What is “morale” and is it relevant to educators who don’t just claim but really do care about their students? It’s nothing more than an infantile and sentimental notion. The only folks who think it counts for anything are the defenders of “business as usual” who stand in the way of needed reform. “Morale” is an apparition that is expediently used by teachers unions as part of their strategy of protecting their unfit members from the rigor of accountability.
Does that view sit well you with you, Mr. and Ms. Educator?
If not, then clearly you are, whether or not you realize it, in the pocket of those who obstruct the pursuit of equal opportunity to quality education and, by extension, the perpetuation of the American way of life. As a card-carrying tool of the teachers union you are, whether willingly or from ignorance, jeopardizing kids and country and must be, for shame, a shirker, a skater and an inveterate “non-professional.”
What do you need “morale” for when the boss gives you a paycheck for showing up and following orders?
So argue the special interests among the mostly, though not exclusively, right-wing bloggers, editorial boards, corporate sharks (some of whom swim in think tanks) and even some civil rights posers jockeying for a place-setting on a prestigious dais.
This post is about morale, not professionalism or teacher unions, but the three are as interdependent as the heart, lungs, and brain. To deny sustenance to one of them is to provoke multiple organ failure. When morale is in the pits, it drags inspiration down with it,
High morale is a tonic that raises productivity and strengthens loyalty to any employer, regardless of sector or color of “collar.” “Morale” has no shape or form in the usual sense, but still it is tangible and measurable. It can be the key to the achievement of feasible miracles, but it cannot be conjured or mandated by memo or by coercive bosses no matter how hard they pound their chests with authority or how high the stack of pink slips they’re sitting on.
“Morale” is a natural, not a synthetic product. It arises from a job well-done that is credited by supervisors who trust and take pride in their subordinates and whose management style is not morbidly intrusive. “Morale” is not a function of duty or an item of job description.
In his book The Nature of Things: The Secret Life of Inanimate Objects, the late visionary scientist Lyall Watson suggests that things like rocks, family heirlooms, and garage sale mementos (and maybe word walls, flow charts, and rocking chairs?) possess their own energy and willpower. If that could be true, then it is certainly no stretch that an abstraction like “morale” in the workplace can be a concrete and formidable reality.
Educators are especially prone to depressed morale these days, because it is in vogue (especially in New York City) for officials to blame teachers for student failure. Rarely are cops (or their union) similarly faulted for spikes in crime, and never are doctors blasted for the U.S.’s dismal standing among nations as ranked in infant mortality, longevity, or other markers.
But here we digress though on point.
In your experience, is morale relevant to teaching and learning? Tell us your thoughts, and, pray, do not let Chancellor Klein encrypt your conscience!
