Some thoughts on the twilight of my career ...

I am a MASSIVE rugby fan and have professed, more specifically, to be a New Zealand All Blacks fan. Dragging my sorry 56 year old butt out of bed at 3:50 am to be able to see my beloved ABs get their collective hind-ends handed to them by England is not a stellar memory. Having said that, listening and reading about what was said by the ABs following that loss, the word bandied around repeatedly was "PERSPECTIVE". Being able to make the decision to retire has been uplifting because it gives me perspective.

Life in education has changed quite a bit in the 30 years that I have been involved, partly due to my own evolution as a man+husband+father+educator, but also partly to the metamorphosis that society has undergone over those same 30 years. I vividly recall certain personalities early in my career that were quick to opine about "their kids" and I can still hear my thoughts back then, "If I get that crusty, I'll know to leave before it affects me." Sadly, I didn't know to leave and I've caught myself joining in on the water-cooler conversations, sharing my own consternated confusion about how things have changed. I think that if I honest with myself, I am not as bad as I make myself out to be but I am left to ponder what has produced this perceived decline.

WARNING: If you're reading this and you're still in the throws of exuberance about your classes, your kids and your career, you should just stop reading right now.

One of the biggest pet peeves I have about SOME of my kids these days is that too many are unwilling to do some work! I am teaching HPE and Photography this semester but regardless of the course, there are assignments and projects that are opportunities to do some learning that carry definitive limits to the amount of time I feel it should take to complete. I have confessed to my classes that I'm a little "old School" and am not willing to allow late submissions to slide by without some consequence. I feel strongly that not paying attention to dead lines is doing the students a disservice that could have grave consequences should they move on the post-secondary or land a lucrative position, so I carefully explain how my system works ... almost everyday! Despite those daily reminders, regular conferences, offers of opening the classroom at lunch and even the occasional call/note home, I have 1/3 of my classes that have multiple overdue assignments. It's their attitude towards it that causes me to itch all over ... "Meh, maybe later" ... WHAT? You can't be bothered? Seriously? Begin with the eye rolling, the head shaking, and the look of incredulous disbelief. I have my final set of mid-term report cards to complete over the next little bit and I venture a guess that there will be some disappointed families when they see the grade and read the comment ... IF they read the comment. I would LOVE to be blunt and say what I'm thinking but that really doesn't serve anyone well so I'll sharpen my vocabulary and say it nicely. I'll still say what they family needs to hear but it will be wrapped up nicely in "edu-lingo".

 Another pet peeve is the sense of entitlement that a SIGNIFICANT chunk of students bring with them to school each day. Whether it's disregard for the learning of their class mates, their desire to call the shots on what they will and won't do, to use their devices whenever the muse moves them, or cuss like a group of drunken sailors, there's a number in each of my classes and they're driving me up the wall! TBH, I'm not sure at all why some of these kids come to school ... they're really and truly not interested in learning or anything else educational and, IMHO, they are wrecking it for so many of their peers. Don't get me wrong, there are still more "good" ones than "bad", but the percentages are changing. When I started in the high school panel, I would estimate that the high achievers were the top 10% and their counterparts at the other end an equal 10%. Just below the go-getting top 10%, there was a large 30% or so that were interested in doing well but consistency was not a strong point. Below that were another 30% that always seemed to perform well enough to achieve their credits ... most of the time. That leaves the final 20% that often professed to have too many things to do to consistently achieve, but by keeping in touch with some, many learned enough to go on to become successful despite all of that. I would have to say that the percentages have morphed significantly and, IMHO, not for the better. I see that there remains a 10% at the top that will achieve greatness despite of the system but the bottom 10% has increase to 30% and their pretty vocal about how crappy their teachers are, how they're treated unfairly because that they can't do what they want all the time, and they'll be fine as long as the government keeps paying them ... apparently they didn't pay close enough attention during civics to realize that the government is all the rest of us. Below the top 10%, that 30% of sort-of achievers has shrunk to 10-20% but they're upset that their teachers are always dealing with the issues of the bottom 30% and they aren't getting a fair shake. That leaves a really large chunk of 40% that could go either way, and from my perspective, are being influenced by that lot at the bottom. All of this results in what education has dubbed "Compassion Fatigue" ... that overwhelming feeling of caring about a group that could give a rat's bum whether of not you care. I will tell you that it's exhausting at times and I've had days where I simply choose to shrug and carry on.

SIDE NOTE: Maslow's hierarchy, that wonder-nut of Teacher's College wisdom, clearly outlines that students cannot achieve learning if their basic needs are not met. That bottom 30% come to school altered, sleep-deprived, pissed at parents, pissed at the world, and full of opposition so it makes perfect sense that learning is not on their To Do List. Look, I'm not pointing fingers at parents and asking them to "pull up the collective socks" but, let's call a spade a spade and agree that parenting these days is WAY harder than it was 30 years ago ... for a TON of valid reasons. It's not that they are incompetent, but rather, waaaaaay toooo busy to take a stand on the things that really, really matter.

On an alternate front, some readers are a part of my social media family and are aware that I chose to step away from coaching after what I estimate was 30 years of 3 seasons a year. Teaching in the absence of coaching has prompted some interesting conversations with colleagues as they scarf down some lunch before heading out the door to "face the hoard". The number one issue bantered about is a perceived lowering of commitment and investment by the student-athletes that is causing even the die-hards to question WHY. One particular conversation rattled around in my skull for a couple of days until it finally dawned on me why I had chosen to "retire" from high school coaching ... I had experienced that very issue for the past 2 years! I now see that I was way more committed emotionally + psychologically than a chunk of my teams which manifested in sporadic attendance at practice resulting in lowered development/enhancement of core skills and less success on the court/pitch. When the scales tipped toward a balance of players committed and invested, the success followed without exception, like North's first appearance at OFSAA Rugby in a very long time that culminated in a consolation championship.

The last, and potentially most explosive, change is societal. We're so fixated in preserving young people's self-esteem and self-image that we robbed a couple of generations of learning resilience, perseverance, and integrity. When the "everyone gets a trophy" movement started, we had scores of athletes who were pretty insulted that they had to accept something for failing because they had already begun their journey down the road to self-acceptance. Now we have a much large majority who are happy to "wear the jersey" rather than the fearful task of committing fully and failing to measure up. They have never spoken the words but I see them LOUDLY through their actions that they feel it's safer to not commit 100% so there's an excuse if they fail. Besides, a small but significant portion truly believe they are doing their coach a favour by showing up ... ask them ... They'll admit it. Honest!

I will be quite interested to see what transpires over the next few months regarding the results of the Rugby World Cup ... The All Blacks were not up to the questions England asked of them and, after the sting of defeat subsided, they collectively conceded full credit to England for besting them when the ABs gave their best. What a lesson to be learned! If enough young rugby players (and not just NZ youth) looked up from their phones long enough to watch, perhaps the trend toward resilience will have the seed planted? Who knows? To paraphrase Steve Hansen's words (head coach of the ABs), "Sport is never fair and sometimes you lose. All you can do is dust yourself off and try again." Will the youth of today be capable of this? 

Having said all of this, there are still some really awesome kids in high school these days and it is those faithful few that keep our teaching batteries charged up. Just the other day, I had two youngsters sincerely thank me for the discussions we had in health class surrounding drug abuse because they, "... learned so much about stuff we didn't realize." That funny looking facial expression you see is a big, proud smile for a job well done. Right hand over the left shoulder and pat twice.