarantee that you will achieve similar results.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 978-1-7369736-5-3 (Paperback);

ISBN 978-1-7369736-6-0 (Ebook);

ISBN 978-1-7369736-7-7 (Audiobook)

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition January 2022

Stand & Withstand Integrity Group LLC

P.O. Box 782771

Wichita, KS 67278

STANDWITHSTAND.ORG

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: I OWE YOU

WHAT DO YOU OWE ME?

CHAPTER ONE: ACCEPT HELP

HOW DO I UPHOLD THE NOBIITY OF THE PROFESSION?

WHAT IS THE NOBILITY OF THE PROFESSION?

WHAT IS AN EDUCATION?

WHY DO STUDENTS COME TO SCHOOL?

WHAT IS IT TO BE CERTIFIED?

WHAT IS IT TO BE QUALIFIED?

HOW DO TEACHERS CONTRIBUTE TO AN EDUCATION?

HOW ARE TEACHING & EDUCATING DIFFERENT?

HOW DO I BECOME AN EDUCATOR?

WHY TEACH RATHER THAN EDUCATE?

CHAPTER TWO: BECOME AN EDUCTOR

HOW DOES A TEACHER NAVIGATE A POSITION MEANT FOR AN EDUCATOR?

HOW DOES A TEACHER SUPPLY AN EDUCATION?

WHAT IS AN EDUCATOR?

WHAT IS INTEGRITY?

HOW DOES INTEGRITY IMPACT MY EDUCATING?

CHAPTER THREE: BE AN EDUCATOR

HOW DO EDUCATORS ACT?

HOW DO EDUCATORS ACT OUTSIDE OF WORK?

HOW DO EDUCATORS ACT AT WORK?

HOW DO EDUCATORS ACT BEFORE LEAVING WORK?

DOES EDUCATING GUARANTEE AN EDUCATION?

CHAPTER FOUR: MAINTAIN THE STANDARD

WHO IS AT FAULT WHEN A CHILD IS UNEDUCATED?

WHO IS AT FAULT WHEN A STUDENT IS UNEDUCATED?

HOW AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR EDUCATING?

WHAT DOES TEACHING LOOK LIKE FOR AN EDUCATOR?

WHAT IS THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE CONTINUUM™?

HOW DO I MAKE THE MOST OF STUDENT TIME?

HOW DO I KEEP MYSELF FROM LYING?

DO WE ALLOW ANY FUN IN EDUCATION?

CHAPTER FIVE: EMPOWER STUDENTS

WHAT POWER DOES A CHILD HAVE?

WHAT IS AUTHORITY?

WHAT AUTHORITY DO I HAVE?

WHO AUTHORIZES STUDENTS TO USE POWER?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN STUDENTS ARE SELF-DISCIPLINED?

CHAPTER SIX: PAY WHAT YOU OWE

HOW ARE TEACHERS, WHO ARE NOT EDUCATORS, HYPOCRITES?

HOW ARE TEACHERS RESPONSIBLE FOR A SYSTEM OF HYPOCRISY?

WHAT IF A DEMAND IS MADE?

HOW DO I RESPOND TO A DEMAND?

CHAPTER SEVEN: CALL FOR BACKUP

WHO ARE MY ALLIES?

HOW DO I FORM A STRONG ALLIANCE?

HOW WILL MY ALLIES BE THERE FOR ME?

WHEN CAN I NOT SAY NO?

CONCLUSION: YOU OWE YOURSELF

WHAT DO I OWE MYSELF?

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

REFERENCES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DEDICATION:

To every teacher who was ever told,

Teaching is a noble profession, and the

education programs that trained you to teach.

Allow this book to help you graduate to the

full rank of educator.

INTRODUCTION:

I OWE YOU

WHAT DO YOU OWE ME?

My apprentice, I owe you an apology. Many times, I have found myself worrying about, and empathizing with, first year teachers who are ill prepared to accomplish the mission of education. That concern, while genuine, has never moved me to actively assist any of them in better preparing to carry out that mission. Until now, as I sit isolated and remorseful in my office, I have never seen or felt my complicity in the matter.

We only had four minutes before the bell was to ring and initiate the next passing period, and four weeks until the conclusion of your student teaching assignment with us. As we, the administrative team, the six of you, and your mentor teachers, finished a luncheon and I was asked if I had any words of wisdom to offer, I found myself fighting the urge to deliver a dissertation. All at once, my experience in and understanding of that which you are mere months away from being fully immersed in led me to think about how much of a conversation really needed to take place. It was but seconds after considering this that I found myself thinking about what the future holds for a multitude of students who will be dependent upon unproven individuals, just like you, to design, organize, and schedule what needs to be a lifechanging educational experience for them.

I know that it is inevitable for you all to be, as individuals, cast in the leading role of the heartfelt drama that tells the tale of the neophyte teacher who uses the seat of inexperience to transform themselves into an adored mentor. For this reason, I tried desperately to articulate something that would resonate as profoundly as an ancient proverb. Unfortunately, feeling the constraint of time, I was left with the stupefied stare of a Scripps National Spelling Bee contestant grasping for the silent consonant absconded behind a hidden vowel. I was troubled. Not so much in that I was unaware of what to say to reduce the threat of you, all of you, reaching your first days as teachers with the same anxiety as those whom I have seen struggle through that exact experience. I was troubled because, in that moment, I realized how much actually needed to be said and done to properly mentor you along the way, and how far short the system had fallen in preparing you to do what they would soon certify and license you to do professionally. As we conversed, and I was made more aware of your questions, fears, perspectives, and apprehensions, it became clear to me just how inadequate your training had been – I am sorry. To make amends, I offer you these words of wisdom.

What you need to know is that the high-quality education meant to be supplied by us is sure to minimize the threat and possibility of failure felt by most young people standing at the entry point of adulthood. However, providing young people with a safe, appropriate space and opportunity to work toward acquiring an education is a function that many of our schools do not do well. The teaching of K-12 children ends with the successful completion of an academic career and an uneducated child all too often. When I taught high school children and had the professional responsibility to attend every graduation ceremony meant to mark this completion, I was left disheartened far too many times. Witnessing innocently ignorant adolescent individuals march triumphantly across a stage filled with teachers, administrators, and alleged educators to receive, what was assumed to be, a key for the future was not something worth celebrating for me in most cases.

I had seen their transcripts, I was aware of the equator sized holes in their plans for the future, and I had been sought after for far too many, Mr. Manley, I don’t know what I am going to do with my life, conversations to get caught up in the celebration. We had caged them for 13 years. And now, having no more hoops for them to jump through, tests for them to take, or fees for them to pay, we would lead and release these lambs into the same terrain where lions roamed free. We freed them even though they had no real understanding of, trust in, or practical use for the coveted key that they were soon to receive. I felt guilty… I feel guilty. This guilt, and my refusal to contribute to this system’s hypocrisy, has compelled me to enlighten you on what is needed in order for you to take the lead in a focused effort to assist students in their pursuit of the education said to be the main determining factor of a quality life. Reflecting on my experiences over the last 20 years with young people just like those whom you will soon be placed in charge of, I am going to share information that any mentor, being in this same position, would share if they found themselves in possession of it. Pay attention.

The responsibility of providing students with safe, appropriate space and opportunity to acquire an education is not understood and accepted by every academic institution. This statement has been proven to me by the thousands of individuals I have interacted with regularly in the education system. What confirmed it for me, however, was my experience as a first-year administrator. My first year as an administrator tested my character like nothing I had experienced before. I was mocked, placed under a microscope, and my intentions and integrity always seemed to be in question. On top of that, there were two, what I thought to be, basic questions I sought to have answered that no one was able to resolve for me.

After struggling for several months to gain traction or confidence in my new role as assistant principal, I sought the wisdom of others within the district whom I knew were respected and experienced. I had been told that I was to be a leader in my new position, but every leadership move I attempted to make would be reprimanded, revised, or recalled as though I was completely out of bounds for trying to make it. As I met with over twenty individuals who held leadership positions within the district (mostly one-to-one), nine of them being either head principals or executives, I pleaded for understanding:

How long do I need to be a leader before I can hold people accountable for performing their basic job requirements? What percentage of what we do as administrators correlates directly to how students perform academically and what they achieve educationally? How am I to lead a staff that expresses, communally, they love where they work and consider coworkers to be family, but, independently, voice major issues with backbiting, favoritism, and inequitable treatment of staff from leadership? If my building is among the worst in the district in every quantifiable metric, academically as well as behaviorally, why am I being asked to put so much energy and emphasis on making staff feel appreciated and valued for their efforts? How are we supposed to measure success, and what do we provide students with to allow them to do the same?

I asked every tough question that came to mind as I looked to convince myself that a thirty-year career in this profession, at that position or elsewhere, was worth the investment. As I engaged each of these twenty-some-odd individuals with a similar line of questioning, they all attempted to console me the same way. They began their responses by saying, I know it can be tough…, or, After a while…, attempting to comfort me as though the growing pains of the new position were what ailed me most. The most honest of these conversations, those I respected and gained the most insight from, were the ones where my questions encountered an introspective gaze into a reflective abyss that was punctuated with an empathetic, I don’t know.

A trend quickly developed and, without fail, I was provided with answers that were rooted in the same ideology. You should just take a year or so to build relationships, they told me. Sometimes you just have to play the game until you get your staff to trust you. When I asked, How much impact can I expect to have on the quality of education students leave the building with when my staff trust me, the conversation always reverted to square one. When I was told that, Education is really a ‘feelings’ business, as I attempted to discuss effectiveness, results, and the lives of children who were being handicapped by our failing system, I knew it was time to stop talking. At that point, I had no other option but to process my thoughts and work on answering my questions myself. Why am I here, was one of those questions. "What significance is education meant to have in the system that was designed for it," was the other.

It was not exhaust, fatigue, nor disillusionment that had spurred me to question my belonging, but genuine ignorance and confusion on my role within the system. Ideologically, I had been instructed and encouraged to lead. Supervising, tempering, and trying to pacify the whirlwind of randomness that could potentially upset teachers, families, and stakeholders is what I discovered my job to be (management). I was willing to play this position; I was. If this was what needed to happen to elevate the educational potential of our building, I had no issue doing this work. Yet, education was one thing that never seemed to receive any spotlight. What I found education being reduced to reminded me of when I was teaching and would ask students why they attended school. Each of them would dig as deeply as they could for an honest reply before selecting one response over and over again. To get an education, was that response. I wanted to believe them. I promise you; I really did. Unfortunately, the answers I received when I asked a follow-up question made that difficult to do.

Well then, I would shrug sarcastically, what’s an education? To that question, I failed to receive an articulate, sensible response from any student. Literally, not one student in five years of teaching was able to explain to me what an education was after expressing, I would say over 80% of the time, that an education was exactly what they were attending school for. I was baffled every single time, but the full weight of the matter never hit me until I was forced to reconcile with myself and find purpose in my position – in this profession. This, ultimately, is what would trigger the writing of these words.

If none of those students could express what an education was, I asked myself, then what quality of educational opportunity had schools provided them with all those years? Most of my time teaching was spent with sophomores and juniors; having one or two years left in school after their studies with me. Afterwards, they were scheduled to graduate and enter adulthood being categorized as educated, yet they could not compose a quality sentence to explain what an education was. This is a problem my apprentice.

During the five years of a student’s elementary education, they are sure to engage with, something like, a dozen different instructors. Traveling through middle and high school, they will encounter another 30 to 40 depending on the size of the schools they attend, the curriculum being offered or followed, and the electives and exploratory courses being provided. This means that dozens of licensed and certified professionals would have had the chance to provide educational opportunities to these students before they had any chance to sit in my class. Yet, while looking me in my eyes and informing me that they attended school to secure for themselves an education,