That Viral Teaching Video

Or...some things that need to be addressed in American Education

I was perusing “X” the other day and began interacting with one of the “influencers” in the world of education influencers on X. This gentleman, who is a Ph.D. and has written a book about direct instruction (think interactive lecture, among other things, the opposite of all the group work, student-centered stuff currently in vogue), posted a video of a man executing a rather engaging lesson: Hands on, all students participating, verbal recitation, a really good class. I’ve interacted with Zach (the author) before, and I do agree with much of what he says and writes; he also presents seminars. He’s a 10-year teacher based in Seattle from what I gather, and teachers love his book Just Tell Them as well as his presentations.

What he speaks on is common sense, or used to be, in education, until it was over-tinkered with by other Ph.Ds rooted in the world of what I’ll call “touchy-feelyism” and “discovery learning” where rather than being the Sage on the Stage, the teacher becomes the Guide on the Side.

The lesson he espoused (and which has generated something of a viral debate) was good. Yes, the students were all on task, wearing uniforms, in an apparently low-income school someplace in England. Hands were raised, participation was happening, and there were zero disruptions at all. It was an excellent class, although some derided it as being “boring” or “not inspiring”; those comments should be jettisoned with extreme prejudice. Learning is not always fun and games, despite the touchy-feely, I want to be your friend crowd believing otherwise. It was an excellent class.

Here is what I wrote after watching it:

“That’s good and all, and I agree with the methodology, but I’d like to see him in a little more difficult environment.”

Initially, there really wasn’t a response, but eventually Zach got back to me with the “comprehensive, all-school approach, culture” thing most of these gurus speak about, and again, he’s right. Completely right. Exactly right. If there is going to be improvement in American schools, it cannot be in one classroom; it has to be in them all— a comprehensive, all-school approach.”

But, it doesn’t work that way, at least not without a lot of work, infighting, and wading through the political labyrinth that comes along with it.

First, all the kids in that video were all in uniform, I believe in grade school (although I could be wrong), and were perfectly behaved. Perfectly. Their hands were on the desks, folded; there were no phones out (as there should NEVER be), and no one was talking. No one. Not one misbehavior. If there was, the assumption here is that the student would be removed, but no one asked that question, nor was it addressed. If I’m being honest, a properly run classroom will have few of these instances, if any, and that’s a good thing. The problem is it’s not so easy to achieve as the obstacles are many, at least in my experience.

Now, I will say my classes, the vast majority of them in an American high school, were not a problem. Even when I was teaching in some difficult schools, one with 7 active gangs, I did not have many problems. I had a few, but those were few and far between. I can hear the pundits now, “What were you doing that was so special?”

Well, classroom discipline was one of them. I was in charge, like the person in the video. There was a presence in my classroom, and I was that presence. I preferred to call myself a benevolent dictator. In fact, we had a good time in my class, but there were rules, expectations, and lots of guided direct instruction…like what was seen in the video.

What I didn’t get answers to, and didn’t ask, was if the man in the video had to deal with any of these:

• IEP and 504 Plans - I have many thoughts on this. What I will say is they can be quite disruptive in a regular classroom setting, depending on the requirements. Honestly, some of them were ridiculous. (Student can listen to music during class as it calms him/her. Student can leave the room if they feel they need a break, just to name two).

• State regulations/requirements, not to mention school regulations for not only what is taught in the classroom but how behavior was going to be managed in the classroom.

• Union engagement. Will the union agree with said policy implementation?

• Superintendent and School Board…are they on board?

• School discipline policy considerations.

◦ Restorative Justice (kids laughed about that all the time - as just one example)

◦ Non-removal of disruptive students or removal “for a period of time” and then put right back

◦ No expulsion rules

• Other teachers…are they on board or will they subvert the attempt? (Hint: It happens all the time)

• Gang issues/colors/dress code

• Chronic absence issues. Parents excusing their kids for just about everything. Kids not able to come to school because of home responsibilities…taking care of a younger sibling, etc.

These are a few considerations not spoken about by Zach nor addressed by the teacher in Britain, their pat answer to such questions being, “It must be a complete system/culture overhaul for this to work.”

Yes…absolutely. I agree. But how are you going to get this done? Too many teachers are ensconced in the ‘touchy-feely,” student-centered, gamify approach, said methodology beaten into their heads by education “professors” who’ve not been in a real classroom maybe ever.

Further, the focus in college preparation classes, from what my student teachers told me, centered around social justice more than anything else, including methodology, and certainly much less classroom discipline. “No student should ever be told they’re wrong. It destroys their self-esteem,” is what’s being fed to them by the spoonful.

Second, removal of a disruptive student, one that is ruining a classroom, not to mention a school, is almost impossible. You must build a case before anything meaningful can be done, even against the most egregious, sometimes violent offenders. You just don’t remove them, generally. I can recall a situation in which a student verbally threatened a school official, telling him, “I’m going to kick your ass all over the hallway, you old man.” The school’s response? To tell the official, “Just avoid him in the hallway, there’s not much we can do. Our hands are tied.”

Solve that first and you might have a chance.

What do Zach and the others have to say about this? Change the school culture, yes, I know, but how? It is a discussion worth having if one is to approach the example of the viral classroom, is it not?

The fact is this (although few want to say it): There are students in schools who have no desire to be there at all. Those students are often disruptive and should be removed as they damage the opportunities for kids who do wish to be there. Yet, so many in state and local government are loath to remove such students, and I understand that. However, when do the needs of those who want to learn, who want to be there, come before those interminably disruptive students, not to mention the diligent teacher who is attempting to teach a class yet cannot?

Want to know why teachers are leaving the profession? There’s your answer. It isn’t money but disruptive students and parents who refuse to hold their kids accountable that are taking a toll on teaching staffs, along with administrators and school boards who foster such disrespect by a lack of proper disciplinary procedures.

If one looks at school policy, it is designed and tailored to the lowest common denominator, meaning classroom structure, discipline, along with a host of other school rules are designed to cater to the most problematic students in both behavior and academics, not the other way around. If anything is going to change, and I highly doubt it will, that needs to be reversed, but it won’t, not in the short term unless school boards, administration, and state government realize the error of their ways.

Students, especially at the grade school level who are not proficient in their reading, writing, and math scores, should be held back, and teachers should be teaching via direct instruction, reintroducing memorization, and emphasizing the basic building blocks of learning, not social justice initiatives, social promotion, and all the other educational progressive notions that have creeped into schools.

In short, readopt many of the old ways, especially around school discipline.

It’s not that easy, especially the student removal part, as there are laws, mandates, and school policies which vary by school, district, and state, not to mention federal involvement, a body that has no business in education. School policy is a labyrinth, a web so entangled with policies so entrenched and rooted in compassion that it seems the only way out is to scrap it all and start all over again…from scratch. Rebuild from the bottom up, but we know that won’t happen either.

I can’t help but wonder what the school policies are in that viral video, but I have a suspicion it isn’t to tell the teacher to “avoid him.”

Here’s a good start: remove from the school chronically absent, constantly disruptive students. Hold their parents accountable for said behavior. The result will be many fewer teachers leaving the profession, one that is hemorrhaging teachers with few replacements. The teachers that are left? Hold them accountable for what they’re doing in the classroom. Remove the lazy ones, the ones collecting a paycheck, although with union support along with tenure laws that will be difficult.^[1]

That also means reforming school policy; readopting many of the old methods and discipline procedures, despite the hue and cry from “progressives” who are much less progressive and much more regressive in advocating such lenient policies.

Do these things and we can then start imagining a classroom like the viral one mentioned. Of course, it’s much easier said than done, something else the gurus fail to mention, but it’s a starting point.

---

^[1] Tenure laws vary by state, but despite what most think, are not a job guarantee. Teachers can be removed for a variety of reasons, but require documentation if removal is to be incompetence…and that is time consuming, not to mention inviting a union fight which most administrators choose to avoid.