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.

[Young Scholar]

Traditionally, the professions are considered law, medicine, and the clergy, all of which have always required an oath (hence the name "profession") to practice, and now require a professional degree in addition to a college degree.

[Excellence]

http://www.fordhaminstitute.org/institute/publication/publication.cfm?id=46

"Why Education Experts Resist Effective Practices (And What It Would Take to Make Education More Like Medicine)"

[MinnesotaLibertarian]

Did you even bother to read what I wrote? You spoke of dangerous environments for children. Public schools in Baltimore are such an environment, as is most of the city of Baltimore. Many teachers there just allow things to keep sliding, because they don't care. You are correct that such individuals exist. They do not compose 100% of the teaching population nationwide. If a teacher comes to such a school, trying to enforce discipline and teach the basics, what is that "enabling"? Maybe "enabling" some of these kids to be more than drug dealers and gang bangers? If they do run into a problem with the bureaucracy of the school system, should they call it a lost cause, quit, and let these kids suffer even more?

[flada]

I guess the world's oldest profession isn't a profession at all.

[Thywillnotmine]

Your list is specious and faulty."12. Professionals determine the cost of their services." Within reason, within what the market will bear. But it would be futile to argue point by point, since you are simply trying to 'dump' on all teachers. Would these be elementary, middle, high school, college, or university? I teach at the university where the body of knowledge required depends upon the subject. I teach English, which boasts subjects which would curl the hair of the average right-winger (wing-nut as my husband calls you and me), and my latest challenge is to AVOID LEFT WING, PRO-PALESTINIAN, PRO-TERRORIST, PRO-OCCULT, ANTI-CHRISTIAN DRIVEL! and believe me, it's hard! But my challenge (and that of all teachers) is to make kids think... and having lots of different teachers doing lots of different things accomplishes this, even when more than half of them are established on the left, or wear blinkers for their own subject, or kowtow to the administration. The curriculum we work with, and the teaching methods, were established by the ancient romans. Oh, we've dropped the birch, for the most part, and the Latin, and dummied down the process, but not much else has changed. Personally, I'd like to see a revolution take place, but it won't happen in my time. In the meantime, remember that the smart person YOU are is the result of the 'indoctrination' by these so very 'unprofessional' teachers -- bless them!

[WV Mountain Mama]

We had a student with autism that started doing that. He had to be escorted to the bathroom by a special ed male teacher (who had to be pulled from his regular room, no less), who then had to stand outside the bathroom door to make sure he got privacy. Of course, the teacher was also asked by co workers if he had a smoke for the kid when he was done.

People always complain about teachers, but most of them are hard working people who would move Heaven and Earth to help their students. It is the BS, PC stuff that hampers them (and they are just as ticked off about it as you and I). Mainstreaming makes people feel so good, but imo, it slows down 25 other kids to make two or three feel better. Our society is gotten in the habit of sacrificing the group for one or two. And many times it is the parents who are demanding that these exceptions are made for their children (we wouldn't want Timmy to feel left out) and threaten lawsuits if their needs are not met. If the parent is persistent enough, they can have their child placed at a facility of their choice and the school is responsible for the tuition.

[Sender]

My wife is a teacher, and I have seen quite a bit of the public education dogma over the years. She has a degree in industrial technology and engineering with years of experience working in engineering and now teaches technology in high school.

I can tell you that the school board and the educational system places much more value on someone with an education degree over someone who is an expert in the field they teach. The "gift" of being an effective teacher doesn't really figure in to the equation either.

In other words, someone with an education degree and certified as an educator, with little or no knowledge of the subjects they teach, is valued much higher than someone with expert knowledge and real-world experience in the subjects they teach.

The prevailing "wisdom" is that unless you have an education degree, you do not know how to teach effectively. The fact that you know your subject is secondary. You will never be a "real teacher" if you are merely an expert in your field and good with kids.

[Dead Dog]

I agree. This criteria is crap.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I agree. My Son was a HS English teacher. He is intelligent and quit teaching after three years. He taught in a school system with a high percentage of functionally illiterate students. Even when he had the best students in a class, their writing skills were awful. He said in a class for 11th grade (best students) that none had ever written a term paper. Apparently, teachers had not assigned one since it is a lot of work grading all those papers!
My Son was told to pass students to the next grade that could barely read. He said no. He went out of grace with the school administration. He got fed up and joined the Army.
I know other teachers, some in better school systems. They are not greedy, and are aware of faults in the system, but cannot change the system, only do their best at teaching kids.

I read some years ago that California has a statewide teachers test in English and Math (8th grade level). I think over 50% of the teachers failed the 8th grade math test!

[Scotswife]

"If they do run into a problem with the bureaucracy of the school system, should they call it a lost cause, quit, and let these kids suffer even more?"

Yes!
Well...maybe not "quit" - they should refuse to report to work until the environment is scrubbed clean - new curriculum, new staff, no safety risks whatsoever - and somehow the kids are supposed to all get to the school without riding "dangerous" school busses.

Of course..the kids are home - alone - while everyone tries to work on that little project.

[Tenacious 1]

Wintertime,

I have strong opinions about public education. However, person for person, your broad stroke criticism is out of line. The focus of your passion would be better served if you targeted the "leaders" of education.

IMO, the biggest failure in education today is the teacher's unions and the government. The lobbyists and government are more focused on the teachers than the kids. I don't disagree entirely with the premise that teachers are not professionals. It is pretty easy to become qualified to become a teacher. The problem lies in what our expectation of what teachers should be. Union leaders and lobbyists keep this country from demanding better qualified persons. Teachers should be required to get a masters degree at least. The curriculum should be much more demanding. When we start to weed out those that can teach from those that are good teachers, we may need to pay them more. First things first. BREAK UP THE TEACHER'S UNIONS. Then someone might step up and start thinking about how to make kids smarter instead of how much to pay teachers or how to make the learning environment more appealing.

I want teachers who take personal responsibility for the success of their students. I want teachers who know the names of student's parents and aren't afraid to confront the parent when they are not participating in their children's education. I want intelligent, outgoing, diehard educators. I want teachers that are qualified to make logical decisions on their own without having to rely on "Zero Tolerance" policies. The politics of education has relegated teachers to policy followers. They are little more now than government workers. And I don't believe it is the teacher's fault. Your suggestion sounds like teachers should go on strike, anarchy, a rebellion. We aren't talking about building cars here. They are not factory workers.

Place the blame where the blame is constructive.

[WV Mountain Mama]

See my post 46, not in class, our student got a bathroom escort.

[Fawn]

HI....are you teachers off today?

[DugwayDuke]

"I'm not sure, but I think the only professions that would really meet this criterion would be doctors and lawyers (and vets). Seems a bogus criterion to me."

And the military.

[r9etb]

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

I've seen feed lots that contain less BS than this.

Haverman has let his ideology get the best of him.

[Alberta's Child]

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

I would even make the case that lawyers aren't professionals, since extensive training actually seems to make many of them dumber and less competent over time.

[NonValueAdded]

Don't forget professional engineers.

[jammer]

Yeah, these are an attempted rewrite of traditional criteria, which include a specialized vocabulary, along with the autonomy and ethics, etc. Traditionally, the fields that were considered true professions were architecture, physicians, attorneys, engineers, and (IIRC) the clergy.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Public schools in Baltimore are such an environment, as is most of the city of Baltimore. Many teachers there just allow things to keep sliding, because they don't care.

My best friend's wife taught fourth grade in a public school in Baltimore for a year. It was so dangerous where she taught, according to her, that there were days where she literally feared for her life merely walking out to her car in the school's parking lot. The overwhelming majority of her students lived with their grandparents or with a single mother; most did not live with or even know their father.

My friend's wife did the best she could, but in that sort of environment, there was only so much she could do.

[WV Mountain Mama]

My experience in teaching Title 1 math in a rural, poor school was that 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, the reason was that Tim said he didn't have homework!! Now, if the kid's social security disability check was tied to performance, rather than just showing up at school, those parents would be calling me to see what their kid had to do for homework everyday. The system rewards them for doing nothing.