Are the Right People Becoming Teachers? ( Teachers are NOT Professionals)

EdNews.org ^ | January 9,2007 | Martin Haberman

[wintertime]

(snip)

1. The practitioners know and can do things the public in general cannot do. They have a specialized body of knowledge.

2. The specialized body of knowledge practitioners have takes an extended period of time to learn.

3. The educators who prepare the practitioners are experts who agree upon the specialized body of knowledge practitioners must have.

4. Admission to a professional training program is highly selective.( snip).

6. Only members of the profession set the standards for licensure and certification.

7. The primary responsibility and loyalty of a professional is to serve the client and not simply the institution or governmental agency in which the practitioner may be employed.

8. Neither the public at large nor an employing institution may control the way in which professionals relate to their clients, or the treatments, methods or procedures they use.

9. Neither the public at large nor an employing institution may set the purpose, goals or objectives for the practitioner’s practice with clients.

10. The public at large does not decide how to evaluate professionals.

11. Only members of the profession can determine malpractice and dismiss or disbar practitioners.

12. Professionals determine the cost of their services.

19. Professionals are trained to serve clients with problems. By definition “professionals” do not seek to perform services to clients without problems.

21. Professionals share a code of ethics to which they commit and adhere. They cannot be directed to perform or not perform services for clients which conflict with their professional code.

The case that teaching does not meet any of these twenty one criteria can be readily made.

[ichabod1]

But my challenge (and that of all teachers) is to make kids think

Many would say your job is to teach them to read and write. I hear this line a lot, it seems to be a blanket excuse for all kinds of irrelevant and harmful behavior in which teachers choose to engage. "I was just trying to get them to think." Bull.

Teachers are definitely not professionals, but that doesn't mean they don't have a responsibility to practice their craft in a professional manner. I understand the desire to elevate the occupation as it is critically important, yet so commonplace as to be taken for granted.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Not the military in general, certainly. Some professions in the military surely, such as pilot.

An interseting thought . . . I know in one of my "Leadership and Law" classes at USNA, we spent at least one entire class debating whether a military officer was a professional or just another working Joe . . .

Of course all you non-coms out there think the word "working" is not in an officer's job description!

[wintertime]

Paragraphs are your friend.

[dmz]

Excellent, wintertime. A new tack for you. Public education has taken more than few body blows from you (that it is child abuse was my fav until today), but you have struck a new stance! One that is even more over the top. Public schools are working to destroy Western Civilization.

Everybody out of the pool, as wintertime is doing cannonballs right off the deep end.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

The teaching profession and teachers unions are essentially the new craft guild. Seeking to keep out of the profession those who they consider undesireables (conservitives).

This describes the gatekeepers of the "profession" of journalism to a tee.

[esoxmagnum]

I think you got me wrong. I am NOT for sending more money to the schools. It costs 16k a year to educate a child here in my school district. SIXTEEN THOUSAND! A Year!

We have a 55% illegal immigrant problem. I paid 8 grand in property taxes last year, on TOP of my kids education bill. My grandparents were forced to move in with us 3 years ago because they could no longer pay their property taxes.

Our administrative budget for our district is just over 12 million. That is the cost of the ADMINS and offices!!!!!!

We have 2 admins for every principle!!!! The admins are tenured. They are union-ed. They also get step pay, even if they are file clerks!!!!

They go to degree-mills who churn out teaching degrees. One can earn a doctorate in 2 years after a bachelor part time here. Of course its a teaching doctorate, but it pays MORE than a real doctor of medicine in some cases, with full insurance, no malpractice, no risk, no internship, no liability, no overhead, state funded retirement, etc, etc.

This madness has to END.

Its not enough for the taxpayers to revolt because every 2 years when the referendums come around, there are hundred.. HUNDREDS of teachers in the papers editorials talking about how the kids will SUFFER if we don't pass it, but there is NEVER one teacher saying "cut admins pay" or "kindcare teachers shouldn't make 100k a year" or "I want to work year round because I care about your kids" NEVER NEVER NEVER

End gub'mint skools NOW. End the indoctrination of our youth. End the teaching of abortion. Start teaching math and science and stop the junk teaching of "feelings".

Our kids, our nation are faltering and our teachers are the reason. I can only weep at the prospect of our future generation given that this continues.

If you teach public schools, write your papers, sign your name, let yourself be a beacon, because if there are more like you, then they are afraid to come out too. Perhaps YOU can be the catalyst for change. Change starts or ends with the teachers!

...As for why the big 3 can't crush the unions? Because the employees there are unskilled, and have no other alternative to make the income they make now in any other field. Just like the teachers in public schools. I'm sorry to say.

[miele man]

What are those wires on the walls connected to?

Your kids are doing a good thing for the Gitmo soldiers.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

She just graduated a year and a half ago and entered into a program that the City of Baltimore has to encourage recent college grads to work as teachers, even without certification. It's similar to the Teach for America program, but exclusively for Baltimore. She only has half a year left in her two year obligation, and plans to sign on for at least on more year, but she's already finding it extremely difficult and isn't sure how much longer she can hold out.

Best of luck to her. After a year, my friend's wife bailed out because it was just too damn dangerous.

[Thywillnotmine]

yeah... end of rant.

[CT-Freeper]

In twenty more years, the idea of herding forty kids into a makeshift prison cell to be lectured to by a "C" student with a minimal command of the curriculum will seem as bizarre and backward as the medical practice of bloodletting to treat disease does today.

That reminds me of a common statement about lawyers.

Those who graduate with A's and A-'s become Law Professors.
Those who graduate with B's and B-'s become judges.
Those who graduate with C's become the practicing lawyers...and politicians!

[RobbyS]

This is not true. The average elementary teacher has an IQ of around 112, the average high teacher, around 118. Of course, college professors, lawyers and doctor score much higher. But teachers don't lack native intelligence. What they lack is a proper education. Elementary teachers suffer especially from bad instruction. The education schools offer so many courses that are an insult to even persons of average intelligence. However, you are right to this extent: Education schools do not atttempt to recruit students with outstanding high school records and high SAT scores. Perversely they think of high intelligence as a disability.

[OKIEDOC]

Schools no longer teach the majority but cater to the whims of minorities, and that includes more than skin color.

Teachers and most schools are under the gun from inadequate one agenda hair brained school board members and a giant apathy bird flying up little Johnny's father and mothers butt.

State legislatures are filled with fecal brained legislators who get their 15 minutes of fame by introducing some of the most off the wall stupidest legislation in modern history.

We no longer learn in school that America is great but we do learn that America is the root cause of all that is bad in the world.

We are taught that the white man damaged everything good and any person of whatever color other than white was just picking daises and trying to get along.

Lets face it once and for all, GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT OUR MAIN COONCERN it the virus know as San Francisco Values that will relegate us eventually to the trash heap of of former nations.

[JenB]

And a small member of high school teachers seduce their students. Both are sad situations. What do you propose? Regulating homeschoolers even more? I grew up in PA, which has the strictest homeschool laws anywhere except maybe CA. It seemed normal at the time. Now that I've lived in free-er states I wonder why my parents put up with it. Why is it the government's business to put a stamp of approval on parenting? Should we let the government monitor kitchens to make sure kids get healthy balanced meals?

Most homeschoolers are motivated to make their kids succeed. It's much easier for lazy parents to take the eight hours of free daycare, free transportation, and free food, than having the kid around. (I am NOT saying that all parents who send their kids to government schools are lazy and using daycare. Just talking about the subset you mentioned).

[mware]

In our school, no I am not outnumbered. Almost the whole 7th grade staff identify themselves as conservative. Our superintendent's son graduated from the Naval Academy and is serving in Iraq.

[wintertime]

I'm an engineer, and I'd have a hard time believing that the work I do doesn't constitute a "profession."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Would you, or your fellow engineers, deliberately employ faulty construction or engineering techniques that you KNEW could, or would, result in injury? Would you, or your fellow engineers, work for a company or firm that demanded that you use faulty engineering?

I doubt it. Engineers do not do this. They have too much professional pride.

Yet....teachers, every day, in this nation go to government schools that demand that they use teaching and discipline methods that are faulty and HURT children. They COOPERATE in this!

Sorry! If engineers wouldn't do this, then teachers shouldn't. If we would blame an engineer, then we should definitely BLAME teachers.

[Thywillnotmine]

I hope I don't teach 'reading and writing' in the way you mean it. By the time they get to university they ought to be onto content. In fact, they should be onto content by gr. 9, but nowadays that is certainly not the case.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Gabz]

For better or worse, public schools are not going anywhere, so we have a duty to fix them.

I agree........BUT.........that would mean get most parents up off their lazy butts to do something, or at least pay a modicum of attention to what is going on in the lives of their children.

Our daughter is in 3rd grade, since she was in kindergarten either my husband or myself, and sometimes both, have attended every single parent/teacher conference time. Every one of her teachers has told us that we are not the parents they need to see, but unfortunately the ones they need to see are never the ones that show up.

[GOPJ]

When I was young prejudice against women was the rule. Intelligent capable women - the kind who run major companies today - were primarily teachers and nurses.

A teacher who today would be a first rate engineer, college professor, or medical doctor, in my day was teaching 4th graders math and science.

Bad teachers are an unintended consequence of social fairness toward women.

[wintertime]

the parents really didn't give a rip how the kids did. I could call every day and tell the a parent to help Tim on homework. The next day it wouldn't be done,

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

So...Did you do the right thing ( as Dr. Laura would say.)?

Did you call the parent and tell them that their child would be removed from the class and place in a special class for children who did not do their homework and had parents who didn't give a rip? Did you go to your principal and DEMAND that this be done?

Hm,,,Let me guess?

You let the situation slide, even knowing that you were hurting the non-working children by not applying consequences. And,,,you knew the working children were being hurt by being held behind by the slackers. And,,,you collected your paycheck.

So....Which category do you belong in?

1) stupid
2) greedy
3) evil