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OK, I listened to the video. I had missed it this morning on television. He makes some good points about teaching in general, such as burn-out. Teachers get out for many reasons. Sometimes it IS the school, principal, etc. But sometimes it is the fact that a lot of students don't want to learn. You can lead a horse to water, entice it to drink by making it fun, or even shove it's head in, but if it doesn't want to drink it won't. In fact, some would rather drown than drink.
Put another way, as I told students last year, "I can present you a meal, but I can't make you eat it. I can even make sure it is your favorite food and put said food in your mouth, but you are in charge of chewing and swallowing. Just because I present you information doesn't mean that you can sit there and not participate and expect to learn." This after I had a student complain that he hadn't learned anything, but had made no effort TO learn anything. He wouldn't do the vocabulary (which we made a game of finding the definitions and gave everyone the answers after) that all he had to do was write down, he wouldn't follow along with the reading and wouldn't do the computer program aimed at improving his reading skills. The rest of the class was incredulous, too, at his statement. "Dude, what else did you want her to do?"
Another problem is parents who still have the "us against them" mentality toward teachers. They always side with their little Johnny, no matter what. They don't make them do homework, don't make them go to bed, don't make them behave, and expect the teachers to raise them. Then they complain because the teacher disciplines them, or teaches them something they don't believe in, like the Holocaust. (Yes, some have argued that the Holocaust didn't happen)
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