Education in two worlds: The teacher as Sisyphus - Essay Example

Education in Two Worlds: The Teacher as Sisyphus By Gene V Glass Summary The job of a teacher is demanding, tiring and sometimes goes unrewarded. It is much like the punishment of King Sisyphus, who would take a heavy rock up the hill only to find it rolled back down the next day, so he could repeat the exercise. It is a little sad that public schools don’t get the credit when they have been the reason for uplifting the American nation in the 19th century. The common schools are the better ‘invention’ than telegraph or telephone.

The professions such as librarians, educators and teachers depend on the tax money. When people pay their tax money they should also consider that all their money is not being spent on trivial tasks, a huge portion of the American education depends on tax money. It is also easy to tag someone a teacher without recognizing the time it takes to actually influence students; three to five years in learning how to be effective with students and only after the seventh year they actually are able to help students up their test scores.

Public schools are not perfect but some people blow this drawback out of proportion, up to the point of supporting private schools as a better alternative for public schools. Some even prefer home schooling because of the lazy performance of public schools in the recent past. But the picture is not as grim as it seems. In a recent international test for literacy, students from American public schools performed the best. The decline in approval of public schools should not be put on the teachers alone, four variables go into the equation of producing better students; someone, teaching something, to someone else, in some setting.

So it urged to the common public to take care of factors that give a more rewarding environment to people who will take up jobs in the education sector. It is not only necessary for better education sector but to keep America among the preeminent nations of the world. ReferenceGlass, Gene V. "The Teacher as Sisyphus." Education in Two Worlds. N.p., 16 Feb. 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. .