I am a teacher. Although no longer employed as one, my entire mindset is geared toward the profession. Those hiring in higher education have no clue about this sort of thing. Apparently nobody else does either. I’ve worked in business now for over a decade and a half. During that time only one employer has shown any inkling of understanding the importance of clear teaching. Instead, most promote busy people trying to explain things in sound bites that lead to confusion, compounded daily (sometimes hourly). The immense waste of resources this entails is staggering. It is the most inefficient system I can imagine: in the rush to convey sometimes important information, necessary pieces are left scattered on the floor like seeds under a bird feeder in migration season. In our rush to do our jobs, we settle for half-baked rather than paying a baker to make proper bread.
This is a constant frustration for someone who has the soul (and mind) of a teacher. Our society undervalues educators of all stripes. And, yes, many people go into teaching without the requisite gifts or motivation. I’m certain I’m not alone in having had a high school or college course where the teacher was completely disengaged or perhaps in out of their depth. Students shut down, hate school, and then spend their lives making uninformed decisions on everything from politics to profession. Teachers—good teachers—are the future of any nation. I know our young are our future, but if they’re inadequately taught, take a look at the headlines and see what happens. Why is it so difficult to see that if children aren’t taught well, institutions will perpetuate that model until everything is a barely contained pandemonium?
We see this happening in history. A people or culture gets to a point where they just begin to implode. Too many things that just don’t make sense have been built on top of other things that just don’t make sense. The whole thing begins to collapse. I see this happening all the time—the hurried email that simply doesn’t explain anything, sent in haste before moving on to the next sophomoric task just to get the job done. When businesses take a look at budgets and feel a little scared, some of the first positions to go are those of trainers. “People will figure it out,” they seem to say. And we see the results. Evolution has made teachers of some of us. Many of us, of necessity, are doing something else for a living. If only all jobs came with a blackboard.
