The freedom to teach: A crisis of disinvestment and de-professionalization

Abstract

Consider what teachers have recently said about why they teach: “I teach because I want to change the world, one child at a time, and to show them to have passion and wonder in their learning.”“I teach so the next generation will question — everything. The classroom should be a place where we set children’s minds free.”“I teach because our democracy cannot survive without citizens capable of critical analysis.”Why I felt called to teach is best summed up by this poster I have moved from office to office since I taught in the 1990s: “Teachers inspire, encourage, empower, nurture, activate, motivate, and change the world.”