Why Schools Need to Change

Hope in a Time of a Failing Education System: A Call for Transformation

As a teacher, I always ask my students, “Do you want the bad news first or the good news?” They always answer that they want the bad news first. As the 2024 Nevada Teacher of the Year, I've been deeply affected by the urgent issues that plague our current education system. The teacher shortage, the lack of interest in teaching as a profession, and why students aren’t attending school consistently.

Interestingly enough, all of these pieces of bad news have one standard parallel: the current education system in the United States (U.S.) is failing teachers and students. We frequently want Singapore results without the necessary investment in the U.S. education system. Teachers need flexibility, autonomy, authentic mentorship, resources, trust, pay that compensates the work and hours put into exceptional teaching, leadership pathways not always leading to administration, and, most importantly, respect as a profession.

The system must also be more flexible to adapt to student's needs, allowing them to meet their learning on their timelines rather than a pacing guide or structured curriculum telling us where students should be. Compliance culture is long gone for our students, teachers, and workforce, yet we continue to teach in that system. The system is not broken; it needs overhauling to a mastery-based and flexible system that helps students embrace lifelong learning on personalized timelines.

Today's students need a purpose; most importantly, they want impact and relevance in their learning. Students no longer want to come to school to complete a worksheet and throw it out at the end of the day, week, or semester. They want to see the adult-world impact of their learning. As their teacher, I must give them a reason to want to come to my class and engage in my work. If there is no relevance, they are not showing up, and we are seeing that trend nationwide in chronic absenteeism. Relevance is not a luxury; it's a necessity.

Knowing what we know and understanding that our system profoundly and urgently needs an overhaul, how have I found ways to make it work? Here comes the sun, my friends, and the good news.

As I listen to Jay Shetty's podcast “On Purpose," the guest, Gabor Maté, discusses a concept known as compassion of possibility. The root of compassion of possibility is seeing people’s abilities and the best in people despite their behavior. Immediately, I realized compassion of possibility is something I’ve always fostered for students, as do all exceptional educators in the country. We continue to promote deep hope, faith, and compassion for the possibility that every student can thrive despite challenging behaviors or circumstances. That is something to celebrate, despite how we feel about the system.

As a career educator of almost 19 years, I have always focused on helping my students feel seen, heard, and valued at every age and stage of life. Whether I taught special education resource room English or advanced placement literature and composition, how could I help my students see themselves in the room? How could I impart life's nuances and challenges into their learning? I have a strong background in project-based learning (PBL) and social-emotional learning (SEL) practices. It is always an and in my classroom and not an or when it comes to SEL and learning.

Through my classroom doors, we get to the good news of what I like to call the infinite possibility in learning, not only about content but about self. The students who walk through my door are met with my desire to get to know them as humans first and students second. Being imperfect humans is what I tell them I love most about them and what I expect. As we start the school year, I create classroom norms rooted in Capturing Kids’ Hearts principles, and my first rule is that they are always honest with themselves and me. There is no need to lie when there is no fear of me being mad at a student’s truth. Continuing our norm development, I stress that I don’t need their perfection; I need their authenticity. My students are already whole as they are, and I tell them that from day one and continue to all year. The desire to authentically know my students isn’t for my “getting to know you activities;” it isn’t a structured school initiative—this truth lives within me as their teacher and in my classroom. Academic rigor is partnered with and supported by building relationships through learning all year. Like any successful coach, I hold them accountable to the standards, yet they are people first.

Community and having pride in our lived experiences will help students want to be actively part of the school system. Fostering a strong sense of community through my classroom norms and practices is essential to students owning their identity and what others can’t physically see about them. After we develop norms, students write about their identities and focus on writing about their culture, motivations, fears, family, etc. They need two minutes of material to share and know they will do so in front of their classmates and me.

Collectively, I have students sit in a circle, me included, and we share our truths about who we are. There is no expectation other than to listen; there are no correct answers, just our identity. As a class, we practice mindful listening and holding space for others. Creating lessons like this identity share is rooted in trauma-informed practices from Breathe for Change. It has allowed me to develop a sense of ownership in identity with young people so that they know they are more than a grade and are fully human and accepted, just as they are. Incorporating meditation and collective breathing strategies has also allowed me to foster a sense of release for students, enabling them to decompress from the stress of learning bell-to-bell. In turn, they learn that caring for themselves, showing up as themselves, and owning their identities are also part of the learning journey in school.

The foundation of being valuable allows my students to get into the nitty-gritty of working to develop their voices. Whether that is writing scholarship essays rooted in storytelling practices or stories to their younger selves using Google images and poetry, we explore voice and how their voice is meaningful and valuable at every age and stage of life. As a Cuban-American teacher, civics and voting rights were ingrained in me. Quickly, I realized that students turned 18 without knowing why their voices and votes were valuable.

My solution was to create a legislative PBL where my students learned about our state government, researched bills and their legislators on our state website, NELIS, and proceeded to find their voice on issues they were passionate about. Students met with legislators virtually and in person, learned how to write testimony, wrote op-eds, and eventually supported bills ranging from reproductive rights to financial literacy curricula that were successfully passed. Now, over 450,000 students in Nevada will have access to financial literacy learning.

My philosophy and call to the education leaders, legislators, families, and all invested in education today is simple: Give students problems to solve internally and externally, in and with their communities. Teach and support them where they are, not where they should be. Let them have a choice and voice in all that they learn and do. They will show up, exceed our expectations, and feel successful in their learning because it is rooted in who they are, in relevance, and in impact. I continue to carry hope alongside faith that this system becomes a reality for our students and educators because the urgency is evident given our political and social landscape. We all deserve an education system that sees us and supports a love of lifelong learning and personal growth and is no longer merely checking a box.

Photo at top: A group including the author, in green, with Nevada Assemblyman Duy Ngyuen in the center, with both bills that were successfully passed. Credit: Travis LaChapelle. This and all photos courtesy of the author.