Overcrowding Classrooms: Is It On Purpose & The Opinions Of A Former Educator

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There is a video that went viral recently of a bullying situation at Creekland Middle School in Georgia. The video shows a 12-year girl taunting another female student. She then picks up a chair and eventually begins hitting the other student with the legs of the chair. As the bully laughs and turns to leave, you can hear the classmates talking and laughing, which encourages her to return for more. This time she physically hits the student in the face. You can see through the video the student being bullied is extremely scared and does nothing to retaliate.  

Of course one of the main questions you hear from viewers being interviewed as well as comments on the Internet is, “Where was the teacher?!?” Now don’t get me wrong, this is a very valid question and of course they found out she was on the other side of the room assisting a student one-on-one. I am not taking up for the teacher, nor am I making light of the situation because this situation is terrible. However, this situation focuses on what I feel is one of the main issues in our public school systems… the overcrowding of classrooms.

Overcrowding in schools happen when the estimated number of students that enroll in schools is exceeded. Overcrowding in our classrooms has become more and more of an issue. It is increasing at such a high rate that in 2011 some states began to put in place an education reform known as CSR – Class-Size Reduction, to help with this. The idea in theory was good, however not truly beneficial. One reason was not all states participated and secondly money diminishes more quickly when you have smaller class sizes. Smaller classes equal more teachers. According to Brookings.edu, “increasing the pupil/teacher ratio in the U.S. by one student would save at least $12 billion per year in teacher salary costs alone…”

So this, in a sense, justifies why I feel education really is not a priority like it should be in our country. When it’s time to reduce funding, typically it will be taken away from education without the blink of an eye. In the example I gave you above, you see they would rather increase the size of classrooms to reduce the amount of money spent for the salaries of teachers… YET they do not reduce the responsibilities, pressure, and expectations of the teachers. So reduce their pay, find ways to cut their financial assistance, and the help and support they get from the school system and their school, all the while expecting them to be miracle workers with our future and do this in an overcrowded classroom with outdated or damaged books, supplies, and technology.

I’m just saying… if you want a doctor to be best at his/her job then you expect them to have the best tools, technology, and they expect to get paid what they deserve not what is “left for them.” If you hire a landscaping company to maintain your yard and do their best work each time, then you expect them to have top-notch equipment and tools, and trust me they will not keep your yard looking it’s best if you pay them less than they deserve. How about cleaning companies, dentists, cable companies, chefs, plumbers, etc.? Get the point now?!?

 
overcrowded classroom
 

Here are my 2 cents on this topic and I am speaking from the standpoint of a former educator who actually dealt with overcrowded classrooms and as a parent who takes education seriously for my children.

Overcrowding in the public school system affects:

(1) Learning in the classroom:

Imagine walking into crowded hotel meeting room, where you are largely outnumbered, you can see and hear there are many different side conversations going on, and you have to get everyone’s attention to make an announcement without a microphone. How long do you think it will take to get everyone’s attention, keep their attention, be able to talk over all of them, and deliver your message?

Even though this example is not directly related to a classroom and I know there are way more people in that hotel meeting room than a classroom but the relevancy of the example still holds true. Why? Because when you have an overcrowded classroom this is what you encounter on a daily basis. As a teacher, you may have your classroom expectation and structure set up. Therefore, the students may know what they should and shouldn’t be doing and they even know what is expected of them. Now, stop for a moment and truly take into consideration what a teacher has to do before she even starts teaching her class:

  • Welcome the students into her classroom from wherever they just came from and in many situations there is a “calm down” moment. They could have been talking and laughing with friends, just had a bad experience at home or with another student or teacher, just finished having fun in a Physical Education (P.E.) class, etc.

  • Take attendance, which means all of the students have to be accounted for. If the class is overcrowded then of course it takes longer. Yes, you can have a system set up and even delegate this role to a very responsible student but again it takes up the time set aside for teaching.

  • Now it’s time to teach the lesson of the day, right? Nope, there are warm-ups, which are review type material to make sure the students understand what you have taught so far and then you have to go over these answers. Finally it's time to transition them and get them ready to learn the lesson. You know just as well as I know, kids will talk, won’t have supplies, have to find them what they need or have them borrow from other students, and now more time has passed. Honestly, if you are given 55 minutes of class time, you are really only teaching about 30-35 minutes after all is said and done.

  • Now with this class period, teachers are required to teach, interact one on one with students, make learning fun and find way to make the information “stick”, teach them to be able to “pass the standardized tests”, differentiate (modify to reach the different learning levels and styles of each student and the class as a whole), do group work, review, quiz/test, and MORE.

So how much can you really teach and accomplish in an overcrowded classroom? Can you imagine the interruptions? the questions? How many students can you really get one on one with, and how many times do you think the teacher has to stop to redirect the class of minors? Plus so much pressure is put on the teacher to be miracle workers with students and better yet, they are expected to be babysitters and teach children life lessons that definitely should be taught and/or reinforced at home and are not. I’ll leave that there for another blog in itself because I could go on for days on that topic!

(2) Behavior in the classrooms:

With the classrooms being overcrowded, this means more desks in closer proximity to each other, and ultimately tempts students to socialize more. If class sizes were small, then the idea of personal space is granted. When your personal space is invaded then that increases emotions and tempers, which can lead into arguments and disrupting the learning that is supposed to be taking place. Just imagine teaching and one side conversation starts or some sort of disturbance happens, the teacher stops to address it and now the focus has shifted. This now leads to more incidents happening in the classroom.

Let’s not even begin to discuss how the classrooms have shifted from the students being required to respect the teacher to now the teacher has to walk around on eggshells. So in an overcrowded classroom, it is hard to separate students and it gives them more of a “stage” to misbehave, get attention, and cause disruptions.

(3) Update Supplies, Materials, and Technology:

If the classrooms are overcrowded, then where can you house a computer station for the students to use? Equipment for experiments for a science lab won’t fit? With funding constantly being reduced, monies are not spent updating textbooks or technology. Typically the computer lab or library will get updated but they will not accommodate the entire school and they have to be reserved as first come first serve. Or shared small amounts of iPads or tablets that they house in a central location that also has to be reserved on a first come first serve basis. So how can you prepare and educate our future without dated materials?

(4) Morale and Quality of Teachers:

Teaching is already a stressful job that many take for granted but lets just recap in case you missed:

  • you have teaching in a crowded area,

  • hardly any support of funding,

  • low pay with no true raises,

  • having to be financial responsible for buying necessities for your class that SHOULD be provided,

  • dealing with unnecessary behavioral problems,

  • unhelpful and unsupportive parents,

  • and lastly dealing with the lack of support or backing from your school board and the administration in your school

This all adds up to one thing… STRESS!

All of this and we haven’t even taken into account everyday life stresses but as we all know, teachers are expected to not have a life outside of school. (If you can’t tell that statement about teachers not having a life was pure sarcasm.)

Teachers spend most of their time in the classroom, so if the classroom is overcrowded, there is no personal space for the teacher and whatever space he or she has is taken up by making room for other things that need to be in the classroom. I don’t think all of this puts teachers in a good space to go out and seize the day and teach at their best levels.

Oh, let me also mention, that the education field is not as respected as it should be. You have so many “teachers” becoming teachers only because it is a “guaranteed job and paycheck.” So it’s not in their heart to really make a difference in the lives of children and they really don’t care. This makes it hard for those teachers who really love what they do and have a passion for it. They have to overcompensate for what is not taught and what the students should have learned. Put this person in an overcrowded classroom, with behavior problems, and outdated materials, what exactly do you think will be accomplished? Can you say even more stress and frustration for teachers actually trying to teach in these conditions?

So all in all, overcrowded classrooms effects so much and this is an issue that seriously needs to be addressed ASAP! This is our future generations at stake. Education needs to be taken more seriously in our country. There are many countries that have large size classes but they have the necessary and update materials, their communities and school systems support them, the students are expected to attend school and strive for the best, they are REQUIRED to respect their teachers or a major consequence is given, parents are present, supportive, and helpful, and the environment as a whole is completely different. So everyone is able thrive in his or her designated roles in a school system.

We need to focus less on cutting our education funds, making sure students can pass tests and place more focus on really preparing our youth, assisting them in really learning what is necessary, preparing them for the real world and not failure, fixing this overcrowding issue, and giving our teacher the respect and pay they need and deserve!

Teachers, I salute you and respect all of you who give your all each day despite the lack of pay, respect, gratitude, support, and love you deserve!