Comments on: Stat O’ the Day: Teachers Scared to Teach

By: Brian Malina

Brian Malina — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:32:23 +0000

This is a fascinating discussion. As a non-educator and a parent, this conversation provides great insight into the questions teachers are faced with when deciding what topics to tackle in the classroom.
For those who are covering Internet Safety, I wanted to pass along a link that I think would be helpful.

http://www.thinkfinity.org/about/feature_list.aspx?feature=safety

The link connects to a free collection of activities, lesson plans and other resources on this exact subject. The resources are created by leaders in the fields of education and Internet safety, such as ReadWriteThink and NetSmartz, a website from The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I work for Verizon and support the Verizon Foundation, which funds Thinkfinity.org

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:29:00 +0000

It is very sad that all parents have to do is click on the help button and a walkthrough pops up. I think that people are just lazy or have the idea that something bad would never actually happen to them. It’s sad to think there are people like that. As far as teachers not showing students’ how to be safe… that is an injustice on the teachers’ part. If a child is abused we have to tell by law, but prevention is the key to stopping abuse.

By: Mike Berner

Mike Berner — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:53:20 +0000

This is an extremely interesting topic. I have often thought about the down fall and benefits of limiting computer use. As a teacher I see the power of technology to allow students to be creative, yet at the same time I see the destructive nature of technology. Students abusing social networking and intellectual copy write.

I recently started a blog (http://generosityeffect.blogspot.com/) in order to get some feedback regarding teaching ethics in school. One of the major arguments that I have received from my coworkers is that cultural shifts and the proliferation of technology have created a “flexible morality” in students. I’m now wondering what they would say to limiting computer use and it’s effects? Rick you have my wheels turning. Pop by my blog and let me know what you think.

By: Internet Safety

Internet Safety — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:46:38 +0000

[...] recently read a post by Will Richardson which referenced the 2008 National Cyber Security Alliance’s Baseline Study on Cyber Security, [...]

By: Tracy Redford

Tracy Redford — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:30:54 +0000

I agree with you Melissa. As teachers we do have a responsibility to teach our students about cyber bulling and cyber ethics/safety. As a parent and teacher I agree with the need to help educate the parents too. From personal experience many of my child’s friend’s parents are unsure on how to keep their child safe.

By: Graysen Walles

Graysen Walles — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:37:10 +0000

This is a difficult issue to confront, as many of these issues take place out of school. I have worked in both high and middle in urban areas. Gang issues, and a variety of threats take place on line at facebook and mostly myspace. We have caught numerous students involved in crazy activity.

It would help to hold sessions to deal with the issue, but parents will need to participate to support the process.

Graysen

By: Joanna Sanders Bobiash

Joanna Sanders Bobiash — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:41:10 +0000

I find this debate very interesting. I think it depends on how you use technology in your classroom. Before you let your students loose to perform a science experiment, you need to make sure they have the “safety talk” first so that no one is injured by the equipment. By teaching them to be responsible “digital citizens” before letting them explore the digital world, they will develop the knowledge necessary to protect their personal information and the ability to use the power of the web responsibly.

By: Ms B

Ms B — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:00:02 +0000

Given that the system in which I work, with hundreds of thousands of kids, bans all users (including teachers) from social networking sites, there’s little room for online demonstration in the classroom.

Verbally, some issues are covered in our Crossroads program for senior students.

At what stage are these matters (which involve out of hours activities/social interaction) the province of, um, parents? Who surely have some responsibility in the matter, for getting informed and providing advice? We only have so many hours in the school day.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:55:26 +0000

I wish that I could say that the statistic suprised me a lot. I think this has to do a lot with the idea that the students are digital natives and we teachers are just learning the language. Of course you want to be comfortable with what you are teaching and unfortunately too many teachers just aren’t there yet. There are SO many tools out there that we could/should be using in the classroom with the students. We have to teach them to be good stewards of this great gift – the ability to have all this information at the click of a button!

By: Damon

Damon — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:59:25 +0000

My experience with many teachers in my building (who are used to a certain amount of autonomy in their room) is that they are incredibly resistant to edicts from on high, regardless of their merits. They’ve seen what they perceive as educational fad after educational fad come and go, and are unwilling to take that leap of faith.

The only real success I’ve ever had was by showing each individual how these tools would help them engage and enthrall kids and teach their lessons.

Bring one or two along slowly. Let them talk to their friends at lunch about what they are doing and the successes they are having. You will find critical mass towards the tipping point.

By: Beth Still

Beth Still — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:45:10 +0000

Maybe if these teachers keep their heads buried in the sand long enough then the problem will go away? Don’t you think? Heck, they have also ignored other changes going on in education, why bother with something so trivial as teaching kids how to be safe online. Since when did it become the responsibility of teachers to actually teach pragmatic information??? Most teachers are too busy with other things like printing off zillions of worksheets anyway!

By: Jared Ward

Jared Ward — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:20:49 +0000

Damon and Will make excellent points. What I get out of them is that we shouldn’t be afraid to teach what we know when we see a need. Also that we should be life-long learners and take a proactive role in our personal education and training.
Personally, I couldn’t agree more. But what of those teachers who don’t see this as a priority in their own training? I started a school blog last school year for our faculty and staff. A handful were excited about it, but few use it. The rest thought I was nuts (though that could be because a technology project like this shouldn’t be led by the ceramics teacher and about 40% of our faculty have yet to set up an account to view the site, some because of lack of skill but most because of lack of experience. I have given handouts, taught professional development classes to teach about blogs, especially our blog, but those aren’t very well attended. With all of the struggles, I know it would be much worse if I didn’t have the administration’s support. The idea is gaining momentum. I think we would have a much easier time if there was broad and public support higher up the administrative chain.
Since most reading this are likely to have more experience than I do what are the magic words that you say to your faculty when trying to sell the idea?

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:11:14 +0000

Teachers are different, and the survey result doesn’t account for that:

- some teachers would feel comfortable teaching the topic, except that they’re concerned that they’ll get misunderstood or punished by principals, parents, etc.
- some teachers don’t feel comfortable because they haven’t been trained on how to teach the topic
- some don’t have resources to teach the topic
- some teachers don’t feel comfortable because they don’t know about the topic
- some teachers don’t want to teach the topic because they are terrified b/c of the aforementioned “predator really means sex predator” situation
- some don’t want to teach the topic because they think technology is silly/irrelevant/a fad
….etc etc etc

No point in arguing about which group is the biggest or most important to address — in the absence of actual data about why teachers are uncomfortable teaching “cybersafety”, all of the groups need solutions equally.

By: Will Richardson

Will Richardson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:15:39 +0000

Sorry if I’m sounding snarky. Catching me in one of my “we need to get past the reasons why not” modes even if that may not be central to your concern, which, by the way, I hear and see and acknowledge is the reality of many, many teachers I talk to. And I know of no other answer other than being able to create a compelling case for those administrators that are too scared to rise to this moment. It sucks, I know. And it’s unfortunate that folks like you who obviously care about the profession are caught in the middle. (I’m one to talk, I know.)

At the end of the day, this is a commentary on teachers AND systems. They can’t be separate, especially when we’re talking about kids and school. It’s all about control, about ceding control in the face of some on the surface risky alternatives to what we currently do. And that control is not abating; as you suggest, if anything, it’s getting retrenched. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to watch in my own kids’ educations.

So, no easy answers, I know, other than to look inward and do what we can as learners first, teachers second, and employees third to make a difference for our kids.

By: boyhowdy

boyhowdy — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:00:02 +0000

I appreciate the response to the peripheral issue of resources, Will, but I’m more interested in your thoughts on my core concern — that teachers like myself feel like they are both being ASKED (by parents and standards) to address ethical issues, and that they WANT to in valid and thoughtful ways that connect to students, yet that they feel THREATENED by administrators who don’t recognize the validity of the discussions, and see those discussions as inherently unprofessional and thus job-threatening. (As in: “stop mentioning MySpace in class, please…” or “no forums; that’s district policy” or “if you keep talking about wikipedia as a potentially positive example of community sharing you’ll be undermining our curriculum; don’t do that anymore.”)

I speak, incidentally, as a teacher who left a job recently in part because the administration called me to the table, made me very uncomfortable, and asked me to stop having and using those spaces, discussions, and teachable moments which students, parents, and standards mandated I use to discuss exactly these issues. I WANT to teach this stuff, and I want to do it well. But I NEED to have a job, and my local schools all now bounce most teachers after two years in order to keep costs down — this economy makes it tough to gain tenure, and I have a family to feed.

Remember, the original questions you asked was about CONFIDENCE. Am I confident about teaching this stuff? No longer, no. I’m terrified about it.

I wish you didn’t see this as a commentary on teachers. I wish, instead, that you saw it as a commentary on how business models of how schools are run, and helped me bemoan the resulting lack of trust in teachers BY administrators, which is undermining all our best efforts to change the way teaching and learning happen.