Raise your hand all employees at Halden School who recognize the statement. But what do I know. I’m just a teacher and guardian. I am not a consultant. Or a politician.
It is tempting to refer to one of the great clichés. I have a dream. A dream that one of the world’s richest countries allocates enough money for the municipalities to run good schools. A dream that the municipalities are willing to invest in time and space for the children who grow up in our city.
It doesn’t matter if I say that I’m a better teacher for 20 kids than 30. It doesn’t matter if I say that an extra adult in the classroom makes my everyday life and the everyday lives of the children in the classroom better. I can’t show in any bottom line in the principal’s report that we saved money because I managed to have that conversation today. Or the phone. Or the reading session. Or the comfort. Or that it matters if I took a child out to explain a task one more time. Or that he told me something because I had time. It plays a role for me. And what a feeling I go home with that day. And that may play a role for the child. Maybe for the guardian. “I saw your child today, and I managed to do something about it.” But what are the mayor or the politicians going to do with my feelings? Or the children’s? Or a mother or father’s feelings? Halden municipality saves no money on our feelings. Most likely they cost money. And square meters.
My workplace is not efficient enough either. The teachers can be utilized more. God forbid if we should have more fractions of teacher resources than the teacher norm. When the teacher standard came, we dreamed that there would be room for more teachers and perhaps fewer rivers per teacher. Not that the norm should be used as an efficient minimum. Working to reach the teacher standard has become an efficiency-enhancing process. We cut as far to the bone as we can, without breaking the law.
What exactly is excess capacity? Do we think that if we have 25 children in each classroom instead of 30 children, then we have excess capacity? Do we have too much space? Too few students per adult distributed per square meter per minute when we are at work? Are we not efficient enough? We can be exploited more. It’s strange, but I often feel like I’ve used up my capacity when I go home from work. But here I feel again. And what are we going to do with it?
Imagine that. I have a dream about a room. A classroom that is vacant. Which no one uses regularly. A room that we can use as a project room! We can turn it into a historical space? Or a drama room? Or a reading room? Or maybe we can build something, and then it can be left until tomorrow? Or a completely sick thought, I know, but what about an extended library? Without adults, of course, because we don’t need librarians at Haldenskolen. But a room with books we can read? Or a room with equipment where we can program something? Or, this is a luxury idea, but you’re allowed to dream: a meeting room! But nothing looks good in the calculation. Extra square meters per student. Which costs money. And which is available.
No, then. What should we do with dreamers in the debate about school structure? Let’s stick our finger in the ground. We cannot afford such a school. I know that. Only dreamers can dream about that. And who needs dreamers in a municipal budget or future plan? What do I think about Halden School’s future? I would like to raise my hand here, but unfortunately it is well planted in the ground. Along with the finger.
Tags: Expressions Free speech space students
