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This kind of stuff just blows my mind. Take someone who should be fired because they cannot do the job and promote them.
Right fraternity. Oh, he did his job (well sort of, a lot of us just ignored him most of the time. Very vindictive individual.). He was the recipient of several Principal/Educator of the Year awards.
Actually there was more to his being kicked upstairs to a made up position than that. I had a piece of it stemming from a fight I broke up.
This is what has really shocked me about teaching. In industry, being good at what you do will win in the end maybe not as big as the person with the connections but it will win in it's own way. In teaching it's all about appearances. It doesn't matter how good/bad you are if the right people like you. THAT is all that matters. I have struggled in teaching not because I'm a lousy teacher but because I don't have the right background. In particular, I didn't graduate from this district.
I remember my first parent night. Parent after parent would come up to me and ask me who I was. I'd explain I was the new chemistry teacher. Then another teacher, a native to the district, pulled me aside and explained that they were not asking who I was but rather what family I come from or who I knew that got me the job. They were asking by what right I was teaching in their district. I was there because I was the best candidate who was willing to take the job. They didn't like that answer. Where I teach who you are and who you know matters more than whether or not you can teach. Fortunately, most of our teachers are good teachers in spite of this. I think it's easier to be a good teacher if you're supported and the ones with the right family name or connections are supported. For others it's trial by fire.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 03-08-2015 at 07:43 AM..
I came out of industry and found very little of what was taught in my MAT classes helpful....
So true! I thought my MAT program was a joke and only need little effort to pull straight A's. And this was at a masters level. It's no wonder so many not so smart people get into teaching, the program is ridiculous and really only found one course useful, educational psychology. And I'm comparing this to getting an undergraduate degree in chemistry where I had to work by butt of to pass.
And herein is one of the biggest differences between the United States and other countries that rank highly in education, ie the Scandinavian countries, and even Canada. These foreign teachers go through a very rigorous program to become teachers and are continuously in professional development programs to improve. They spend less time with their students and spend more time in PD and planning. Those teachers are highly respected and on par with doctors in social standing. Only the best and smartest become teachers in more successful countries. Not so in America anymore. Teachers are vilified by politicians, disrespected by parents, students, and administrators, and the worst teachers can have a lifetime job as long as they don't commit a felony.
So true! I thought my MAT program was a joke and only need little effort to pull straight A's. And this was at a masters level. It's no wonder so many not so smart people get into teaching, the program is ridiculous and really only found one course useful, educational psychology. And I'm comparing this to getting an undergraduate degree in chemistry where I had to work by butt of to pass.
And herein is one of the biggest differences between the United States and other countries that rank highly in education, ie the Scandinavian countries, and even Canada. These foreign teachers go through a very rigorous program to become teachers and are continuously in professional development programs to improve. They spend less time with their students and spend more time in PD and planning. Those teachers are highly respected and on par with doctors in social standing. Only the best and smartest become teachers in more successful countries. Not so in America anymore. Teachers are vilified by politicians, disrespected by parents, students, and administrators, and the worst teachers can have a lifetime job as long as they don't commit a felony.
So, what's changed? That's always been the case. Thousands of politicians have started their careers, for decades, running for school board on an anti-teacher platform.
So, what's changed? That's always been the case. Thousands of politicians have started their careers, for decades, running for school board on an anti-teacher platform.
Yep. Everyone has always been better equipped to decide the best way to educate than teachers, and quite vocal about it. I personally think anyone making education policy should be required to teach in an actual classroom for at least one year.
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Yep. Everyone has always been better equipped to decide the best way to educate than teachers, and quite vocal about it. I personally think anyone making education policy should be required to teach in an actual classroom for at least one year.
Many teachers don't even put together their own lesson plans anymore.
It's done at the district level by the "experts". Testing is decided at the district level.
Homework policies are decided at the district level.
pre-K through 12 has become very structured and almost scripted.
So true! I thought my MAT program was a joke and only need little effort to pull straight A's. And this was at a masters level. It's no wonder so many not so smart people get into teaching, the program is ridiculous and really only found one course useful, educational psychology. And I'm comparing this to getting an undergraduate degree in chemistry where I had to work by butt of to pass.
And herein is one of the biggest differences between the United States and other countries that rank highly in education, ie the Scandinavian countries, and even Canada. These foreign teachers go through a very rigorous program to become teachers and are continuously in professional development programs to improve. They spend less time with their students and spend more time in PD and planning. Those teachers are highly respected and on par with doctors in social standing. Only the best and smartest become teachers in more successful countries. Not so in America anymore. Teachers are vilified by politicians, disrespected by parents, students, and administrators, and the worst teachers can have a lifetime job as long as they don't commit a felony.
That's interesting. The course I found useful was adolescent psychology. I also found my MAT program ridiculously easy. Getting A's was just a matter of crossing the t's and dotting the i's. I did take one A- just because I thought the amount of work required for the final project was nonsense. It was a technology class where we had to show we could use programs like Word, Excel and Power point. I could have taught the course but had a lot going on in my life so I just did the minimum and got an A-. I really wonder what students who got B's did. I didn't do much for my A's. I even got one A+ with little effort.
I agree that teachers are disrespected here. I think part of the problem is how easy it is to become a teacher. You just get your ticket punched. It doesn't take intelligence or subject matter knowledge to go into teaching. We have a cert in Michigan where you only need 36 mixed credits in science (12 life sciene, 12 earth science and 12 physical science) and you're considered highly qualified to teach ANY science including classes like AP chemistry AP biology or AP physics in grades 6-12. This is the most sought after cert for science teachers because it makes scheduling easier.
Many teachers don't even put together their own lesson plans anymore.
It's done at the district level by the "experts". Testing is decided at the district level.
Homework policies are decided at the district level.
pre-K through 12 has become very structured and almost scripted.
We're on this path. For now, what is taught and tested is decided in the departments but we are having test retake policies pushed at us with the goal being standards based grading in all high school classes where students can take as many chances as they need to pass the standards and earn their A. It's to the point grades mean nothing already. They will mean even less in a few years.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 03-08-2015 at 11:03 AM..
I came out of industry and found very little of what was taught in my MAT classes helpful. For the most part it was just ticket punching to get my certificate. The real training came on the job. Teacher training should be on the job. The sad part is you come out of college and they hand you the keys to your classroom and tell you to go teach. You get a "mentor" you talk to too infrequently to really help. Look at any other profession. On the job training comes with constant supervision and constant feedback. You can watch your peers work and compare yourself to them. Teaching is done in isolation.
This depends on the profession. Teaching certainly isn't the only industry in which you jump into the deep end sans handholding or heavy supervision. When I showed up for work my first day as a newspaper reporter, I was immediately sent out on a story lead, solo, first morning on the job. It was, "Show me what you can do." I wouldn't say, that "any" other profession comes with constant supervision and /or feedback.It's pretty dependent upon the industry and individual employer.
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