my problem with how internet leftists talk about teachers is that they fall into the same trap that every shitty non-profit work environment does: the work Actually Matters, therefore worker's rights no longer apply.
"the customer is always wrong", but if you're a teacher, you can't have that mentality about your customers (your students and their parents), because that leads to abuse and trauma. which, to be clear, is literally true! teachers are responsible for the harm they cause, regardless of what leads to it!
but when teachers speak up and say that they need better pay, smaller classrooms, and better protections as workers in order to mitigate the burnout and trauma that leads to these problems, snarky internet leftists love to shit on them for asking for real help instead of bootstrapping their way out of mental health struggles caused by shitty, abusive working conditions.
it's okay for a barista to take their stress and frustration out on the next customer- regardless of the harm this causes or how undeserving the recipient of it may be- because they're abused and at the mercy of a system that overworks and underpays them. but if a teacher asks that we grapple with the complexity of:
- real systemic problems that lead to individuals lashing out and causing harm,
- that harm still not being acceptable or allowable on an individual level, and
- those systemic issues still needing to be addressed in order to reduce said harm on a wider scale,
people start acting like every teacher who wants a raise is Count fucking Olaf.
yall don't want real solutions to the problems you bring up, you want to feel morally righteous.
I've actively worked to get abusive childcare workers fired- successfully- and blacklisted from those workplaces. on multiple occasions. I'd argue those instances were less "lashing out due to stress" and more "taking advantage of the gaps in the systems to increase and abuse power over those in their care", and I've worked alongside abuse survivors to close those gaps.
So before you continue reading, ask yourself: which of us has done more to materially address this problem? Is this really an issue of me not caring or not wanting to do the work? If I didn't care, would I have been doing the work? Have you done the work?
When I say that improving the working conditions of teachers will improve the safety of the children under their care, I say it because it's literally true. Because that's how jobs work: workers under stress will be worse at their jobs than workers who aren't.
We still need to hold individuals accountable when they hurt others. Teachers who are not safe to be around children should not be permitted to work with them, let alone be responsible for their safety.
But if you want teachers to be better at their jobs (taking care of kids) you will need to work towards improving their material conditions & lessening the stress they are under.
Worker's rights apply even when the worker's fuckups cause real harm to human people. Maybe even especially when the stakes are that high.
hey guys I'm really sorry about the teachers that hurt you. like, genuinely. nobody deserves that, you did not deserve that, and those teachers need to be held accountable & prevented from causing any further harm.
but you know worker's rights still apply to teachers, right? please tell me you know that teachers are workers.
you guys know about transformative justice, right? like, the very basic leftist idea that we need to address and transform the systems that cause or enable harm? because just punishing individuals doesn't work and in fact makes things worse, and failing to address systemic causes results in the problem continuing to happen? right?
is anyone there
I had a very shitty homeroom teacher, who was emotionally and verbally abusive. He was my homeroom teacher for 3/5 years (trauma so I'm not sure how long). However I SUPPORT TEACHERS RIGHTS. Because when you support workers rights when it comes to teachers, you will get better teachers. You realise that, right? If you support a system that says 'we'll take anyone who can teach' that means ANYONE. IF you support a system that has checks and balances and unionises and has standards THEN YOU WILL GET BETTER TEACHERS WHO ARE BETTER PEOPLE. No system is perfect. But A system is better than NO system.
