Schools of Education...... teach teaching not subject matter.
That is indeed one of the major problems with our system for educating prospective educators.
Apparently, the author of this article would rather have incompetent science teachers than to try to solve this problem.
Somehow, the school systems need to get people with scientific training to be science teachers. They should, of course, try to get teachers who show some aptitude for teaching. But passing a bunch of education courses does not qualify someone to teach science. If I have to choose between a science teacher who doesn't know science and a science teacher who doesn't know teaching, I will choose the latter. But my preference would be someone who knows science and has a gift for teaching, whether or not the person has taken any courses on education.
Exactly. If the educator requirements were lowered or eliminated, the science teacher base from actual scientists would increase dramatically.
Education funds are for educators, not for educating
My mom, for a number of years, taught at a private nursery school. Obviously for that age group, it wasn’t too heavy on academics, but she loved children, she loved doing it, and she was good at it.
That all ended when the state came along and told her she would have to take a bunch of “education” courses or she couldn’t continue.
She quit.
Precisely.
Yet without a 'teaching certificate', in this state and probably most others, a scientist cannot be compensated for teaching so much as a middle school Earth Science class.