Duty, Safety and Teaching

Safety versus duty.

That seems to be the quandry that people are struggling with at the moment. Teachers have a responsibility to their students and the families under their care. Is that responsibility equitable to the one that teachers have to their own families and/or themselves?

Is it negligent to put one’s personal health and/or family needs above those of the district(s), families and/or students? Is it selfish to have one’s professional decisions guided by personal considerations such as pre-existing conditions? Has the sense of community and compassion that the pandemic fostered been spoiled by the exhaustion and fatigue that were provoked during the quarantine?

There are so many questions; I have only posited a few. There are not very many answers.

Teaching is a labor of love, a profession of passion, and it is indeed a job. Teachers are paid to provide high level instructional services to students and families around the world. Education is one profession however where technology and/or the transition to virtual service has neither proven to be smooth nor profitable. Teachers were unique in their responses to the change in circumstances and not all responses were eloquent. Still, the goal of learning was pursued.

Are the current goals clearly defined? Are those goals shared between districts, parents and teachers. What will students learn from a conflict between teachers and administrators? What will they learn about being citizens, students, humans from any contentious interactions between stakeholders?

There are so many questions and no easy answers.

Transmission rates, hospital space, vaccination sites, vaccine availability, hierarchy of conditions- these and more factors are being considered with regards to schools opening and/or closing. Somewhere in the hodgepodge of queries, there is an answer.

What do you think? Should schools be open for in-person instruction? Why or why not.