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Obviously no one should be working in areas where they are not qualified... But you are right that this is a problem in education more, perhaps, than some other industries.
I have seen this in my district recently as well.
We are starting a hybrid course of science and its application to local policy. It was originally to be team taught by the science and history departments but due to scheduling issues, they tried to make one teacher cover both areas. This is legal in my state but both the history department and the science were department were uncomfortable in the push to make us teach a class with areas we are not subject area experts.
The outcome still hasn't been decided. We will see.
Some are interesting, engaging, inquisitive, and open to learning, which is invigorating and refreshing. You can easily facilitate higher order thinking levels of discussion, which is rewarding. You may see heightened maturity.
That said, the maturity isn't a given, and some honors students are used to things coming easily and resent challenges, especially if they've been able to excel without much effort. There can be a brattiness and egoism in honors students, often fostered via upbringing when it exists...kids who know they're bright, and talk down to others because they feel is warranted.
I've taught a wide range, from honors to intellectual disability. There are rewards in each setting.
I've seen two things in education that greatly bother me:
1. A lack of knowledge about subject matter they are teaching. Sometimes I know why this happens. If you're a principal there have probably been times you can't find a qualified candidate, particularly in STEM subjects and foreign languages. But sometimes it's just pure lack of knowledge by people who are "technically qualified". I actually felt sorry for a teacher I was observing/evaluating one time. She happened to be a science teacher...which had been my content area. During the lesson she made a horrendous content-related mistake...in fact, it was really the whole basis of the lesson. We had an emergency conference right after school, I pointed out the mistake (without backup from the internet), and told her she had to correct herself to her classes the next day and that I would be in to observe. "But I can't admit to students that I was wrong!" "You can and you will."
2. The other issue here can be a lack of knowledge about teaching styles and skills, student learning styles, etc. For example, a special ed teacher using the Encyclopedia Britannica to teach students just above the mildly mentally retarded level how to write a report. And then, as I related earlier in a post, teachers insisting on teaching gifted students even though the teacher has no background in gifted education.
Yep, sounds about right to me.
Who would have guessed that it all comes down to complicated institutional problems. (Story of American Education)
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkb0714
I have seen this in my district recently as well.
We are starting a hybrid course of science and its application to local policy. It was originally to be team taught by the science and history departments but due to scheduling issues, they tried to make one teacher cover both areas. This is legal in my state but both the history department and the science were department were uncomfortable in the push to make us teach a class with areas we are not subject area experts.
The outcome still hasn't been decided. We will see.
That's not even so bad compared to the terrible alternative certification teachers we get who have never had any real education in the subject they are teaching nor any knowledge of pedagogy. It seems that they just think it will be an easy job with summers off. (Perhaps they took that "those who can't do teach" thing seriously... Unfortunately the phrase should really be "those who can't do have zero value to anyone")
That's not even so bad compared to the terrible alternative certification teachers we get who have never had any real education in the subject they are teaching nor any knowledge of pedagogy. It seems that they just think it will be an easy job with summers off. (Perhaps they took that "those who can't do teach" thing seriously... Unfortunately the phrase should really be "those who can't do have zero value to anyone")
Alternative cert here. Actually most of the teachers in my department are. We cannot become teachers via alternate route without a degree in the field.
Alternative cert here. Actually most of the teachers in my department are. We cannot become teachers via alternate route without a degree in the field.
Just to be clear I have nothing against most alt cert teachers just the ones who can't teach. Also my district has an alt cert program that is notoriously bad so I only see the bad side.
Some are interesting, engaging, inquisitive, and open to learning, which is invigorating and refreshing. You can easily facilitate higher order thinking levels of discussion, which is rewarding. You may see heightened maturity.
That said, the maturity isn't a given, and some honors students are used to things coming easily and resent challenges, especially if they've been able to excel without much effort. There can be a brattiness and egoism in honors students, often fostered via upbringing when it exists...kids who know they're bright, and talk down to others because they feel is warranted.
I've taught a wide range, from honors to intellectual disability. There are rewards in each setting.
Yep. I've talked to my oldest about her experience with honors classes, and though she prefers them over non-honors classes, there are still a lot of immature and annoying kids in her classes. But it is middle school. Lol
I want to avoid teaching middle school if possible. I'd love to teach an art or humanities elective, or possibly comparative religion since it's my field.
I spent most of my career teaching 5th grade and the gifted classes were a pull-out style.
I preferred teaching the gifted kids. The program was always threatened to be cut or I would have went after that as a FT position. Our gifted teacher often had to ask me how to solve math equations and would joke about how I should have her job. Some of my teammates didn't care for teaching gifted kids all that much.
Why... Because I understood them. I understood their thinking. I could explain it to them differently, and follow their off-the-wall ideas and explanations. I was a gifted student myself.
Occasionally, when a student struggled with a certain concept I'd get frustrated that they didn't get it, no matter how many ways I approached it. If it was math, one of my teammates could always reach the struggling student. She struggled with math herself as a student, so she understood their thinking. I was always at least two years ahead in math. I remember when I was in first grade my mom had a major surgery so I had to stay with my grandparents a few weeks. At an hour away, my parents and grandparents made the decision to ask for work and keep me home. I finished all three weeks worth of work in a day. They asked for more work and grandpa picked it up. They had sent 2nd grade material, hoping to keep me busy. By the end of the week, I was doing a fourth grade math workbook. Without help. I just got it. (Grandpa drove me to school for the next two weeks, lol.)
Yep. I've talked to my oldest about her experience with honors classes, and though she prefers them over non-honors classes, there are still a lot of immature and annoying kids in her classes. But it is middle school. Lol
I want to avoid teaching middle school if possible. I'd love to teach an art or humanities elective, or possibly comparative religion since it's my field.
Middle school was my hands down favorite when I taught. 99.9% of them, including the honors students, are ridiculously immature, but they're fun.
Why... Because I understood them. I understood their thinking. I could explain it to them differently, and follow their off-the-wall ideas and explanations. I was a gifted student myself.
I was, as well, and in teaching gifted students, I found the same thing as when I taught special needs students with intellectual impairment...they were all different. Some, I identified with; others, I never did. It would be presumptuous to claim I understood every students' thinking, no matter their ability level. Individuals are just that.
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