It was a beautiful summer’s evening, with a view of the lake, and the sun dropping into it.  We had joined friends for dinner, and other friends joined us for dessert.  The conversation was lively, and eventually turned to economics, then to health care.  At one point, one of our friends said “I hear now that they’re going to pay doctors by whether or not their patients get better.  More if they do, less if they don’t”.

My first thought was to agree this seems stupid and my second thought was to wonder if this was another urban legend rumor.

Those were my thoughts.   Instead, what I said was . . . “and yet they think this works for teachers!”   Needless to say, I got some interesting reactions (like you just had perhaps?), and then, because they’re friends, the conversation moved on with minimal distraction.  And, as I had no real wish to pursue the point (nor to be later killed by my wife), I let it meander away.

Not much later, as the group was deciding that no one in Washington knows what they’re doing (did I mention there was some wine present?), someone said, “after all, there are only two doctors in the whole congress!”   This time, I didn’t say anything (I think I was too busy nursing the pain in my shin where my wife kicked it), but can you guess what I thought?  I’ll bet that’s two more than the number of educators in Congress!

Perhaps the doctor/educator comparison is a little far-fetched for you.  It might even be for me, actually.   Then again, I’m not so sure.  It makes me wonder.  Just because a doctor “treats” a patient does not always mean the patient will be cured – for a lot of reasons.  We all know this (whether we think Congress does or not).  And while it is true that some “good” doctors can cure patients that others might not (same with teachers!), it is also true that even the best doctors have patients that die.

So why do we think that if a teacher “teaches”, the student will- or even should-automatically “learn”?   Is the difference in our views of “medicine” and “education” or is it something else?  Perhaps we see a fundamental difference in the arts of teaching and healing.  Or maybe we think healing is an art, while teaching is a craft?  Perhaps we think that while it takes a lot of training to be a doctor, being a teacher is easy.  Perhaps we’ve never thought about it.

Regardless, the point remains:   Teaching and learning don’t always go together, any more that treating and healing.  Maybe we think they should. Or even wish they would. But they don’t.   And it’s harder in these days and times for them to go together than it has ever been.   This is true even for the best of teachers, and it is true at every level.

So, I tend to frown when someone (usually a legislator) begins talking about “fixing” our schools, and “making teachers accountable”.  [Understand:  I am not against accountability, and I am not defending “bad teachers”, whatever that means].  But I frown anyway.  It’s just not that easy.  There’s a myriad of very complex issues involved.  And anyone who thinks they know how to “cure” our education woes with a piece of legislation probably thinks that doctors of terminally ill patients should not be paid.