Field Blog Post 6/ West Geauga

Question I will be exploring: Ayers makes the following claim: "Teachers often work in difficult situations under impossible circumstances,... with heartless bureaucrats peering through the door"(9). Here, Ayers describes a severe pressure on teachers from state officials. Also in chapter 2, Ayers presents the state officials as disconnected from the classroom environment and unable to offer constructive  advice. To what extent do teachers feel pressure from the state and its officials? Also, do these officials aid teachers in any way?




       Before I observed Mrs. Sessler's 1st period English class, I had a very interesting conversation with her. This conversation actually ended up being more informative than the general observation itself. I only mentioned state standards, and she was immediatelly prompted to carry out an extensive rant. She expressed how much she hated the new standards. She described how she (and all other teachers) has to be observed twice per year by state officials. When Ayers said that teachers have "heartless bureaucrats peering through the door," I thought he was being a bit hyperbolic. After my conversation with Mrs. Sessler, I realized how present and intrusive state officials truly are.
   
       Mrs. Sessler also complained about her observation experiences. After her first observation, the only advice the officials gave her was to refer to her standards (the state standards) more often. This advice was useless because she already had the standards clearly posted on her board. Mrs. Sessler had hoped for constructive advice concerning strategies and how she could better help her students, but received  none. Furthermore, feedback from the observations is untimely. Mrs. Sessler had been observed for the second time almost a month ago, and still had received no formal feedback. These examples prove that state officials do not truly help teachers.

     Near the end of the conversation, Mrs. Sessler also complained about the questionnaires all teachers must complete. These questionnaires often take upwards of six hours to complete and have redundant questions.

     Overall, this conversation showed me that teachers face great pressure from the state. Also, the standards and officials fail to help teachers.  Finally, it proved that the system is very inefficient.