Virtual schools must learn to teach with love.
In my first week teaching high school, a colleague pulled me aside in confidence: “Get out now. Once you fall for the kids it’s over.” I thought it was a joke, but when I look back on my short career in high school, I realize how much wisdom was in that little quip.
Like nearly anyone with an opinion on this issue, I do not think teachers in public schools are paid enough for their brutal work. Each day, they shape the literal embodiment of the future, and work far more hours than they claim on their paychecks. What little respect remains for the profession seems to be drying up. It is a hard, sometimes thankless job, and people are often surprised that underfunded and overstressed teachers stick around at all.
But then, what does keep good teachers in our classrooms? In the general job market, it’s usually compensation that explains worker retention and quality, and this can include perks besides money. Perhaps a good insurance plan or a relaxed workspace on one hand will balance out a lower salary on the other. That’s not to say that great insurance and relaxation are what seals the deal in our public schools. Instead, many teachers get added value — that critical boost to their compensation package — from the deep, personal fulfillment that comes with guiding young people into adulthood. The smile of sudden understanding, for example, or a heartfelt note from someone who thought she would never go to college but did, thanks to you.
Classes get sick and well together, laugh or argue, go to fire drills and football games — in short, become families. What school districts sometimes cruelly refuse to pay out in money is, at least partly, made up for with the opportunity to watch people grow while you grow to love them in turn. Whenever a teacher benefit is withdrawn or a new club is in need of supervision, you can rest assured that it will be love — not the district’s money — that keeps teachers doing their best.
In fact, the whole educational economy is built on the back of love, slowly cultivated in crowded rooms, 180 school days per year.
But changes to that economy are on the way. Florida has embraced online education like no other state. We are home to many online K-12 programs, including Florida Virtual School, the nation’s largest. Getting a diploma now requires at least one class taken online. As this becomes increasingly prevalent, let’s be honest about the role that intimacy and fulfillment play in the teacher job market and how the dynamics of online education might change this. Are online teachers as likely to “fall for the kids,” like the confidante of my first year seemed to think? Can a pile of emails and a roomful of faces really hold the same place in a human heart?
Maybe. But, let’s not stick our heads in the sand. Emotion is factored into how we compensate schoolteachers. To tamper with that reward might degrade the value of teaching, once a romanticized source of inspiration, until it is just another passionless desk job. Without the forced bonding that comes from person-to-person contact, schools may only get the return that their paltry salaries are truly worth. If we want to keep online teachers working at their full potential, we need:
Online classes with substantial real-time (synchronous) interaction. Phone calls and video chats that create opportunities for teacher-student bonding are a good start.
A requirement that online teachers have classroom experience. Virtual teachers without practice in front of a blackboard may find it difficult to grasp the nurturing role they play in students’ lives.
Online teaching positions that are highly selective.
Though some questions remain about the efficacy of online schools, substantial evidence shows that online learning can work well for students. Now let’s seriously ask another question: Can online employment work well for teachers?