#memorablemomentsineducation #30:
I seem pretty proud of my profession, right? And I think I should be, but teachers certainly feel the disdain of their community from time to time.
One of those particular times for me, I was driving to pick up my kid from daycare. I’d rolled through a stoplight, turning right, because I was aware the opposite traffic was turning left and no one was coming into my lane. A police officer was sitting at the light across the way, saw me do it, and promptly pulled me over.
When the officer sidled up to my window and asked me if I knew what I had done, I explained rather contritely that, yes, I’d run through that light. He then asked me for my license and registration, and I spent the new few minutes fumbling through my glovebox trying to find my papers. In the meantime, he walked back to his car and ran my license through his computer. While I knew there hadn’t been any tickets in my recent past, I started freaking out a little because I discovered I didn’t have proof of insurance on me.
When the officer returned, he asked me a couple questions, I explained I couldn’t find my insurance, and somehow we started talking about what I did. I explained I taught high school. He asked, “what subject?” “English,” I answered proudly, to which he replied, “Oh, too bad it’s not something useful like math.” Now, at this point I had a couple options—I could ignore his rude, shortsighted comment in hopes he’d let me off with a warning or I could react honestly and risk making matters worse. I didn’t even take the time to consider my response; instead, I said, “Ouch…that’s harsh,” and I meant it. He startled at my answer, probably not realizing he’d insulted me until I made it evident he had. With no apology, he quickly decided to let me off the hook and even more quickly got back into his cruiser.
You know, it’s hard enough to be or to do anything whole-heartedly, but to then open yourself up to that kind of ridicule or misunderstanding is too much. This moment hurt so much because my district was in the midst of exploring different ways to compensate different types of teachers–math and science teachers (i.e. “useful” subjects) should be paid more than those teaching in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. I know people on the “outside” of education believe schools must be like any other business where some employees bring more than others, but we on the inside don’t recognize those differences the same way. Obviously that cop had no connection to his English classwork or his English teachers; maybe he had a math teacher who took care to make the material relevant and important. But each of us could say that about any number of different teacher-types. None of us is more or less “useful” than the other. We’re not interchangeable or extraneous. Our diverse interests, personalities, and paths are how we meet the varying needs of our students. As Will Hunting says, “One, don’t do that.” Don’t dismiss what someone does simply because it’s not what you want to do.