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The Labyrinth: A Metaphor for Teaching
The Tohono O’Odham Nation in the American Southwest uses the design of the labyrinth in their basket weaving to illustrate the story of our lives from birth to death and on into eternity. “The-man-in-the-maze” (U’ki’ut’l) is each of us facing a life of challenges. There are choices to be made at every turn. There is conflict, struggle, and joy. There are twists and turns where harmony and peace are often elusive.
I think it is fair to say that teaching can feel at times like we are in a maze. The teaching labyrinth has a lot of uncertainty. Sometimes we really don’t know what is around the next corner. Students may not have their basic needs met. Discipline is a challenge in itself. Let’s not forget the ever-changing implementation of imperfect curriculum. Parents may not always be as supportive as we would like. Administrators can seem obtuse. Education reformers and politicians appear hell-bent on destroying public education. And we have our own personal lives that are full of all kinds of challenges.
Navigating this maze is even more challenging when fellow teachers are less than supportive, kind, and empathetic towards each other. The RIEA is strong. We have a team of over 400 teachers at various places in this educational journey. We have the power to choose to support each other, or obstruct each other. We already face enough obstacles. Let’s choose to be supportive and press on.
We teach because it is our passion.
We teach because it is a purpose filled profession.
We teach because it is rewarding and we do make a difference.
The Rock Island Education Association seeks to bring teachers together for the purpose of ensuring fairness, encouraging teachers to fulfill their passions as educators, and foster an environment where teachers have autonomy and the ability to make decisions in a culture of shared leadership.
In order to help us maintain our sanity as we work our way through the teacher maze, it is important to know that we have established processes within our Association and with the District. These processes are based on the contract and the RIEA Constitution/Bylaws. They are not a barrier, but rather the guide that supports us through the education labyrinth.
Andrew Hains – RIEA President
* Download the 2016-17 4th RIEA Newsletter
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Time
“Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what you will.” This signature labor movement slogan from the Industrial Age could have been heard during one of the first general strikes of 1867 in Chicago. It was not uncommon for industrial laborers to work 10 to 16 hour days for six to seven days a week.
Workers during the industrial era were expected to work like machines. Today, teachers are expected to process data like a computer in our Information Age. Each era of technological change increased productivity and transformed the way people worked. But there were also adverse affects on the lives of workers that diminished the quality of life.
Compared to teachers in other developed nations, US teachers have more demands placed on their time, without obvious benefits to student success. Understandably, this leads to a high level of burnout. Unlike machines, people want to have a sense of purpose in their career.
US Teachers spend more contact time in classrooms than almost every nation in the World. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 2015 Education At a Glance Annual Report, teachers in the US spend about 980 hours a year in the classroom. RIMSD teachers spend over 900 hours and the OECD global average is about 700 hours.
Finland and Korea are nations that are models for education reform. Each nation also has some of the highest student achievement globally based on the Program for International Assessment (PISA). Teachers in Finland and Korea have on average 600 hours of classroom contact time. Teachers in Finland, Korea and other high performing nations like Germany and Japan have more time to prepare lessons, analyze data, participate in PD, and collaborate than teachers in the US. Education reform in the US has simply added more to our limited time without sufficiently balancing classroom contact time with the additional demands of teaching.
There are only 24 hours in the day. How do we meaningfully and realistically engage students in learning within a purpose filled profession that prepares students for success?
Andrew Hains – RIEA President
(Source: Tim Walker, “Global Study: US Educators Spend More Hours Teaching But Wide Pay Gap Remains” 12/4/2015 in NEAToday)
* Download the 2016-17 3rd RIEA Newsletter
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The Value of the RIEA
The RIEA has 407 Members. Over 270 have advanced degrees and we have more than 5000 years of combined teaching experience.
The RIEA is Strong!
As highly trained professional educators, we have much to contribute to policy, the community, district decisions, and the lives of children. Our Association and school district can benefit by understanding and considering the three models of unionism:
- Industrial Unionism – focuses on the contract, pay, benefits, and fairness in relation to management.
- Social Justice Unionism – seeks equity by developing partnerships in the community to break down barriers to opportunity.
- Professional Unionism – fosters professional quality based on shared leadership and a collaborative partnership with management.
Teacher unions under the Industrial Unionism model can end up limiting the possibilities of the teaching profession through a win/lose paradigm that is restricted by a top down management style that determines the factors that go into student learning.
Professional Unionism and Social Justice Unionism each go beyond a win/lose paradigm, in which teachers participate as leaders in making decisions promoting quality teaching, maximizing community engagement, and taking responsibility for student outcomes.
Our goal is to create an efficient union based on shared leadership focused on improving student outcomes.
Andrew Hains – President Belle Jordan – VP Elvia Goins – Member Chair
Kelli Brannen – Treasurer Jeff Duster – Secretary Liz Wayne – Grievance Chair
Teacher Unions & Student Achievement
Reform of the last decade has been focused on expanding Charter School choice and using teacher evaluations based on student growth to improve achievement. Research has not shown that these reform initiatives have improved student performance consistently or systematically.
What has shown an improvement in student achievement consistently and systematically is a partnership of shared leadership between administration and the teacher’s union. This partnership can foster a “positive climate…, which leads to innovation and an infrastructure for problem solving” (Rubinstein & McCarthy, 3).
Furthermore, it is clear in the research that socio-economics is an important factor in predicting student achievement.
According to Rubinstein’s research, strong partnerships between management and the union leads to higher achievement even in schools where socio-economics has a significant negative influence. As the quality of the partnership improves, so does student achievement.
Formal and informal communication between building union representatives and principals on a daily and weekly basis, as well as teacher communication at the building level centered on student performance, curriculum, sharing & learning about instructional practices, and teacher mentoring create the collaborative culture needed for positive gains in student performance.
Source:
Saul A. Rubinstein & John E. McCarthy (2014), Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships: How Working Together Improves Student Achievement. In Great Lakes TURN Labor-Management Collaboration Conference booklet (May 5-6, 2016).
* Download the 2016-17 2nd RIEA Newsletter
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Why Are You a Teacher?
Ask any teacher why they are a teacher and you will quickly understand that teaching is far more than a career. It is a Passion. We all know that teaching is a calling. It is rewarding, purpose filled, and we know that we are deeply invested in preparing the next generation of youth for a meaningful life as productive citizens.
We also know that teaching has many challenges. Curriculum development, classroom management, community engagement, standardized testing, new district initiatives, government mandates, and education reform are all demands we have experienced.
Fulfilling our passion will take a united front. The RIEA’s purpose is to give voice to highly trained teachers by ensuring professional fairness, quality teaching, and equity for our students.
I look forward to this year, working together, and encouraging each other in our passion to teach.
Andrew Hains – RIEA President
*Download the 2016-17 1st Quarter RIEA Newsletter
The RIEA 