The Teacher Shortage Crisis
Even before the pandemic lock-downs, American teachers from sea to shining sea reported a critical shortage of teachers within their ranks, and have watched in horror at the crippling levels of greed, arrogance, apathy, and ignorance at every level of K-12 educational governance.While embattled teachers have continued to try in vain to draw attention to the issues, our leaders have failed to acknowledge the problems at all. But since covid, the nation’s teachers have borne witness to a break neck hastening pace of this downward spiral–and a total avoidance of a conversation from our leaders.
This a-political podcast, created and produced exclusively by teachers, gets into the nitty gritty details of why teachers are leaving the profession in droves, and uncovers huge contributing structural problems baked into the teaching profession which are not discussed or understood even within the K-12 educational world, which also explain why so much of what is done in K-12 is ineffective. These desperate, passionate, highly qualified teachers use this podcast series to insert teachers forcefully into the national conversation about the critical issues plaguing K-12 education, because no one else was letting them in–a fact which belies a central thesis about the roots of the problems discussed throughout the episodes. Listeners will be gripped by the reality that without substantial reforms which empower teachers to lead the work, the inevitable result is a collapse of our very ability to effectively self-govern–a process which they argue is already well underway.
Listen as they describe the problems in teacher pay, teacher preparation requirements, special education, climate and culture, reading instruction, the false promise of existing DEI based frameworks in K-12, and the problems inherent in outsourced canned curriculums. Become a part of the solution as they outline a framework to authentically fix these problems, which require all hands on deck from both inside and outside of K-12 education.
The Teacher Shortage Crisis
8. Stuffing the Mess Into a Can: Outsourcing Teacher Expertise to Canned Curriculum
In this episode of the Teacher Shortage Crisis Podcast host, Trina English, discusses how canned curriculum (lesson plans, workbooks, assessments created by curriculum companies) contributes to the teacher shortage crisis. Trina explains the nature of canned curriculum and its limitations, stressing how it suppresses teacher autonomy and creativity, leading to teacher burnout. She provides personal anecdotes and outlines the systemic issues with decision-making in education that exclude teacher input. She also previews upcoming episodes which include interviews with teachers impacted by canned curriculum and a candid discussion with co-hosts Amanda Werner and Jessica Martin.
00:00 Introduction to the Teacher Shortage Crisis
00:23 The Power of Big Textbook Companies
01:19 What is Canned Curriculum?
02:09 The Impact of Canned Curriculum on Teachers
03:43 Challenges with Implementing Canned Curriculum
07:57 The Role of Data and Decision Making
17:40 Personal Experiences with Canned Curriculum
29:38 Broader Implications and Future Episodes
34:19 Conclusion and Call to Action
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