A month ago I attended an EmpowerEd teacher’s summit. In one of the seminars that focused on teacher retention, I was honored to become acquainted with a member of AU’s faculty named Prof. Kotsyo, who gave me the opportunity to observe one of his graduate classes on Education Implementation and what that looks like in the real world. I had the opportunity to interact with some of his graduate students (majority of them were education professionals) and participate in the class activity, which included a gallery walk of challenges associated with policy implementation at different levels of the education policy hierarchy: school, state, federal, and district. Across the board some of the challenges that overlapped across the levels of the policy implementation included: change in administration, funding, and teacher’s leaving the profession.
Experiencing education professionals discuss the challenges of implementation of education policy was a very thought provoking experience because it puts the reality of the state of our nation’s education in perspective. From a first hand account, I have seen the effects of teachers leaving the profession and the toll it takes on the educational body of students. It disrupts the crucial bond of trust required for a successful and healthy student-teacher relationship because if the students lack trust in their educator, then their learning suffers. Being a teacher is way more than just a title or a 9 to 5 job, it is a life-altering interaction between the student and the teacher. It was inspiring to be in a room with educators who genuinely believe in the success and the lives of their students. This experience has even pushed me to think that I most likely want to experience being an ESL teacher because it would allow me to bring my interest in building cross-cultural relationships to reality.
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