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.

[WV Mountain Mama]

:)

[JenB]

Being very gifted in mathematical ways myself, it interests me that so many girls seem to have this idea that women "just can't" do it. That's clearly nonsense and I don't know where it comes from. Parents are clearly part of it yet I've known women engineer types who just can't convince their daughters to work hard at math. The other options are clearly, from other girls, from the culture, or from teachers. Or a combination of all of those.

I do know that there are some - maybe not many, definitely not all - teachers who know that they are not as smart as some of their studetns and resent it. Teachers who do not care to help a gifted student achieve. I would think that's an area where homeschooling can really help. Parents are supposed to want their kids to outshine them, after all.

[SoftballMominVA]

My junior daughter also excels in math and science. She plans on being an engineer. So far she has a 4.0+ in high school and has finished up the math curriculum, with the exception of AP stats, and types of consumer math she's not going to take.

I take exactly ZERO credit for her math skills. I'm a history/language person. Her school taught her algebra, trig, calc, etc, all I did was make sure she had a quiet place to work - and a graphing calculator :)

[Gabz]

I understand what JenB is saying about parents being problems at times, but that was not the case in my case. My mother was on me constantly about my math and science, but I just couldn't do it. Don't get me wrong, I passed all the classes, which were all accelerated/advanced classes, but it was a struggle. And this was at a school where the stand class requirements surpassed any required by the state or city.

With all of that said, my daughter does have one major problem with math, she just doesn't get the concept that division is the opposite of multiplication. She's great in both, but just doesn't understand that division is not as difficult as she makes it out to be.

[NCLaw441]

You said: Innumerable tests over many decades have shown that the mental test scores of people who specialize in education are among the lowest of any college students. This is not an accident. Given the incredibly bad courses in education that abound, in even the top universities, intelligent people are repelled, while mediocrities and incompetents sail through.
***

For the most part I agree with you. However, I am a former teacher, now an attorney (for the last 18 years). My "mental test scores" have been pretty high-- this DOES exclude tests of mental health, right? My only quibble with your comments is the generality of them. There are a number of highly-qualified teachers in the work force-- unfortunately, that number is very low, and good teachers are outnumbered by poor and barely adequate teachers by a large margin. I enjoyed teaching, and if I could have raised a family doing it, and enjoyed only a small amount of respect for the work, I might have continued it. That said, I find my current work much more fun and rewarding. (and I don't represent personal injury victims or criminal defendants--one of the conditions my wife placed on me when we agreed that I would go back to school.)

[gcruse]

I like that.

[Ouderkirk]

There are always statistial outliers in any Gaussian distribution. In this particular instance this is also true. This is a Sandard Deviation of based on the RMS value.

[perseid 67]

Gabz you are older than I am. You went to Catholic schools back in the days when the Nuns still taught.

Many high schools have become drug distribution centers. Many people (myself included)would rather die than send our kids there.

Teachers on the whole want parents to give them their kids and give them their tax dollars.

Teachers for the most part want parents to shut up and leave them alone.

The old way will change just not soon enough for me.

[jongaltsr]

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 woman 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.

I remember it somewhat differently. When I grew up teacher and nurses were respected, honored and protected by most men. I would get in so much problem if I sassed a female teacher. Yes they were sexual objects just as men are also sexual objects.
Now women are shown on TV fighting and acting in males type roles. Consequently their value has diminished and now are treated as low cast sexual objects. Now nothing is sacred - especially in regards to womenhood.
Thank you women's liberation. You did just the opposite of what you said you were trying to accomplish. Girls in schools are now dressing like sluts and "Girls gone bad" is par for the course.

[GOPJ]

The issue isn't sexual politics. It's living in a society based more and more on merit - and merit alone - a leveled playing field. When I was young it was also possible to have a carpenter with an IQ of 150 repairing a porch. Today that same man would be pulling down a professionals' salary and working in a professional position.

[Gabz]

You went to Catholic schools back in the days when the Nuns still taught.

I had more lay teachers than religious ones.

Many high schools have become drug distribution centers. Many people (myself included)would rather die than send our kids there.

I agree with you. Where I live you have described the local PRIVATE high school.

Teachers on the whole want parents to give them their kids and give them their tax dollars.

I have yet to meet such.

Teachers for the most part want parents to shut up and leave them alone.

My personal experience is that teachers are begging parents to be more involved.

[RobbyS]

That is certainly not true if by that one means the ability to pass a basic course on calculus. One can do this with a superficial knowledge of the subject, like many engineers.

[SoftballMominVA]

Speaking as a teacher, I would love for any of my parents of my students to come any time, any day to talk, volunteer, observe, or to just give a damn. In the 9 years I have taught special education I can count on ONE HAND the number of parents that have visited on teacher conference nights. We have 4 a year - that is over 30 total - I have seen 3 parents over 9 years. Three. Each time a parent teacher conference comes I email, send home notes, call and leave messages asking parents to stop by so we can talk about how their child is doing and find out how they would like for me to improve on my teaching of their child. Very non-threatening, very up-beat every time. Three, over 9 years, and none the last 4 years or so.

Just so you know, I do send home notes about how well they've done as well as phone calls and emails. With my special education population, the kids and parents have heard enough negatives, so I really punch up the positive and showcase their growth.

Three - in 9 years.

[wintertime]

My friend and I got up and left about that time. We found that we had lost of appetites.

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That's how my brother felt.

He is a retired electrical engineer, and taught in the government schools for about 10 years after his retirement. He is now fully retired.

[perseid 67]

Parents and teachers use different definitions for involved. Teachers want parents involved in fund raising. Most parents want to be involved in helping their kids perform well academically. I see the gap between parents and certain kinds of indifferent teachers is growing.

The advantage a private school has over a public school is if teachers chose not to be helpful or polite, the school will lose money. Public schools on the hand keep the money parents pay in taxes even when parents have good reason to hate the schools.

[Gabz]

That is HORRID.........and special ed students to boot.

So much for the attitude it is teachers that are the problem.

[wintertime]

( Thank you all for subsidizing an education that provides an income far greater than most of you will ever see. )

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Thanks again to you, Softballmom and all the others, for subsidizing an education that provides an income far greater than most of you will ever see.

This is one of the perverse and unintended consequences of Socialism.

[wintertime]

I would LOVE to know where she got a FREE Catholic school education.

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The Philadelphia Catholic School system. I left the system after the 10th grade in 1962.

[wintertime]

It appears not all doctorate degrees require training in social skills or self-awareness.

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Those with doctorates should be ashamed of this?

I hope they aren't' teaching this in our government schools.

[perseid 67]

Special education is more complicated. You may be treating your students well ,but next year the students may end up with a teacher who does not see any potential in them.
I do not like the way special education students are treated in the public school setting. They are pariahs.
From your earlier posts it would seem that more than a few of your students are socially and economically disadvantaged.