The Thresholds Challenge

Kym Buchanan | 2017 Spring

This is my challenge to you: You need to work extra hard to prepare your students to succeed in a changing society and economy. Education is one of the strongest factors in an individual's success and a community's greatness. As teachers, we have the privilege and duty to have a profound impact on individuals and communities.

To help you think about this challenge, consider the following story.

The Weber Family

Rick and Judy Weber got married twenty years ago, and now they're both in their mid-forties. It's about nine o'clock at night. Rick and Judy are sitting at the kitchen table, paying bills and talking.The Weber family is going through some changes. They don’t understand all the changes. They don’t even know about all the changes.

The Webers live in a nice house. Rick and Judy moved up to a better house during the housing bubble, so they're a little worried about their mortgage payment. But if they both keep their jobs, they should be OK.

Rick is a senior technician at a factory. He likes his job. But Rick has heard about a competitor who outsourced their manufacturing to Mexico. Rick is worried that his company might do the same thing. Also, Rick is worried about his relationship with his new boss. Rick's new boss is from India. At the company party last month, Rick made a joke about different religious holidays. Rick thinks he may have offended his boss, but he's not sure. Rick doesn't even know what to do about it.

Judy is a contracts lawyer. Next year, Judy may be promoted to partner at her firm. However, Judy is struggling a little to keep up with the changes in contract law. Her firm used to bring in trainers, or fly Judy to training events. But now all the training is online and self-paced. Judy has never been very comfortable with computers, and she's not used to learning independently.

Rick and Judy have three children. The Weber kids are all upstairs, in their rooms.Erica Weber is 4 years old. She's asleep. Erica goes to 4 year old kindergarten, and she loves it. Rick and Judy think Erica might be gifted. Erica seems more advanced in her language abilities than the other Weber kids were at 4. Rick's been meaning to talk with Erica's teacher, when he picks Erica up from school, but he keeps forgetting.

Troy Weber is 11 years old. He's playing Xbox. He's playing some online game that his uncle bought him. Neither Rick nor Judy really pays attention to what Troy plays. Troy is in 5th grade. Until recently, Troy was an enthusiastic student who participated in class and earned good grades. But lately Troy has been more withdrawn.Troy has a stutter. He's been meeting with a specialist and making good progress. But something happened last week while Troy's class was at PE. Troy made a mistake during the game, and another 5th grader got angry at him. "What's wrong with you?" the boy asked Troy. "Are you r-r-retarded?" The other students laughed.

Lisa Weber is 16 years old. Lisa is watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians, painting her nails, texting two of her friends, hanging out on Facebook, and reading Cosmo. Oh, and she's working on her history paper. Lisa is in 11th grade, and her grades are excellent. Rick and Judy have talked with Lisa about college.Lisa has pretended to be excited, but she's secretly terrified of not getting accepted at a college. Lisa has another secret. She’s a healthy weight for her height. But Lisa has decided she's too fat, so she's stopped eating lunch.

In a couple hours, everyone in the Weber family will be asleep. In the morning, the kids will get dressed, eat a good breakfast, and go to school. And then it's your turn, because Erica, Troy, or Lisa is one of your students.

Your Duty

I hope that when you think about the challenges and responsibilities of being a teacher, you think about people like Rick and Judy Weber, and their children. You can't solve all of Rick and Judy's problems, and they don't expect you to solve all their problems. They only thing they expect from you is the only thing I expect from you: help their kids.

I hope you want to help. If you want to help, you need to understand Erica, Troy, Lisa, and every kid that comes into your life. Every kid has a story. Every kid has gifts and problems and secrets and hopes.

In this course, you'll learn a lot about kids, about their gifts and problems and secrets and hopes. Make the most of this opportunity to become a better teacher. We all need to understand our students better. That includes understanding things like memory and motivation and exceptionality and diversity.

We also need to understand the world our students will face. What's happening to Rick and Judy is happening to everyone in our country.We need to think beyond your success as a university student. We need to think about the success of your students. What kind of world are they facing? What kind of jobs can they get?

The New, New Economy

Your students face a changing world with changing jobs.

  • If it can be reduced to a script or set of directions…a computer can do it, or it won't pay well
  • If it can be done by phone or computer…it can be done in another country
  • If it involves technology…anyone who can't keep learning new tools isn't worth hiring
  • Existing and new markets will belong to the companies with creative, collaborative workers who can connect with diverse customers.

If you want your students to have high-paying jobs with good job security, you need to teach thresholds abilities.

  • Critical literacy
  • Creativity & improvisation
  • Communication & collaboration
  • Multicultural literacy & inclusivity
  • Technology literacy
  • Ability & desire to continue learning

Preparing for the Challenge

How do we teach those things? I don't have all the answers, but this semester I'll offer you what I have. This especially includes the Thresholds Guide assignment.Beyond this course, you need to keep looking and experimenting for the rest of your career. Why? Because...

We are trying to teach you how to teach your students to do jobs that don't exist yet, using tools we can't imagine, to solve problems we don't understand. Some of the problems, we may not even know they're problems. 60 years ago nobody worried about climate change. 40 years ago nobody worried about drug-resistant bacteria. 20 years ago nobody worried about friendly-fire casualties from military drone aircraft.

You need tools to deal with change. We can give you some tools in your courses. You'll get more tools through field experiences, like student teaching. The rest is up to you. Consider your jobs, your volunteer work, getting involved in student organizations, what you read and watch, and more. If you want a job, you want a big toolbox. It's how you get ready to help kids like Erica, Troy, and Lisa.

Change is scary. Change can also be powerful, if we're ready for it.So I urge you to keep asking yourself an important question. Ask this question in everything you do as a student in this program and then throughout your career: "How am I dealing with change?"

Start with Why

Consider the question, "Whyareyou a teacher?" How do you answer this question, especially when asked by:

  • A principal
  • Your friend or significant other
  • Your family or children
  • Yourself