taylorabowling.files.wordpress.com€¦  · Web viewHave you ever thought to yourself, “What do teachers do all summer long?” As a college freshman, having only graduating high

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Taylor Bowling

Instructor Sara Alvares

English 101-28

20 October 2014

Demographics and Philosophies of High School Teachers

Did you ever wonder what motivates someone to become a high school teacher? Did you

ever have a teacher that you felt went out of their way to help you even when you probably

didn’t deserve that extra help? Have you ever thought to yourself, “What do teachers do all

summer long?” As a college freshman, having only graduating high school last year I have a

fresh memory of all of my high school teachers. This is a place where you spend four years of

your life, 7 hours a day – more if you are on a sports team or have extra curricular activities. The

adults that you interact in high school with are portrayed in the news, movies and on television as

bad people who are only in teaching because they want a paycheck, however most are caring,

good people.

Growing up I was surrounded by stories of high school. My mother began teaching high

school when I was two years old. During my childhood I always ran around my mother’s school

I constantly had interactions with high school teachers. They always seemed friendly and

supportive. The teachers seemed to rally around one another when someone needed help and

always had a smiling face for this pre-teen with lots of annoying questions for them. They all

seemed very professional when the students came around.

Most people think of teachers as a bunch of old ladies in a classroom. However,

according to the National Center for Education Information in 2011 in their Profiles of Teachers

2011, 69% of public school teachers in the United States all under the age of 50. In 2005 that

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number changed to only 58%, showing that over the last decade younger people are moving into

the field of education. Nationally in 2011 females made up 84% of the public school teaching

population while 84% where also white. During my four years in high school I had 7 teachers per

year and only four of them over the age of 50. I figured that the best way to get information on

how others view high school teachers would best be achieved through revisiting my old high

school. I walked around the long hallways of Eastern High School in Middletown Kentucky

saying hello to old teacher and stopped a younger looking male that was sitting in the cafeteria

with the football team. Bryce Williams, my first informant and a current student at my high

school has all seven of his teachers under the age of 50. He says, “Four of my teachers are

females and three are males”. I found out that Bryce is a 15-year-old freshman at Eastern and a

member of the football team with shaggy blond hair and fairly tall for being so young, he also

deals with his mother teaching at Eastern High School. While my experience said that 39% (11

of 28) of my teachers were male that would not have the same numbers as the overall

demographic in the country for high school teachers. According to the Eastern High School

website, 52 teachers are male while 56 are female, very low compared to the national average for

female teachers. In the social studies department, only 2 of the 18 teachers are female.

Therefore the community of Eastern High School teachers differs greatly from the national

average listed by the National Center for Education Information. While it claims that 84% of

teachers are white, at Eastern that number lays at 76%. The trend that teachers are becoming

younger will definitely benefit high school students who relate to the younger generation much

more than those people whose more the age of their grandparents.

Many people often joke about what high school teachers do with all of their free time.

My second informant, Kevin Brown used to be one of those people. I went to talk to Kevin in his

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office, which is held in the back part of the gym, unfortunately the student athletes that search for

his assistance with injuries caused us to make many pauses in our interview. Kevin stated that he

used to believe, “teachers have the easiest job, they only work 7 hours a day and get two weeks

off at Christmas, a week off for spring break and all summer off.” (Personal communication,

October 22, 2014). However, five years ago, Kevin became the athletic trainer for Eastern High

School. Kevin, a large white male in his early 40s,when I saw Kevin I took note that his bald

head had sunglass tanlines from being outside helping student athletes during practices and

games. Mr.Brown has an office inside the school where he can see almost everything that

happens inside the school. He openly admitted to thinking that teachers got overpaid for the time

that they spend in the classroom. He said his belief had always seemed like, “they leave school

at 2:30pm and have the rest of the night and their weekends off.” After working in a school as a

member of the athletic department Kevin saw what teachers really do in their so-called free time.

He now says that the teachers who are also coaches often do not get home until well after 9:00

during their seasons. He has watched student athletes tutored by their teachers who just happen

to coach them. “It’s amazing that these teachers have so much patience regarding classroom

issues even when they may not be that athletes teacher in the classroom,” states Brown.

(Personal communication October 22, 2014). It seems obvious to him that these teachers work

well beyond their allotted time to ensure the success of their students. Teachers in Kentucky

have to complete 24 professional development hours outside of their workday and many teachers

complete this training during their summer vacation. These teachers met with each other to

improve content, instruction and classroom management skills with one another.

The care for their students and extra effort to go out of their way to help those struggling

stood out to one of my informants as well as me. When Bryce Williams broke his foot during

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football season and he could not go to school for several days and after he got back he told me

how he had to walked around the building on crutches. His teachers would allow him to leave

class early so that he would get to his next class and not get a tardy. He also stated, “one of my

teachers would come to school early to help me with my computer work so that I didn’t get too

far behind.” (personal communication, October 22, 2014). He continued by saying that the

teacher didn’t have to give him any extra help but did that because she cared. I have watched my

mother go to students homes to help them with their work, give them money for gas and even

help them with college applications all on her own time. She spends hours at night planning

lessons and grading papers. During college application time, she writes somewhere around 40

recommendation letters each year – all done on her own time after school or on the weekends.

Bryce said that one of the teachers at his school even meet with him after school to help him start

an agenda and begin to get organized. “It is kind of crazy how nice they actually are when you

ask for help,” said Williams in his interview.

So what makes someone go into teaching as his or her career? According to the

University of North Carolina’s Department of Education, the top reasons for becoming a teacher

are: the joy of making a difference, variety, job security, you get to laugh every day, you have a

high level of autonomy, you get to spend more time with your family and have more vacation.

My third informant is my mother, Laura Bowling, a high school social studies teacher. This

interview was much different that the others because it was so relaxed with everything we talked

about. I went home for a night and over dinner sitting at our table in the dinning room I gave her

the interview. I asked her what gave her the idea to become a high school social studies teacher.

Her answer seemed very interesting. She said “When I was in college I had a history teacher

who made me enjoy history after hating it in high school.” This history teacher made her want to

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become just like her and make it fun and interesting. She wanted to make a difference in people’s

lives. She also stated that being a teacher helps when you have children, “because you get

holidays and summer break off.” The preparation/education that goes into teaching varies from

state to state. Ms. Bowling has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and History. She

then went back to get her Masters of Arts in Teaching, which gave her the teaching certification

she needed in order to become a teacher. She went on to get her Ed.S in Administration

“although that is only necessary if you would like to become and administrator” said Ms.

Bowling. She stated that all of her colleagues have a Bachelor’s Degree, and they must start their

Master’s work within 5 years of getting hired in the state of Kentucky and achieve it within 10

years of getting hired. She just started her 18th year of teaching and has won the WHAS-11/LGE

Excel Award for Teaching.

When asked what she does all day, my third informant Ms. Bowling stated, “when I

arrive at school around 6:30a.m., I will make any copies or complete other plans for the day, then

I teach two classes of AP Government and one class of AP United States History, then I have

cafeteria duty for all three lunches.”(personal communication, October 19, 2014). She also must

attend PLC meetings with the other US History teachers to plan their common core content

timelines and work together on common assessments. Ms. Bowling has bus duty after school

and also coaches the volleyball team. Most teachers have duties other than just teaching or are at

the least seen at sporting events, concerts, etc. “The students love seeing us outside the

classroom,” says Bowling who went on to say that the relationship between her and her students

has mutual respect and that attending their extra-curricular events helps that relationship.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the following are duties performed by most high

school teachers:

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DutiesHigh school teachers typically do the following:

• Plan lessons in the subjects they teach, such as biology or history• Assess students to evaluate their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses• Teach students as an entire class or in small groups• Grade students’ assignments to monitor progress• Communicate with parents about students’ progress• Work with individual students to challenge them, to improve their abilities, and to

work on their weaknesses• Prepare students for standardized tests required by the state• Develop and enforce classroom rules• Supervise students outside of the classroom—for example, at lunchtime or during

detention

Being a high school teacher is not just about going to class to just get a pay check to

anyone. To the parents of the hundreds of students each teacher has, they are a way that helps

their student grow as an individual and learn everything they will need to know in order to

succeed in life. To the student, a teacher has the ability to mentor them and allows the student to

feel apart of the classroom and grow up into an adult. To the teachers, choosing this career

allowed them to help the young, new generations and allow them to get the proper education to

keep this country an amazing place.

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(image 1 Eastern High School newly remodeled in 2014)

(Image 2 WLKY Excel award given to teacher Laura Bowling)

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Work Cited

Brown, Kevin. Personal Interview. 22 Oct 2014.

Bowling, Laura. Personal Interview. 19 Oct 2014.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, “What High School Teachers

Do.” Web. 8 Jan 2014.

Feistritzer, C. Emily. “Profile of Teacher in The U.S.2011.” National Center for

Education Information. 29 July 2011.

Image 1: Bowling, Taylor. Eastern High School. 22 Oct 2014. JPEG FILE.

Image 2: Bowling, Laura. Excel Award. 18 April 2012.

UNC. “Why Consider Becoming a Teacher?” UNC Baccalaureate Education in Science

& Teaching. Web. 2008.

Williams, Bryce. Personal Interview. 22 Octx 2014.

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Interview with Bryce Williams 1) Do you feel like the teachers at your school are really there to help you?

Yes, I really feel like they always do what they can to make sure we get our work done. They are always there to help you if you need it and if you’re absent the help get your work done. They teach us new things and help us get ready for tests. They also give us notes to study.”

2) Can you give me examples of how a teacher helped you outside of the classroom?“They always have study hall for the student athletes like me and they also have helped me get organized outside of school. For example at the beginning of this year I broke my ankle and the teachers would let me leave early so I wasn’t late to my next class. One of my teachers would come to school early to help me with my computer work so that I didn’t get too far behind.”

3) What is your favorite learning method?“I like to work in groups so you can get an idea of what to work on, I also like videos because they give you an idea on what the teacher is talking about. I like when the teacher is patient and when they let us use our notes.”

4) What kind of people are your teacher for example, white, black, male, female..etc?“Four of my teachers are females and three are males. They are all under the age of 50 years old and they are American so its very easy to understand.”

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Interview with Kevin Brown1) Before working with teachers at Eastern High school what did you think every day?

“I thought they never really had to do much because they leave school at 2:30pm and have the rest of the night and their weekends off. I always believed the says, ‘those who cant do, teach’ which now I realize is not accurate at all.”

2) What have you noticed about teachers outside of the classroom?“I haven’t had to many experiences with the teachers that do not participate in any athletic event because when I am at Eastern I am always working with the athletes either in the gym or on a field and in doing so I have however met some amazing men and women who put their time and effort into the students they interact with. They do not only want their students to excel in school but also in the real world.”

3) Does anything surprise you about what you have noticed with the teachers at the high school you work with?“It’s amazing that these teachers have so much patience regarding classroom issues even when they may not be that athletes teacher in the classroom, every day I am reintroduced to how fantastic each individual teacher is. However of course there are those few teachers that fit the stereotype of just being unhappy all the time, but there are not many of those around in comparison to the amazing people in the program.”

4) Why did you choose to work with the Eastern athletic program?“I chose to work with this particular high school at first because I live very close to the high school but now that I have became apart of this community I would not change it for really anything else. It has almost became like a second family.”

5) What is your favorite team to work with?I really should not chose a favorite team because all are very good and fun to work with at different times but I must say that the team I enjoy working with every year has to be the volleyball team, and I am not just saying that because you were a member of the team.”

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Interview with Laura Bowling

1) What gave you the idea to become a high school social studies teacher?-“When I was in college I had a history teacher who made me enjoy history after hating it in high school which made me want to be the type of teacher that she was” also because the schedule works very nicely when you have children because you get holidays and summer of’

2) What do you do on a regular basis?- “my day consists of getting to school early to prepare for the day, teach my classes, I have cafeteria duty all three lunches every day, and its actually not so bad. Every other week I have a PLC meeting once a day with other history teachers for common planning thing. Since I teach government I have to go to theirs. Then I have bus duty every day as well. Also every other Tuesday we have a faculty ”

3) What courses within the social studies department have you taught?-“AP Government and Politics, AP US history, honors US history, honors world history, Humanities, and Psychology. I like AP GOPO the most because it affects everyone’s life on a daily basis.”

4) What kind of education do you have to have to go into that field?-“I have a bachelors degree in Political science and history, I have a masters of arts in teaching, with an emphasis on secondary social studies, and then I have a Ed.S in administration.”

5) What do you wear on a daily basis?-“My high school has a professional dress code, which means business causal. No jeans or t-shirts, and the male teachers have to wear shirts and ties because the principal feels like the students will respect us more.”

6) What is your predominate gender in your area of study?-“Out of 18 social studies teacher in my building there are only 2 females, and they are all mainly a member of the democratic party. Teachers in general tend to be female however with social studies it happens to be mainly men”

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