Teachers, Doctors, and Professionalism

 Photo from Professorbaker's blog

Diane Ravitch shares a fascinating story a reader sent her:

A reader sent in a comment about holding teachers accountable for test scores.

He attended a “question and answer” luncheon hosted by the Lafayette, Louisiana, Chamber of Commerce, where Governor Bobby Jindal was the speaker. Jindal came late, spoke fast, and left without answering any questions. The reader, possibly the only educator in the audience, turned to the CEO of a hospital sitting next to him and asked “if he ever pondered posting his hospital’s mortality rate outside its door.”

The reader was “a little surprised at how firmly his ‘no’ response was—-it was as if I asked him to jump off of a bridge. I was merely trying to make a comparison to cohort grad rates and letter grading systems in our state to the business community.” The reader concluded that “accountability as educators know it will never be applied to any other type of profession much less within the business community despite their unwavering support of accountability for public schools. That CEO’s firm ‘no’ response was all the proof I needed that accountability the way we know it will not make anything better….and the business world knows this.”

Another reader liked that comment and added: “had the CEO offered more than his terse response, I suspect his explanation would include that although doctors play a role in a patient’s health, there are a number of other factors that doctors have no control over–patient’s genetics, prior medical history, willingness to follow the doctor’s prescriptions, environment, how far an illness has progressed before the doctor sees the patient, etc. And, of course, his explanation is perfectly valid. For some reason, though, when teachers make the same point regarding students’ test scores, corporate ed reformers are quick to accuse them of making excuses.“

Now it is true that doctors absolutely HAVE to go to school for a much longer time than teachers do given the amount of life-saving information they must know, sometimes right off the top of their head without being able to look it up.  And let's be honest, as important as the purpose of being a teacher is, the purpose of being an MD is much more important when all things are considered.  I can even see this being a valid justification for doctors making a lot more money than teachers (though, of course, public school teachers are still highly underpaid).

But the overall point Diane and these readers are making are absolutely true.  For whatever faults the teaching profession may have, teachers are still highly trained professionals.  Education, like medicine, is an area that is unconditionally paramount to a healthy, successful society.  Accountability - whether in education, medicine or elsewhere - is certainly important.  But accountability in any profession that serves such an important purpose should not be reduced down to an agenda-driven panacea (i.e. testing), while trying to factor in other such complexities of said profession are considered making excuses.  Accountability, especially when it is for a highly critical profession dealing with significant complexity, should be reflective of that complexity.  Here is what Ken Jones of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has to say about teacher accountability:

We most certainly need teacher accountability. But it should be the kind that builds capacity, not the kind that creates fear. It should look at complexities, not simplicities. Teachers should be accountable for grounding professional practices in the best available research, for maintaining a modern vision of what constitutes important mathematics, for providing students with engaging and relevant lessons and equitable opportunities to learn. This type of accountability must focus on individual responsiveness and interpersonal dynamics within specific contexts. It must be local in implementation and of high resolution in the light it sheds on teachers’ practice and students’ learning.

High-resolution accountability is a far cry from the new trend for high-stakes teacher accountability. It emphasizes information feedback and continuous improvement, not false and degrading “incentive” systems. It takes time, leadership, attention to the many details of practice, and a culture of reflective practice. Let’s face it—there are no shortcuts to improving education

Professor Thomas Baker of the English Department at Colegio Internacional SEK in Santiago, Chile also an a piece of teachers and doctors on his blog that is worth a read.  He sums the issue up this way:

Society is pretty darn lenient with doctors. We don’t hold them accountable for things which they could be reasonably expected to perform a lot better, for society as a whole.

On the other hand, society, in general, gets pretty riled up about teachers. People get angry when they talk about the performance of the teaching profession.

There is even, “strong empirical evidence that suggests teachers are the most important aspect in the educational achievement of students.”

And so, society is very upset with these so-called “Teacher Professionals”.

“Why can’t teachers be more like doctors?”, society asks.

This teacher, myself, asks the reverse question:

“What if doctors were treated like teachers?”