Asking all Educators: Have you ever felt like you did not want to write those lesson plans on Sunday night? Have you ever let procrastination get the best of you? Have you ever stopped to consider how nice it would be to leave work and not have to spend any more (mental and/or physical) time on your work? You, my friends, are strategizing your non-participation. In Chapter 7 of “Communities of Practice,” Etienne Wenger presents the Strategy of Non-Participation as a form of identity. He states that many individuals “see their identity mainly outside their job as ‘I don’t want it to be, like, my life is my job'” (Wenger 1998). These people don’t want their work lives to invade their personal lives. Is there a solution in education? Yes, if you consider the alternatives. In my opinion, teaching is one of the more enjoyable and rewarding jobs one can hold. In order to be a teacher, you constantly need to learn and stay up with the times and adequately prepare and plan your classes. With teaching comes the responsibility of planning and participation. What then is the solution? Well, have you ever considered a job that allows for non-participation? Have you worked at a job where the work becomes tedious and boring and you look forward to your days of non-participation? The solution is a change of strategy and ideology. Instead of strategizing your non-participation, start to strategize your participation. Value and treasure the participation that teaching requires because this participation keeps your work fresh and fun. Also, change your attitude about non-participation. Although non-participation looks good now (the grass is always greener on the other side), always remember that while you need to do lesson plans and study-up on the next new web 2.0. technology (in anticipation for your next day of work that you are looking forward to), your friends are dreading that job that they need to wake up at 6 a.m. for. Knowing the benefits of participation and the negative side to the strategy of non-participation, I feel I am more likely to encourage my students to follow careers of participation.
dmd340 says
Words to live by.
REBECCA WEST BURNS says
Very motivational!
STEVEN CHARLES KERLIN says
Teaching is a lifestyle not a job. This is a phrase that I truly believe and have repeated to many student teachers in the last few years. Teaching, especially at the K-12 level, is not like your 9-5 job. Your identity as a teacher is firmly established by the position. You constantly work on your craft in and out of the actual school building. You are constantly viewed as a teacher. Students,parents, and administrators may come in contact with you in “public” places but still view you as a teacher. There is no escaping it so we might as well embrace it. The only problem is that it is difficult for a teacher to expand his/her identity and membership in various communities. Membership in many communities of certain types are viewed negatively if you are a teacher. I was trying to think of another profession that so strongly characterizes ones identity and the only one that I can think of is a politician but even there the standards are not quite so high.
mtt143 says
Here’s something that may be interesting to read on your own time (ha! spare time!): In the book “Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education: Applying Ethical Perspectives to Complex Dilemmas” By Joan Shapiro and Jacqueline Stefkovich, there’s a case study involving a teacher and a principal at a strip club. Need I say more?
kgp103 says
I wonder if web 2.0 tech will enable people to view the other aspects of our identities and realize that we do have a life outside of school? However, do we want students to know these things or will they influence our ability to maintain the community we wish to construct in the classroom? That article that you mention sounds interesting. I have several friends that teach during the school year and then live at the beach during the summer. They behave themselves while they are there but they most assuredly have a few more beverages on the weekends than they would if they were in the areas that they taught. Community influencing identity again.
mtt143 says
I cited the wrong book. The strip club case study is in Ken Strike’s book, “The Ethics of School Administration.” (I would underline book titles instead of quoting them, but Pligg won’t let me.) Shapiro’s & Stefkovich’s book has an interesting parallel to the strip club case study–theirs involves teachers and an adult toy store.