Professor must take GCSE to teach in his school

The Daily Telegraph ^ | 12 October, 2004 | Liz Lightfoot

[Timocrat]

Why should he be any different?

Surely the question should be why are rules in place which prevent an obviously brilliant teacher from teaching( Getting a third of the schools A level students to take Math is a miracle in itself - hard sciences seem to be avoided like the plague) The shortage of Math and science teachers is critical throughout the US and Europe and then some education bureaucrat puts in place rules which exclude teachers who can actually teach.

The relevant question in not "why should he be any different" but "why are rules put in place which produce hundreds of incompetent teachers and exclude exceptional ones". My guess is that, like the Democrat party in this country, the socialists in power in the UK have a large cadre of unionised teachers in their party organisations and this is just payback.

Credentialism over competence and the kids are the losers.

[Timocrat]

Why should he be any different?

Surely the question should be why are rules in place which prevent an obviously brilliant teacher from teaching( Getting a third of the schools A level students to take Math is a miracle in itself - hard sciences seem to be avoided like the plague) The shortage of Math and science teachers is critical throughout the US and Europe and then some education bureaucrat puts in place rules which exclude teachers who can actually teach.

The relevant question in not "why should he be any different" but "why are rules put in place which produce hundreds of incompetent teachers and exclude exceptional ones". My guess is that, like the Democrat party in this country, the socialists in power in the UK have a large cadre of unionised teachers in their party organisations and this is just payback.

Credentialism over competence and the kids are the losers.

[AnAmericanMother]

LOL! Sounds like you won that round!

[Porterville]

I don't care if it is the King of France teaching about cowardice, he should have to follow proper protocol.

[AnAmericanMother]

A friend of mine has a degree in special ed. (mostly because she has two LD children). She substitute taught for awhile, but she just couldn't stand it - "mind numbingly dull" is exactly how she described both getting the degree and trying to teach. Now she's concentrating on getting her second through high school.

[pabianice]

Education, Liberal Style

[Ditto]

This is ridiculous petty bureaucracy.

Is there any other kind?

[Doctor Stochastic]

Teachers are only required to be certified, not qualified.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Not exactly. You are qualified to teach. You are not certified to teach.

[AnAmericanMother]

I don't care if it is the King of France teaching about cowardice, he should have to follow proper protocol.

. . . this would be him, if you're considering the Orleanist line to be the correct one:

Seriously, "proper protocol" has degenerated here into a system designed to suppress talent and ability and reward timeservers and the marginally competent. Think the Byzantine court or the Chancery of Dickens's time.

You can't support a procedure just because the system itself claims "proper protocol". Of course every bureaucratic system declares itself to be proper. You can't judge this by its own internal standard; that standard has become corrupt.

[AnAmericanMother]

They ought to provide certification upon a showing of an appropriate degree plus teaching experience.

Some school systems provide a special certification for teachers from the ranks of retired businessmen, engineers, etc.

I guess it depends on whether they are more interested in getting the best possible education for the children, or just in protecting the educratic turf.

[Timocrat]

"...he should have to follow proper protocol".

Don't ever read "The Good Soldier Schweik" it'll be a complete waste of your time.

[international american]

You truly speak the gospel truth on all counts!

[ladylib]

Many very good private schools don't have "education school" teachers on their staff.

[BlueNgold]

there is an equivalence test which he could use to prove that his US qualifications reach the same standard...

An equivalence test to see if an IVY LEAGUE PhD is up to standard for teaching HS? Mr. Wolfe MUST stand up and fight this, if for nothing else than for the honor of his cloak.

[MississippiMan]

Good grief, did you even READ the article?

Your comment is a perfect example of how the right also has its share of knee-jerk reactionaries who refuse to employ common sense and perspective. If it's a teacher test, it MUST be good.

We see this same thinking through countless other issues: If it's a lawsuit, it MUST be bad. If it protects an animal, it MUST be extremism. And on and on. It's ridiculous.

MM

[AnAmericanMother]

The private school that my daughter attends makes a point of telling parents that ALL its teachers have degrees in the subject they teach - NOT 'education degrees'.

I attended the same school in the late 60s, early 70s - I don't know if my German teacher had a degree in German . . . she was a native Austrian (born not too far from Ah-nold's home town) . . . but she had TWO doctorates in chemistry from the University of Graz . . . I guess she could have taught us chemistry in German . . . :-D

[Old Professer]

The British haven't contributed anything to science since The Sten gun.

[tjwmason]

The British haven't contributed anything to science since The Sten gun.

Apart from such minor things as (off the top of my head) the discovery of D.N.A.

[ArrogantBustard]

I sat through them ruminating on whether the course material made the professors so mind-numbingly dull or whether they were dull to start with and gravitated to such course material.

Ahhhh ... one of the great questions of the ages. I suppose it could be settled by experiment, but the experiment would be highly unethical to conduct.