Global Issues for Teachers

This morning on Twitter, I read tweets from two teachers. In one tweet, a teacher near Boston, complained about lack of access to the computer and language labs for her class. She wondered what would happen when all teachers began to teach digitally.

Another teacher said that in her area of Nebraska there were no substitute teachers available so that, although she was sick and needed a sub, she was going to drown her illness in Motrin and head into the classroom.

A few weeks ago I spend five days assisting in school reviews for some schools in a nearby city. In both schools, teachers commented on the lack of substitute teachers within their school division. They have been given certain dates when there will be "no subs available". (These are days when many teachers are out of the classroom for Professional Development training.) Teachers were concerned about the last minute nature of illness. Sometimes you just need to stay home.

In one of the schools that I visited, they had recently lost their computer lab when the room was needed as a classroom. Now they have a class set of laptops that travel from room to room. It takes longer to set them up. Particularly for the younger grades, password access is an issue.

Here are two teacher issues that are global. A lack of substitute teachers can impact both a teacher's health and the health within a school. Lack of access to technology will affect how students learn or don't learn to use technology in education.

Are there any other global teacher issues that you see as you learn from your international contacts?