I don't often see a criticism of the teaching profession on Joanne's blog; what I do see are wholesale criticisms of teachers. When teachers react--whether defensively or not--they are either slammed as worthless or are assured that the commenter "didn't mean you, for I'm sure you're a wonderful teacher." Such "praise" is faint indeed, and is essentially worthless. It also says something very nasty about the critic. I very rarely see constructive criticism of the teaching profession--or education in general--that doesn't include a denunciation of teachers, teachers' unions, and public education. If the critics of public education want teachers on board, it might help if they packaged their criticisms in a way that didn't immediately alienate teachers. Move on? That's fine, but only if the critics learn how to criticize constructively.

Criticizing the teaching profession or even 'some teachers' doesn't mean that all teachers are being criticized. I have teachers that were so inspiring (and demanding) that, 10 years (and a PhD)later, I have bought books so that I can do additional reading in the subjects that they taught. I have also had teachers give me low grades for using words that were 'too big'(such as the word 'utilized') and have avoided entire fields of study because of bad teachers at the lower levels in those fields. Teachers have incredible power to open or close doors to new fields, and teachers who do their job badly can have an impact that is larger than those who do excellent jobs. Those teachers who do their jobs badly SHOULD be criticized. That is not the same as criticizing all teachers. Teachers who do their jobs well in the face of frustrating students, administration, and parents should be celebrated. Unfortunately, after a few bad experiences (and most students have several these days) it becomes too easy to criticize the entire school, school system, and teaching profession for the faults of a few. I know that without the support of my family I would have given up in frustration long before finishing school.

"If the critics of public education want teachers on board, it might help if they packaged their criticisms in a way that didn't immediately alienate teachers."

"on board"? For what? As you can see be looking at the contents of this site, the criticisms are are not minor - they are fundamental. I think the teachers at our public school are wonderful and work very hard, but I disagree very strongly with their fundamental approach to teaching: child-centered, full inclusion, heterogeneous, spiraling, fuzzy expectations, lack of emphasis on fundamental knowledge and skills. It took me a while to figure this out. The teachers know about this fundamental difference in philosophy, but they are not up-front and honest about it. Our school still uses MathLand more than 2 years after even the publisher has dumped it. So, what kind of criticism can I give that would get teachers "on-board"? Especially when the superintendent tells me that I can be on the Citizen's Curriculum Committee that's going to be restarted and then the committee is never started and the schools decides to stay with MathLand and extend CMP back to 5th grade. They pretend to want parent input, but certain topics are "off-the-table". What is my solution? Put my child in a private school and advocate for vouchers.

...a denunciation of teachers, teachers' unions, and public education.

Teachers' unions deserve nothing but denunciation.

Roy, I deny what you say. Since you've given no reasons for your statement, you've expressed baseless opinion, and nothing more than my denial of the worth of your opinion is necessary to refute it completely. Come back with reasons for your statement or be quiet.

That's all well and good, since I was merely stating an opinion that is contrary to your implicit opinion (that there's something wrong with denouncing teacher unions). If denial of worth is all it takes to refute an opinion, then I beat you to it. As for being quiet, I will not.

And as for offering reasons for my statement, I think well enough of you to assume you could find them on your own. They are abundant.

Teachers should, in general, not be denounced. But until I see a single well-intentioned teacher union, I will not qualify my opinion of them.

I guess I should chime in here, since I was the author of the quoted comment from Joanne's site. First of all, if you will go over to the linked thread and read my whole comment, you will see (as is indicated in the quote) that one of the things I was trying to get some of the other commenters to do is separate the wheat from the chaff. I agree with Michael that it does no good to go around slamming teachers as a group. However, that isn't the same thing as criticizing the profession. Consider the example of law: while there are many fine lawyers around, I think a lot of people would agree that the profession of law in the USA right now is in sorry shape. If a lawyer takes that as criticism of them individually, I can't help that and it isn't going to stop me from saying what I think needs to be said.

The same goes for organizations and institutions. I'm not going to refrain from criticizing a union just because some of its members might get offended. I have a relative who is a member of the NEA, and she is fully aware of my opinion of that body. But again, you have to draw some distinctions; I don't criticize teachers' unions as a group because I have a fairly high opinion of at least one other one, that being the American Federation of Teachers. If teachers desire to be unionized, I'd like to see more of them affiliate themseslves with the AFT or similar, rather than just accepting the NEA as the natural state of affairs.

Finally, teachers have to recognize that in many respects, the education establishment is doing them no good, and that here they have much in common with the critics. For example, I have been a harsh critic of the state of discipline in most public schools -- and I totally support the teachers on this one. The problem here isn't the teachers; it's the administration that refuses to stand behind them or grant them the authority and responsibility they need to keep the classroom under control. This is one area where teachers and parents should be working towards a common goal. (Sadly, it's also one area where, by and large, it's the parents who are falling down on the job. Not all of them, but it doesn't take many bad ones to create a big problem.)

So if I slag on the NEA or on school districts for something that I think they are doing badly, and a teacher wants to take it personally, I can't help that. However, I don't think it does any good either. You can argue with my point, and that's reasonable as long as the argument is rational. You can talk about what needs to be changed, and that's reasonable too. What is not reasonable is to cover one's ears and deny that any problem exists, because that's... well... being in denial.