Recently, I was offered an additional "tutoring" gig (I already have an active one). It seems like it's a pretty nice gig. I get to tutor K-9 students in Math (Arithmetic and basic Algebra) and English/Language Arts (ELA). It pays $20.00/hr and I'm able to bill roughly 12-15+ hours or work per week. The pay is weekly. The sessions are all "on-line" via Zoom, so I can do it remotely. The kids log in at their respective schools, and I log in from my desk at home. That's all the "good news."
The bad news is, the "curricula" (pre-designed by the school districts and the company brokering between the districts and the companies supplying the tutors - like mine) are all based on the original "common core" standard of education. All the lessons are planned and spec'ed out, and adherence to those specs (by the tutors) is "mandatory" per contractual agreements between the school districts, the broker company and and the tutor supplier companies (like mine). There are Powerpoint presentations (slide decks) for each lesson/session. And, trust me when I tell you, if you value your childrens' education at all, they'll make you want to hurl.... just as they make me want to hurl, having to teach to them. They are totally pejorative to the students. They "dumb down" the concepts being taught to the absolute "lowest common denominator" of student, regardless of how inteligent the students actually are. And, not only do they insult my inteligence as a tutor, they insult the inteligence of the students themselves. It's like they're saying, "Well, we think you are all so stupid that we have to teach you at this very basic level." And, it also seems to facilitate an "indoctrination" into an underlying socalist agenda (i.e. be dependent on the govt).
I always believe in tutoring my students precisely to their specific levels and tailoring my lessons accordingly. I don't believe in teaching to a dumb downed slide deck. I believe in having conversations with my kids, retaining their attentiont that way (a slide deck won't do that) and resolving issues dynamically as they arise. I believe in having conversations with the students... getting to know what they're thinking, and adjusting my teaching to that. I also like to think my students are a lot more intelligent than perceived (by both the School district and others). And I teach to that level. Where needed I suppliment with remedial teaching to get them back up to speed. And I do it in a way that's not "condescending," not "pejorative." If the ratings I get as a tutor from the students themselves are any indication, I'm doing pretty well.
But now, I fact a dilema. My company is beginning to enforce compliance with the broker company and the districts to teach via the slide decks. In other words, to teach "common core." It's not that I can't do it. I surely can. It's just that it makes me sick, having to do it. And I now have a decision to make as to whether ot not to continue with this gig and teach common core per their standards, or resign the gig and try to find something else. I really don't want to resign. The gig pays pretty well. And I can surely use the $$$. And the HR Genralist at my company that hired me has been wonderfully nice in all of this (this is a W-2 position, BTW not an Independent Contractor). But I think she is just as bound by the contract requirements as I am. She tells me they're looking for new districts to add, but I don't think they're looking all that hard, because I think both the districts and (especially) the broker company actually like common core and support it. I don't see them marketing to school districts in states/areas that don't support common coare (the South, etc.). I know my home state of Florida dumped Common Core in favor of their own std. Narry a district like that on the broker company's radar.
So, what say you? What is your position on the "common core" standard? And, if you dislike it, is it worth the loss in $$$ to resign if they require that you teach it, or would you still want to earn the $$$ and teach it anyway? LIkewise, would you let your child be taught in that standard or would you seek to home school your child? I know I'd home school, if I had children. And, shoud I ever hit the Zillion $ lottery, my focus will be a foundation that facilitates the home schooling of children that want that choice and the freedom of independent teaching and thought. Not some govt. standard.
What say you?
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