The heroism of everyday teachers

Teachers - those who work with students every day, who develop relationships, who care deeply for their students - take the long view. The long view is not necessarily dramatic or adrenaline-filled or prone to immediate results.

But it is effective.

Atul Gawande in The New Yorker discusses the power of incremental medical care and the tendency in society to avoid addressing problems:

until they are well upon us and unavoidable, and we don’t trust solutions that promise benefits only down the road.

Teachers are the masters of incremental care. Teachers recognize that students did not fall into their situations overnight and that students will not be rescued from low performance or low achievement overnight. It is through constant care and support, establishing a positive relationship, finding ways to connect and encourage that change will come.

Teachers recognize that it takes time to make a difference.

Paul Tough, in his book Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why, identifies the crucial impact this long view makes. Tough states:

When kids feel a sense of belonging at school, when they receive the right kind of messages from an adult who believes they can succeed and who is attending to them with some degree of compassion and respect, they are then more likely to show up to class, to persevere longer at difficult tasks, and to deal more resiliently with the countless small-scale setbacks and frustrations that make up the typical student's school day.

The long view. Building relationships, paying attention to each child, finding ways to connect. It is not dramatic, it is not the overnight transformation; but it is effective.

I understand the need for schools to demonstrate that they are making an impact. I understand the need for schools to improve a student's life. I understand that we need to hold schools accountable for making progress.

But it is through building relationships with students that teachers know and understand how to make an impact. Assuming that change will come quickly misses the point of teaching. Teaching is a series of incremental acts that work together to have a tremendously powerful influence.