Through looking back at all the different teachers I have had in the past, I compiled a list of some of my most memorable teachers.
- My teacher in 2nd grade, who had pulled me aside when she saw that I was upset and spent the recess period figuring out what was bothering me, even when I refused to talk.
- My 4th grade teacher, who saw my love for writing and encouraged me with every assignment, and even chose me (out of her whole class) to attend a lunch talk with a guest author.
- My middle school shop teacher, who helped me discover my love for mechanical engineering and welcomed my awkwardness.
- My sophomore year math teacher, who made me realize I needed to restructure my studying habits and gave me the resources necessary to do so.
One thing I found in common among all of these teachers is their investment in me as an individual, not just as a student. In taking the time to interact and work with me on a more personal level, they have taught me lessons beyond the standardized curriculum they were expected to teach. These teachers are not getting paid to inspire us or teach us life lessons. They are paid to teach us about literature, math, science, history, and many other subjects. Yet, the teachers that I have found to be most impactful in my life were indeed the ones who helped me realize who I was and improve as a person.
As the conversation of education has expanded to igniting the “spark” within the students, there is a dual standard emerging for teachers to both teach the standardized curriculum and also “touch” the students. So where are these expectations coming from? For public education in the United States, it is the state government that determines what standardized education is through setting academic standards. Then, the schools themselves can determine how these standards are taught (Lee). Therefore, standardized education is influenced by expectations from politicians, teachers, colleges, industries, parents, and much more. With these standards for general education, teachers are pressured to teach specific curriculum over the course of a school year, semester, quarter, or other limited block of time. At the same time, there is an outside pressure — from many parents, students, and schools — to engage students in class and somehow keep them motivated to learn. After all, it is the teachers that children spend a majority of their time with — around seven hours a day, five days a week, forty weeks a year, up to twelve years and sometimes even more.
This accumulation of expectations on teachers turns them into the oppressed, as they are struggling to teach in a system that does not fully support them and may not fully align with their teaching ideologies. While some are still able to reach their students on a more personal level, like the memorable teachers I have had, others may not be as fortunate to be given this opportunity and allowance. At the same time, us students are also oppressed by the societal pressures of excelling in education and chasing after success. In our struggle, the teachers, who are expected to carry out standardized education, are also oppressing us. Their expectations of us as students, determined by the expectations of the society we live in, can push us into fields we find no interest in, force us to focus on only our grades, and crush our knowledge-seeking spirits. Not all of these teachers may be aware of our oppression, let alone their own. Meanwhile, the ones who are aware of our oppression and really care about us as individuals are pressured to free us from being oppressed by inspiring us to think critically, when they themselves are also oppressed. In this scenario, the teachers are oppressed by societal pressures while oppressing the students to achieve society-deemed merits, and the students are oppressed by society and teachers while oppressing teachers to somehow make them care about learning.
Now that begs the question: if the oppressed and the oppressors are oppressed at parallel levels, where the oppressed are the ones oppressing and the oppressors are the ones being oppressed, how are the oppressed freed? This question has been floating around in my mind, for Paulo Freire has stated that “It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free their oppressors” (Freire). When both the oppressors and the oppressed are oppressed, what does it take to free everyone? I myself have not yet thought of a thorough enough reply to this question, and I encourage you to also try. Who knows? Maybe my next post will be a continued discussion of this question, maybe not.
Works Cited
“Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire, Continuum, 2005, pp. 56–56.
Lee, Andrew M.I. “State Academic Standards: What You Need to Know.” Understood, Understood, 22 Oct. 2020, www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/tests-standards/state-academic-standards-what-you-need-to-know.
