“Why Teachers Should Organize” of Margaret Haley is an interesting article meant for teachers not only during Haley’s time but even teachers today. It is not a question that some teachers today tend to teach mechanically as they think teaching is their bread and butter. However, if you think about it, there should be no wrong in setting teaching as a source of living. The problem is that teachers are not well compensated. Like during the time of Haley, the problem still lies with the lack of understanding that teachers who are well compensated tend to be give better education to children. When we say better education, it is an education that would trigger freer mind which is boundless. It is an education that squeezes students’ intelligence.
Reading the speech of Haley made me realize that the plights of teachers before are still the reality today. “lack of recognition of the teacher as an educator in the school systemmaking the teacher an automaton, a mere factory hand” (Haley, 285). The phrase would still hit teachers today like ‘reality bites’. Public school system today still does not realize the role of teachers in moulding the leaders of tomorrow. They are still treated as mere workers who have specific task in a factory. As an end result, youth will go out in that factory with completely similar looks because their individuality and intelligence were not well honed.
On the other hand, Haley (1982) is correct that there is a need for teachers to organize to be able to fight for their plights as educators and as workers with living wage. The aforementioned plights will not be served in a silver platter but rather will be a result of collective struggle of teachers, and even of students because honing leaders of tomorrow will need an environment where educators are financially secure and have a regular training to upgrade their profession. With that as an environment, educators will surely do their job of freeing intelligence of the youth without hesitation.
Works Cited
Haley, Margaret. Batteground: The Autobiography of Margaret A. Haley. 1982. Print.
