"It Is Killing The Profession": Teachers Are Sharing Their "Unpopular" Teaching Opinions That They Wouldn't Dare Utter In A Staff Meeting
We've probably all heard from a teacher or two (or hundreds) about the challenges of teaching in 2024. It's no surprise, then, that they have a whole lot of opinions about their profession and the things they'd change if they could. Recently, redditor u/PracticalCows asked the r/Teachers community to share their "unpopular" teaching opinion. Here are the things they wholeheartedly believe but would never say in a staff meeting.
1."'Differentiated instruction' doesn't work if kids can't read or write."
"It gets worse as you teach middle school and especially high school. Algebra 2 teachers, for example, are expected to differentiate instruction for students who have never learned to count past 20, have no idea what negative numbers are, and can't add single-digit numbers without a calculator.
The above example is about 25% of our students at my school. And yet, all through elementary and middle school, they were passed onto the next level."
2."Not all spaces are for all students. A child whose behaviors are so horrible that they cause disruptions and destruction needs to be removed and sent to a special school equipped with the ability to help them. By saying that 'their education matters, too,' we are not solving the problem of their behaviors and taking away from others' education. Yes, their education matters, but they are not being helped, and we are doing them all a disservice by pretending that this is inclusion and helping them when it's not."
3."Let the kids fail. Failure IS an option."
"If kids pass with inadequate skillsets, not only will they be unprepared for the real world, but they'll think they are prepared, leading to a bit of a crisis when they realize they have needed to do 'more' for years now."
4."Admin largely fails in behavior management because, for some, no management is possible. Expulsion often comes far too late, if at all, and it is killing the profession by degrees."
5."Teachers should not have to do ANY additional work to notify parents of grades or attendance. The parent created the kid. The responsibility is on them."
"The parents literally have access to their kids' grades AT ALL TIMES. Why is it my responsibility to call the parents if their knucklehead kid has a D or an F? It is the definition of passing the buck onto the teacher who is already overwhelmed."
6."We aren't heroes. Just do your job and go home to your family. This is a job."
"Furthermore, quit saying, 'We do it for the kids!' I don't; I do it for the paycheck. If we keep broadcasting that 'we do it for the kids,' they'll never pay us more."
7."I say it every time this question is asked: Some kids need to be left behind. We cannot cater to every single child in a classroom and expect everyone to be successful."
8."When kids are wreaking havoc daily, parents should have to come to get them. Every time."
"A friend says all the time that unless it's a problem for the parent, nothing changes."
9."The ratio of teacher to student should be limited to 1:12 in primary school, 1:15 in middle school, and 1:20 in high school."
"That ratio would be everything. Do you want to retain teachers and get more teachers? Give us a realistic amount of work and students. Why is it that parents expect daycare to be a 7:1 ratio but expect a 30:1 ratio in the classroom to be effective? I am one. Fucking. Person."
10."Any standardized tests that go toward my evaluation should be weighted for how many days the student was physically in my class at the very least. Better yet, stop standardized testing's effect on my evaluation altogether."
11."No amount of work in your classroom can overcome what is done at home. Kids with good parents will be fine; kids with bad parents will struggle."
12."Tracking was good for all students, and we need to go back to it!"
"I totally agree! Tracking saved my reading abilities. In 2011, my teachers placed me in a remedial language arts class in my eighth-grade year. I was one of the higher students in the class because the teacher taught the material at a pace I could follow. By ninth grade, I was able to go back to the regular track. I even made it to AP language arts in 11th and 12th grade. Now, I teach language arts."
13."Adjusting your teaching to accommodate all learners only means you teach to the middle. High-potential learners are rarely challenged and typically just coast along without realizing their full potential, while struggling students rarely get the support they need."
"It also reinforces bad habits in the higher potential students as they believe they can just coast through everything with minimal effort. I've seen so many straight-A students end up C students (or worse) once they set foot on a college campus."
14."There should be no 'on-site suspension.' Suspension should inconvenience the parent so they are forced to do their job and raise their kid."
15."The kids don't have to have rapport with me in order to be expected to respect me."
"We had a professional development day where they said we should friend our students on social media and text them. High schoolers. Like what?! When I said I keep my personal life extremely separate from my work, they asked how I expected to build relationships with that mindset. I don't even add my coworkers on social media."
16."We should be significantly harder on behavior and participation. If you give your boss attitude or refuse to do your work, you just get fired. We used to be able to enforce this stuff at school, but now everyone gets a pep talk and a Jolly Rancher. I don't know about you, but I have never had a job where I was given a pep talk and a Jolly Rancher after I fucked up."
17."Chromebooks have no place in early childhood classrooms. My kindergarteners get plenty of screen time at home. I'm a perfectly competent teacher who can teach kids just as well (or better) as an online program through hands-on, multisensory activities. We can't complain about what screen time does to our kids' behavior and attention span, but then require that my kindergarteners use Chromebooks multiple times per day."
If you're a teacher, tell us about your "unpopular" teaching opinion in the comments. You can also fill out this form if you prefer to remain anonymous.
Note: Some responses may have been edited for length and/or clarity.
