Are we edubloggers too harsh on our kids’ teachers?

Will Richardson and Alec Couros are frustrated with their kids’ teachers. Lee Kolbert pushed back. Gary Stager chimed in too as did many others in the various comment areas.

I greatly empathize with Will’s and Alec’s concerns. After all I see what Kathy Cassidy does with her 6–year-olds and I want that experience for my 6–year-old. I see the work that Brian Crosby does with his 5th-graders and I want that experience for my 5th-grader. I see the cool stuff that Dan Meyer and Jason Dyer are doing in their math classes and I want that experience for my kids. I’d rather my children have a Conspiracy Code-like Social Studies experience than a Thutmose III multiple-choice worksheet Social Studies experience. And so on…

Many of us edubloggers read watch and/or listen to cutting-edge educational practice EVERY SINGLE DAY. We see and interact with teachers who live in the nose-bleeding margin of the stratosphere when it comes to technology integration and instruction for higher-order thinking. We know of administrators who are trying hard to create whole new paradigms of schooling. Over time we begin to normalize these actions and internalize them as ‘best’ or ‘desired’ practice.

Given that there is an innovation adoption curveis it fair to expect our local educators to measure up? Can they ever do so? Are we edubloggers (myself included) too harsh on our kids’ teachers?