{"id":759,"date":"2012-02-21T15:01:18","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T19:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/?p=759"},"modified":"2012-04-25T17:05:40","modified_gmt":"2012-04-25T21:05:40","slug":"shut-up-and-teach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/","title":{"rendered":"Shut Up and Teach?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent article for The Hechinger Report,<\/em> classroom teacher Eric Shieh reflects on his experiences working with his union to fight budget cuts in his district.\u00a0 As a music teacher in St. Louis, he was appalled by the district\u2019s decision in 2007 to cut student time in the arts by 64% at the middle school level, in the hopes that more \u201cacademic\u201d time would improve test scores.He immediately emailed fellow arts teachers across the district, but was answered with apathy\u2014\u201cthere is nothing you can do; this has been happening for the past 20 years.\u201d\u00a0 Dissatisfied, Shieh began circulating petitions, which dead-ended even after collecting hundreds of signatures.\u00a0 Frustrated, he called his union.<\/p>\n

The union acted quickly, promising to mobilize teachers and parents against the cuts.\u00a0 In the end, though the union\u2019s role in the conflict was \u201cminimal,\u201d Even so, its action did empower Shieh by \u201crejecting the powerlessness that my colleagues had articulated, and affirmed my professional convictions about the centrality of the arts in public education.\u201d\u00a0 It also helped motivate previously downtrodden teachers to join with Shieh to fight the cuts, and, supported by a large group of vocal parents, convinced the administration in the district to reverse their decision.<\/p>\n

Shieh is now teaching in New York City, but he still feels frustration with his colleagues across the profession and their perceptions of their own powerlessness.\u00a0 \u201cTeachers across the nation have given up advocating for their students not because they don\u2019t wish to, but because it seems an impossibility\u2026Consider this past year.\u00a0 By all accounts, it should have been one of teacher outrage\u2026cuts targeted students in poverty and students with special needs\u2026they targeted arts and physical education programs, and they severely disrupted school processes as one seismic change after another was proposed\u2026What interests me, too, is how the cuts to schools came and went so quietly while other education issues raged in the public eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shieh believes that the reason these cuts went largely unnoticed by the population at large is because they were \u201cstrategically, perversely\u201d made to the populations \u201cleast likely to detect and fight against them.\u201d\u00a0 Most teachers, Shieh believes, have simply learned to \u201cshut up and teach.\u201d\u00a0 Why is this?\u00a0 Shieh can only guess\u2014perhaps it is the cycle of helplessness, perhaps teachers took what happened in Wisconsin to heart, or perhaps they feel the just can\u2019t match \u201cbillionaire philanthropists who\u2019ve been plowing policy changes that suit their business models through Congress for nearly a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does Shieh suggest teachers begin to advocate for themselves and their students?\u00a0 First, he believes unions need to widen their discourse beyond HR issues and take on issues like teacher evaluation, curriculum development, and school equality.\u00a0 Second, leaders of teacher associations, particularly small, local associations, have to be able to better organize the teacher voice.\u00a0 They need to \u201cbuild spaces for member action, and focus member discourse on innovative practices and policy.<\/p>\n

Finally, teachers have to find a way to engage with education policy.\u00a0 This includes finding and creating spaces within professional associations to discuss issues that matter to teachers.<\/p>\n

To read Shieh\u2019s full commentary, please visit http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/8xuh4hx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent article for The Hechinger Report, classroom teacher Eric Shieh reflects on his experiences working with his union to fight budget cuts in his district.\u00a0 As a music teacher in St. Louis, he was appalled by the district\u2019s decision in 2007 to cut student time in the arts by 64% at the middle Read more about Shut Up and Teach?<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[98,47,96,97],"class_list":["post-759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-reform-leadership","tag-advocacy","tag-budget","tag-partnerships","tag-teacher-unions"],"yoast_head":"\nShut Up and Teach? - Core Education, LLC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shut Up and Teach? - Core Education, LLC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a recent article for The Hechinger Report, classroom teacher Eric Shieh reflects on his experiences working with his union to fight budget cuts in his district.\u00a0 As a music teacher in St. Louis, he was appalled by the district\u2019s decision in 2007 to cut student time in the arts by 64% at the middle Read more about Shut Up and Teach?[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Core Education, LLC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Core-Education-LLC-355510877440\/?fref=ts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-21T19:01:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-25T21:05:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/CoreLogo_edu-LG-wht-framed.png?fit=1135%2C624&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"coreeducation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CoreEducation1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CoreEducation1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"coreeducation\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"coreeducation\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2eb7c51d3eeff86dc4b6f5ec6f626bf1\"},\"headline\":\"Shut Up and Teach?\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-21T19:01:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-04-25T21:05:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":537,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"advocacy\",\"budget\",\"partnerships\",\"teacher unions\"],\"articleSection\":[\"School Reform & Leadership\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shut Up and Teach? - Core Education, LLC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-21T19:01:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-04-25T21:05:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/shut-up-and-teach\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shut Up and Teach?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Core Education, LLC\",\"description\":\"The "Core" of Education\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Core Education, LLC\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/cropped-CoreLogo_edu-LG-wht.png?fit=777%2C272&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/cropped-CoreLogo_edu-LG-wht.png?fit=777%2C272&ssl=1\",\"width\":777,\"height\":272,\"caption\":\"Core Education, LLC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Core-Education-LLC-355510877440\\\/?fref=ts\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/CoreEducation1\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/core-education-llc?trk=company_logo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2eb7c51d3eeff86dc4b6f5ec6f626bf1\",\"name\":\"coreeducation\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79d74775edf73a331abd4a112970ca5f1a185a5c187e9dcb009b5ba9e768b1a9?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79d74775edf73a331abd4a112970ca5f1a185a5c187e9dcb009b5ba9e768b1a9?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/79d74775edf73a331abd4a112970ca5f1a185a5c187e9dcb009b5ba9e768b1a9?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"coreeducation\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.coreeducationllc.com\\\/blog2\\\/author\\\/coreeducation\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shut Up and Teach? - Core Education, LLC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shut Up and Teach? - Core Education, LLC","og_description":"In a recent article for The Hechinger Report, classroom teacher Eric Shieh reflects on his experiences working with his union to fight budget cuts in his district.\u00a0 As a music teacher in St. Louis, he was appalled by the district\u2019s decision in 2007 to cut student time in the arts by 64% at the middle Read more about Shut Up and Teach?[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/","og_site_name":"Core Education, LLC","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Core-Education-LLC-355510877440\/?fref=ts","article_published_time":"2012-02-21T19:01:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-04-25T21:05:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1135,"height":624,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/CoreLogo_edu-LG-wht-framed.png?fit=1135%2C624&ssl=1","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"coreeducation","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CoreEducation1","twitter_site":"@CoreEducation1","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"coreeducation","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/"},"author":{"name":"coreeducation","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#\/schema\/person\/2eb7c51d3eeff86dc4b6f5ec6f626bf1"},"headline":"Shut Up and Teach?","datePublished":"2012-02-21T19:01:18+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-25T21:05:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/"},"wordCount":537,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#organization"},"keywords":["advocacy","budget","partnerships","teacher unions"],"articleSection":["School Reform & Leadership"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/","url":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/","name":"Shut Up and Teach? - Core Education, LLC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-21T19:01:18+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-25T21:05:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/shut-up-and-teach\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shut Up and Teach?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/","name":"Core Education, LLC","description":"The "Core" of Education","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#organization","name":"Core Education, LLC","url":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/cropped-CoreLogo_edu-LG-wht.png?fit=777%2C272&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/cropped-CoreLogo_edu-LG-wht.png?fit=777%2C272&ssl=1","width":777,"height":272,"caption":"Core Education, LLC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Core-Education-LLC-355510877440\/?fref=ts","https:\/\/x.com\/CoreEducation1","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/core-education-llc?trk=company_logo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/#\/schema\/person\/2eb7c51d3eeff86dc4b6f5ec6f626bf1","name":"coreeducation","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79d74775edf73a331abd4a112970ca5f1a185a5c187e9dcb009b5ba9e768b1a9?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79d74775edf73a331abd4a112970ca5f1a185a5c187e9dcb009b5ba9e768b1a9?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79d74775edf73a331abd4a112970ca5f1a185a5c187e9dcb009b5ba9e768b1a9?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"coreeducation"},"url":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/author\/coreeducation\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759\/revisions\/863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coreeducationllc.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}