Michael Horn says teacher shortages stem from overburdened roles. Schools should unbundle teaching: use technology for curriculum, outsource grading, and organize teachers into teams. The Canopy Project report found this is what keeps education leaders up at night.
The number one challenge Keeping education leaders up at night Teacher workforce issues. That was a finding from a recent report from the Canopy Project, which is an initiative studying innovative educational practices that's run by Transcend and the center for Reinventing Public Education. The challenge of filling teacher positions with qualified candidates has increased since the pandemic, but it's been a perennial challenge in certain subjects and regions for decades. So maybe it's time we stop tinkering with the problem and reconsider the big issues. We ask teachers to do too much. Create curriculum, deliver it, manage classrooms, assess student work, lead students social and emotional development. The list goes on. It's time we unbundle the teaching profession. By leveraging tech to deliver curriculum personalized to students, outsourcing grading to other more impartial assessors, and allowing teachers to work in teams, we can not only improve results for students, but also free up the time and energy of teachers and offer more fulfillment in the profession. School leaders, don't pay lip service to your teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week each year. Instead, use this summer to transform teaching at your school into the sustainable and fulfilling career that it could be.
