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I'm in grad school (for Business) and my school has a Reddit. I'm seeing various education majors who are seriously struggling through their classes. Does it seem ironic that an adult person who can barely pass their own classes would be the ones holding children accountable for their classes?
Should a person reconsider their career if they can't pass a course like "Math for Elementary School" where they can't do the math an eight year old would be tasked to do?
How should we view academically challenged education majors?
Last edited by charlygal; 04-24-2021 at 02:39 PM..
That is tragic and frightening for the future of our children’s education. Don’t you have to pass a test to get into education field? Or, at least into a Masters which I believe most educators try to achieve. Sorry, it has been some time since I graduated from college.
I followed our daughter’s education closely, volunteering to help in and out of the classroom and found nothing but excellent teachers. She is 33 so is way past the primary grades. I hope your experience is an isolated one.
Maybe your college isn't very highly-rated in education and admits subpar students. Checkout the education students at Peabody or UM.
If they can't pass the state certification exams, then they are not going to teach in a public school no matter how they fared in their college coursework.
IME, the most academically gifted college students don't necessarily make the best teachers. IMO, the ability to relate to youngsters is more important.
Math classes are hard for many non STEM students. If you are good in math volunteer to be a tutor to help them.
I was an engineering major and math came easy to me and I volunteered for tutoring a few days a week when I was on campus.
Nah, not all teachers are education majors. Many have degrees in their subject, and that number rises at the higher levels of education.
I know many teachers, and the consensus is that education degrees are inferior to subject matter degrees. Education programs try to teach pedagogy in a universal way without deep dives into the content. That is an inferior approach IMO.
A teacher friend who has a BA in her subject and later got a masters in education for the credentialing and salary boost took a pretty dim view of the curriculum of education programs. She described them at best as "easy A's".
Nah, not all teachers are education majors. Many have degrees in their subject, and that number rises at the higher levels of education.
I know many teachers, and the consensus is that education degrees are inferior to subject matter degrees. Education programs try to teach pedagogy in a universal way without deep dives into the content. That is an inferior approach IMO.
A teacher friend who has a BA in her subject and later got a masters in education for the credentialing and salary boost took a pretty dim view of the curriculum of education programs. She described them at best as "easy A's".
See, this is what I don't understand. I had to take way more subject area classes than education ones to get my degree, and even some of those were subject area (Educational Psychology, for example, was actually a Stats course). In fact, the only strictly Education courses I can remember taking off hand are Social Foundations of Education, Methods and Practicum (which even 40+ years later I still don't know what it was about). All the rest of my classes were subject area specific.
The only thing I did that a BA candidate did not, other than not have a requirement for a foreign language, was Student Teach, one semester as a course requirement in a lab school followed by fulltime the next semester.
It may be the fact that Elementary Ed is more generalist (and if it's not done right the kid is screwed for the next twelve or thirteen years) while Secondary Ed are more specialization.
Or, as I was was told and have since stolen for my own use, Elementary teachers teach the student while Secondary teachers teach the subject.
See, this is what I don't understand. I had to take way more subject area classes than education ones to get my degree, and even some of those were subject area (Educational Psychology, for example, was actually a Stats course). In fact, the only strictly Education courses I can remember taking off hand are Social Foundations of Education, Methods and Practicum (which even 40+ years later I still don't know what it was about). All the rest of my classes were subject area specific.
The only thing I did that a BA candidate did not, other than not have a requirement for a foreign language, was Student Teach, one semester as a course requirement in a lab school followed by fulltime the next semester.
It may be the fact that Elementary Ed is more generalist (and if it's not done right the kid is screwed for the next twelve or thirteen years) while Secondary Ed are more specialization.
Or, as I was was told and have since stolen for my own use, Elementary teachers teach the student while Secondary teachers teach the subject.
I am less familiar with primary ed and more familiar with secondary ed, which may be where the balance towards subject matter degrees shifts.
I'm in grad school (for Business) and my school has a Reddit. I'm seeing various education majors who are seriously struggling through their classes. Does it seem ironic that an adult person who can barely pass their own classes would be the ones holding children accountable for their classes?
Should a person reconsider their career if they can't pass a course like "Math for Elementary School" where they can't do the math an eight year old would be tasked to do?
How should we view academically challenged education majors?
I earned my teaching credential almost 40 years ago in California. It didn't matter how many classes you had taken, if you couldn't pass the California Basic Educational Standards Test you didn't get a credential. Lots of people took education classes and never became teachers.
CBEST had 3 sections: Math; Language Arts; and Essay writing. It took about 4 hours to complete.
If you failed any section, you had to retake the entire test months later. Years after I passed, allegations were made that the test discriminated against minorities. I was appointed to a State panel (along with teachers of every color) that evaluated the test. Collectively, we found no evidence of discrimination, but recommended that teacher candidates only have to retake any section that they failed.
I wouldn't be too concerned about those people you described. I'm sure they will also have to take a skills test to become certified. Alternately they can teach in private schools.
In my case, I never used the Algebra or advance math that I had to learn. I was a History teacher.
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