Sunday, March 30, 2014

The Union:
                I understand that the teacher’s union is supposed to be there to protect my job in the future but I am not sure I like it. The idea that the union will stand up and fight for my position is great. However, the union is also fighting for the jobs of some teachers that should just be fired. When we were talking about the teacher that drank with her students, let them drive her car, and then invited them back to her place it made me sick. As a teacher we are in a very powerful position because the students in many cases spend more time with us than their parents. The influence we have over our students should not be abused. No teacher should ever do what that teacher did with her students. The problem was that the union fought for her and against the administration that had every right to fire her. This is where my problem with the union is starting. I do not feel comfortable with being part of a group that would defend such horrible actions. In many ways the union connects with the way the teachers act in school because they know it would be really hard to be fired with the union in their corner. I do not want to be one of the teachers that does whatever I want whether it is good for the students or not. The most important thing to me as a teacher is my students and doing what is best for them. Even if I have to sit alone as Kim spoke about; I will not change the way I feel about teaching. I am sure that I am not alone in this thinking but the test will be when we finally enter the situation. Who will speak up, who will just sit by, and who will join the other side?


 

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2 comments:

  1. UnknownMarch 30, 2014 at 5:29 PM

    I agree with you. There are so many teachers that I have encountered that simply don't take their jobs seriously. These teachers should have been fired a long time ago, but they continue to plague our schools. But at the same time, there must be a reason that unions were formed. They do not exist to keep bad teachers around and I would love to dig deeper and learn more information about the unions. Its so easy to hate on them when we only see the problems, but what have they done positively for teachers?

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  2. UnknownMarch 30, 2014 at 6:31 PM

    Well said, Jodi. I agree with you 100% but if there's one thing I've learned is that there are two sides. I'd like to hear a story where the union did right by a teacher. Like you said, they were formed for a reason. That being said, I believe that everyone needs accountability and with unions and tenure it feels like it's lacking. I don't like the idea that some teachers feel they can do whatever they want just because they now have tenure. I've already witnessed this attitude in talking with one of the teachers in CF and it didn't sit well with me. I suppose the way to look at this is that we are the next generation of teachers and even if we are in different schools, we have the opportunity to band together and strive to be the difference.

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