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It was a stereotype back when I was growing up, but I would have liked to think that we had gotten past that hoary old idea in the 21st century. Instead, my wife got a secondary education/social studies master's degree after getting a master's in sociology, and discovered that schools were explicitly linking social studies teaching positions with coaching. I just couldn't believe this was even legal (it seems vaguely sexist); and it certainly cannot be what those who carry the torch of the social sciences at the university level want their field to be associated with.
Not that I'm a sports hater--in fact, I'm a fanatic about tennis and football, and don't mind basketball either--but the implication is that SS is sort of a blowoff, not anything academically serious, so something you just pass off to the coach. And then if someone with real SS credentials wants to actually teach it in a serious way, but does not happen to have an interest and/or aptitude for coaching, forget it.
Not only do I feel that it is wrong for schools to orient their hiring this way, I also think that so long as this is the case, university education departments should warn their students that if they go for a secondary social studies certificate but are not oriented toward coaching, they are likely to be heading for a dead-end careerwise.
Last edited by SlackerInc; 05-03-2013 at 07:25 PM..
Reason: grammar--subject/verb agreement
It will depend on the school system and even the state. PA is noted for that (but I had Social Studies teachers who were not coaches 40+ years ago in a small system). In MD the coaching thing holds true at my school but not at every one.
It was a stereotype back when I was growing up, but I would have liked to think that we had gotten past that hoary old idea in the 21st century. Instead, my wife got a secondary education/social studies master's degree after getting a master's in sociology, and discovered that schools were explicitly linking social studies teaching positions with coaching. I just couldn't believe this was even legal (it seems vaguely sexist); and it certainly cannot be what those who carry the torch of the social sciences at the university level want their field to be associated with.
Not that I'm a sports hater--in fact, I'm a fanatic about tennis and football, and don't mind basketball either--but the implication is that SS is sort of a blowoff, not anything academically serious, so something you just pass off to the coach. And then if someone with real SS credentials wants to actually teach it in a serious way, but does not happen to have an interest and/or aptitude for coaching, forget it.
Not only do I feel that it is wrong for schools to orient their hiring this way, I also think that so long as this is the case, university education departments should warn their students that if they go for a secondary social studies certificate but are not oriented toward coaching, they are likely to be heading for a dead-end careerwise.
I completely agree. I have a secondary certification in History/Social Studies. The only job I could find was 5th grade Social Studies, at an Intermediate school, where no sports teams existed.
I know it can't be true for every single position everywhere, because I did have a great history teacher in high school who wasn't a coach; but OTOH, there were three other history teachers at the school who were coaches, and they were the stereotypical war veterans with crewcuts.
It just strikes me that if you become, say, an English teacher because that is the academic subject you love, you're not going to run into this problem at all. There are some English teachers who coach, of course; but I don't think it will nearly so often go hand in hand when making hiring decisions.
More fundamentally, schools should just hire coaches separately and not connect it to teaching at all.
In our HS and MS, the coaches are as likely to be an English, Math or Science teacher. It never occurred to me that a SS teacher was normally a coach. That IS pretty weird.
In our HS and MS, the coaches are as likely to be an English, Math or Science teacher. It never occurred to me that a SS teacher was normally a coach. That IS pretty weird.
In my state, coaches are usually social studies/history. Occasionally, you'll find one that teaches math.
As a taxpayer, you want to pay a person a full-time salary to coach?
Why would it have to be full time? Honestly, I bet there are a lot of retired guys who would love to do it for free, or for a nominal amount. If a school wants to be super competitive and cutthroat and get a really good coach, let the local boosters pay their salary. Then you don't get some guy who is great at coaching but sucks as a teacher.
Why would it have to be full time? Honestly, I bet there are a lot of retired guys who would love to do it for free, or for a nominal amount. If a school wants to be super competitive and cutthroat and get a really good coach, let the local boosters pay their salary. Then you don't get some guy who is great at coaching but sucks as a teacher.
With all due respect, you aren't living in the real world.
With all due respect, you aren't living in the real world.
What you mean is "that's a huge change from the way things have been done for a long time". But if we went back fifty years, we'd see tons of other stuff that has changed in the way schools are structured and operate. Why is this particular element sacrosanct? Admittedly more of those changes have happened in the younger grades; but doesn't that mean high schools are even more overdue for change?
I have to think this change will come about eventually, especially given that other countries don't operate this way. When it finally does, it won't be long before people look back on the "teacher" hired mainly to coach sports as being almost inconceivable, it is so contrary to the essential nature of what the education system is supposed to be for.
At the very least, I could easily see lawsuits eventually forcing schools to stop these kinds of discriminatory hiring practices. It would also be nice to see history and social science departments at the university level realise that this (along with the heavy focus on math, science, and reading) is an existential threat to the credibility of their fields, and try to exert some pressure in terms of boosting the rigour of their subjects at the secondary level.
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