High school French teaching ??! (Part 2)

Not long after guest teaching at a Rockford high school, I attended a workshop for my local school district. The goal was to discuss the district's strategic 5 year plan with community stakeholders. Participants included residents, parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, city council members, and the district superintendent. It was eye-opening on many levels.

The last time I'd been in a high school had probably been at least 10 years ago and now I'd found myself in them two times in about a week for two seemingly different reasons. I say "seemingly" because in the first instance I was a professional who put my profession front and center. I expected my role as a resident and parent of a soon to be kindergartner to be central to the experience at the school district workshop. I was surprised to discover how much my profession infused my comments and questions that day. It's made me realize the extent to which my parenting is informed by my teaching.

Identify concerns and actions that can be taken
Identify actions to achieve the district's mission

I took copious notes throughout the day.
I saved the instructions for each of the discussion activities.

A snapshot of some key topics that came up

• our district is de-emphasizing homework (hurray! From what I've read the data on its effectiveness is highly mixed anyway)
• they are gradually building a network to address economic problems and traumas (tons of kids in the district experience trauma and can't function academic without those needs being addressed)
• DOGS-Dads of Great Kids-a program that puts good men in touch with students who may not have strong male role models
• kindergarten inquiry-based model (hurray! The research I've read said play-based and inquiry based learning is far more effective)
• teacher shortage-Quelle surprise. The governor and the Republicans in the state have decimated teacher compensation, increased the emphasis on standardized testing and dismantled union protections. Why tolerate that when you can go elsewhere?
• city leaders have constrained housing development to preserve quaint nature of town but they also want student growth. Young families want good housing near good schools. One part of this equation needs to bend.
• the district needs better PR to publicize the many positive things happening. I absolutely agree with this, but I wonder how to achieve it because PR can sound a lot like boasting which is unacceptable for women. I see the push in recent years for teacher accountability, pay tied to student performance, the need for standardized tests to gauge performance and thus pay, the persistent denigration of the profession and a slow infantilization of teachers. I can't think of a similar male-dominated profession that is as thoroughly degraded. I hypothesize that the scrutiny is possible because so many women work as teachers, and professional women are not taken as seriously as professional men in many cases. So how to do it without sounding pushy and defying other gender codes associated with the field of teaching?

I also networked with:

• the founder of an organization that promotes diversity, World of Change Leaders, Inc
• the director of curriculum in the high school to explore teaching French as part of an extra-curricular enrichment (the district cut French almost 10 years ago and now offers Spanish and German)

Why on earth would the district pick German (spoken in two countries-Germany and Austria, and parts of a third-Switzerland) over French? The director of curriculum aid by cutting it they prioritized music-strings. What politics were in play at the time? If global awareness is a key goal for the district, how do you advance German as the better choice to achieve that when French is FAR more global?

The bright side is, thanks to Governor Scott Walker, in Wisconsin you can teach in the public schools without formal credentials as long as you have experience or expertise in the field. I plan to offer an enrichment experience for high school students next year with the help of the director of curriculum.

Over the course of the day we worked in small groups and then at the end of the day shared them with the whole group. The facilitator listened for commonalities and sought input for grouping similar things together so we could whittle down the list to a manageable number of areas for improvement. At my table were two para-teachers who support ESL students in the district. There was a former middle and high school Spanish teacher (who also speaks Swedish and German, I think). There was a parent who speaks German and wanted her kids to be exposed to languages. Thus, everyone was an advocate for language teaching. 

Someone at a table on the other side of the gymnasium asked if languages could be grouped with arts and computers? Instantly, the four language teachers at the table shouted "NO!!" so forcefully it resonated throughout the large space. Some people chuckled at our response, but we exchanged the knowing looks that come from regularly being asked similar ignorant questions. 

The conversation and negotiation continued. We got stickers to put next to the issues we felt were the most important. They were written on big pads of paper on easels. Several tables, not just ours, talked about the importance of language and culture. But, out of about 100 people only 12 people prioritized multilingualism, only 27 prioritized "language, arts/computers in K-12 ed." (Obviously, we lost the battle over tying languages to computers). 

The most frustrating aspect of the push to group languages with technology is it pits against each other two things that are both necessary in today's society. Americans loathe languages. They love technology. When given a choice for language or a computer class, most are going to choose the former. It presents educational opportunities in a scarcity model that promotes mutual exclusivity. It says, "We only have enough money for one of these things at a time, you the parent and student have to choose one of them. You can't do both." It's part of the much broader trend to constantly demand teachers, especially language teachers, to justify their jobs. If I and other language teachers could just focus on teaching and ignore promotion, recruiting and retention our jobs would be infinitely easier. I long for the day when my job is as readily and reflexively accepted by society as engineering or health care.