Posted on 01/06/2014 6:27:31 AM PST by Timber Rattler
I recently published a post with various answers to the question: How hard is teaching? Here is one response I received by e-mail from a veteran seventh-grade language arts teacher in Frederick, Maryland, who asked not to be identified because she fears retaliation at her school. In this piece she describes students who dont want to work, parents who want their children to have high grades no matter what, mindless curriculum and school reformers who insist on trying to quantify things that cant be measured.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
My goodness, you are approximately one score older than I and your screed is exactly what passed for coursework when I went back to school to obtain a "teaching certificate" after I retired from computer programming
The Progressives in the NEA were very effective, weren't they.
You remind me very much of a professor I endured, much younger than I, when he ranted "Together we will unionize our Brothers and Sisters in Texas!"
I was humiliated to be in such company.
Unions do little but to give to succor the mediocre.
Are you one such person, or is this just an opinion? These other people selected what they wanted to do with their lives. I have, I did, and I appreciate the dedication, training, and experience of professional educators. It is foolish to think that a retiree from another discipline can just be plugged into a teacher slot.
Teaching is not something you decide to take up as a hobby. The reason schools require some course work in education is to get acquainted with the system, understand basic duties, and practice teach to see if you are fit for it. This is aside from the subject matter.
Furthermore, by retreading retired people, paths for employment and advancement of younger teaching professionals may be blocked. For what educational post is a financial executive qualified? an engineer? a product manager? Teaching is an art and a natural gift, not something you just decide to do.
And I'm speaking from experience. It's better that we reframe the context so that dedicated pros do not find themselves in the situation like the protagonist of this article, IMO.
1 Read the front page to see what the local guys were doing ie car wrecks burglarie etc.
2 Read the editorial page to see what the local state and government guys were doing.
3 Read the comics to take the edge off what you read.
We got the Newark Star Ledger delivered daily. On the week end my dad would vist a local store where he got the New York papers.
We were expected to read and understand from our family's political persepective
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
“Are you one such person, or is this just an opinion?”
Yes, I am such a person. I have Masters degree in Economics. And, was employed for 34 years with a large electronics company. During the course of those years I have taught both high school and college. I have found that the attributes you assign are broadly held by those who have spent several years in the private sector. Conversely, those who have spent their careers exclusively in education often lack the broad perspective that those coming from the private sector bring. Lastly, there is a shortage of so called professional teachers that the knowledge and wherewithal to teach the sciences and advanced math courses. This is where private sector talent could contribute greatly. So, suggest being a little more open minded about this. No one is trying to steal your rice bowl. Just want to give back a little, that’s all :)
Did you feel as limited by the school system administration as did the author of the article under discussion?
Ah, I'm sure what I said got a bit boring, but what I reported is what I saw living through those times. I believe secondary school education was quite different from what the author of this article described. I wouldn't have thought that the NEA was then filled with progressives--more likely conservative in nature.
The topic under consideration then was whether to continue with the classical approach to education (exemplified by Hyman Rickover's viewpoint), or to migrate to a system reconstructed by the progressive, liberal, socialistic--and Godless--view of John Dewey and his supporters. Dr. Benjamin Spock's influence on child-rearing played no small part in getting us to the educational mess we are in today. I have no love for unionism, but the prevailing attitudes toward compensation for teachers, and failure to correct those standards by some other method, brought unions into education as well as into other public services.
I don't know the answer, but I refuse to be identified with an educational system which has no measurable identification of quality of the process and the product.
What offended me was using the same teaching techniques on children and dogs.
Actual teaching methodologies were still secondary to promotion of the teacher union movement.
I make a good retirement income teaching math and science outside of the school system.
There are plenty of opportunities for a smart guy like you.
Well with four kids, I can almost guarantee public schools worked out better for my family.
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