Education's EcologyTeachingTeachers are embedded in education but the role of teachers must change from classroom managers to active contributors of scholarship to communities. What follows will make a case for a new role for teachers because teaching, especially as it has been conceived and executed, is not enough to support society as it grapples with issues that are local, regional and global. Teaching is the most vexing part of thinking about education's ecology because teachers are likely the most important element even as they are the most troubling element. The trouble emerges from expectations of nearly every stakeholder that nothing happens in education in the absence of a teacher. What follows will take strong exception to that premise and the expectations that follow. Simply put Teaching is NOT Enough. A fundamental flaw emerges from societal expectations that a single person, no matter their erudition, intelligence, and manner of being embedded can totally or even adequately, manage a group toward a desired end with some absolute and unlimited success. The flawed assumption is that the members of the group are identical and well, if not perfectly, matched. No measurements and manipulations can ever represent the individuality of members in a group. The result is an insane reliance on the intuition of the person designated as the teacher. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting better results. That in a nutshell is what we expect from teachers. |