ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270017
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER DATELINE} DUBLIN
After hearing from a motivational education speaker last week, Pulaski County teachers seemed in too good a mood for a downer about monetary woes in the coming school year.
Superintendent Bill Asbury apparently felt that way, too.
"You really want to hear about the budget?" Asbury asked teachers who had just listened to a presentation from William Purkey, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Asbury had been scheduled to follow Purkey's presentation with comments on where the 1996-97 budget stands. Instead, he asked, "How would you like a gift of time this morning?" So the teachers got to finish their work day early.
Asbury did say the budget would be tight, but with the emphasis on teachers and educational programs.
Purkey, who described himself as "the last living North American consultant that does not own a single overhead transparency," had already told the teachers they were underpaid. All teachers are, he said.
"They're not paying you half of what you deserve, and I'll tell you something else - they're not going to," he said. "If they're only paying you half what you're worth, you should at least have a good time."
And that was the thrust of Purkey's talk - the importance of fun in a teacher's workday.
"Education is too important to take seriously," he said. "If you don't have three falling-down laughs a day in your school, something's amiss. Schools are hilarious."
Purkey had some of the teachers laughing to the point of tears with his rendition of typical public-address system announcements that interrupt class work.
He said too many teachers fall back on trite excuses for failing students such as, "They don't want to learn. The parents don't care ... The children today aren't like they ... " he paused, and the teachers finished that one for him. " ... used to be."
Well, they aren't, he agreed. But teachers must always teach with the idea that all their students will pass because often what they expect is what they get.
He urged schools to put their most off-the-wall people on their social committees, because working together is best when the workers laugh and party together as well. "If you're a team of teachers, you'll move the world. If you're a group of teachers, you'll accomplish absolutely nothing," he said.
He said everything counts in a school, from the way its telephone is answered to what kinds of signs are in its parking lot. They can all contribute to a welcoming environment or a cold one, he said.
Parents are not switching their kids to private schools because they want better academics, he said. Surveys show that one of the main reasons is that they want their child to enjoy the school experience.
Teachers need to set examples by taking care of themselves, dressing like they know what they do is important, and showing by their own actions what they expect of their students.
"Stand tall, dress well and eat less," he said. After a pause, he added, "Two out of three's not bad."
Purkey said he tells his own students that, if they give him their best effort, he will take care of everything else. "You give me effort, I'll give you the world," he said.
"If you lose one child in this school system, just one, then the whole system is demeaned," he said. "What people fear most in this world is to make the effort. ... Any attempt is a victory, and that's something we've got to get back into schools."
He said this country has the world's best teachers, based on what their students accomplish in areas ranging from Nobel Prizes to science, business and other fields.
"We've got the best schools in the world. The problem is we circle the wagons. Then we shoot inside," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB