I've always maintained that teachers were the dregs of academia. The old saying that "those who can, do; those who can't, teach" was never more true.
My son had difficulty learning how to read via the "Whole Language" approach and no amount of discussion with the teachers could change their mind, that this approach was fundamentally flawed. When we started teaching our son using phonics, and reading with him things that boys were interested in, he really began to shine.
We also had to counteract the leftist dogma the teachers dished out. By letting our children know that there were multiple possible view points and then letting them decide for themselves, they were able to look at the world in a more balanced light. So much so that even without our prodding both of our children joined the Young Republicans.
Am really looking forward to this series of articles.
At a private liberal arts university where I used to teach the School of Education fought and fought and FOUGHT to teach their own general-education classes in math, science, and computer competency (as opposed to takeing them from the math, science, and cs departments). Any guesses as to why?
Many years ago, when I was a college freshman, I roomed for a semester with a guy who was an education major and a theater minor. He was active in the school theater, so I had the fortune of attending some of the productions that the theater was doing -- for free.
I remember this guy telling me how he thought the education courses he was taking were bullshit. Too much emphasis on theories of learning and psychology of learning. In and of itself, nothing terribly wrong with such courses. But, to base an entire program on them and just skimp on actual content of teaching, to me, all of these years later and having worked as a teacher myself, is reprehensible. It's no wonder that kids don't seem to learn anything.
Working as a (substitute) teacher, I got to see firsthand the sub-par skills that these teachers had. More importantly, I suffered under the hands of these mercurial and backstabbing teachers (who were overwhelmingly female) more than once. Bitchiness, more concerned with turf than with the kids, etc. It was a minefield, to say the least.
Finally, having worked in East Asia as an English teacher, I really had to use my brain and training to come up with decent programs to get the kids to talk, which is where they needed the most work. They knew grammar better than I did, but they sucked at conversation. I succeeded, modestly, but not withing battling the school's bureaucratic bullshit.
I think (to a certain extent) this may be a problem that is specific to certain countries and regions. Where I live (Alberta) you need a bachelors degree before you can get your education degree; and you need that degree to work as a teacher.
With how many people with worthless degrees apply to the education department, you typically need a very high GPA to get into education with these degrees; in contrast, the GPA is often much lower for harder degrees.
While I would agree that the GPAs are incompatible and you cannot judge an English major's GPA against a math major's GPA, the English majors are often near the top of their class just to be accepted by the department; and are likely still very intelligent.
With that said, education is a pass fail department and the only difficult part about getting your education degree is being admitted.
I've always maintained that teachers were the dregs of academia. The old saying that "those who can, do; those who can't, teach" was never more true.
ReplyDeleteMy son had difficulty learning how to read via the "Whole Language" approach and no amount of discussion with the teachers could change their mind, that this approach was fundamentally flawed. When we started teaching our son using phonics, and reading with him things that boys were interested in, he really began to shine.
We also had to counteract the leftist dogma the teachers dished out. By letting our children know that there were multiple possible view points and then letting them decide for themselves, they were able to look at the world in a more balanced light. So much so that even without our prodding both of our children joined the Young Republicans.
Am really looking forward to this series of articles.
At a private liberal arts university where I used to teach the School of Education fought and fought and FOUGHT to teach their own general-education classes in math, science, and computer competency (as opposed to takeing them from the math, science, and cs departments). Any guesses as to why?
ReplyDeleteWell, NATALT.
ReplyDeleteI found a smart one and married her.
We homeschool, of course.
Many years ago, when I was a college freshman, I roomed for a semester with a guy who was an education major and a theater minor. He was active in the school theater, so I had the fortune of attending some of the productions that the theater was doing -- for free.
ReplyDeleteI remember this guy telling me how he thought the education courses he was taking were bullshit. Too much emphasis on theories of learning and psychology of learning. In and of itself, nothing terribly wrong with such courses. But, to base an entire program on them and just skimp on actual content of teaching, to me, all of these years later and having worked as a teacher myself, is reprehensible. It's no wonder that kids don't seem to learn anything.
Working as a (substitute) teacher, I got to see firsthand the sub-par skills that these teachers had. More importantly, I suffered under the hands of these mercurial and backstabbing teachers (who were overwhelmingly female) more than once. Bitchiness, more concerned with turf than with the kids, etc. It was a minefield, to say the least.
Finally, having worked in East Asia as an English teacher, I really had to use my brain and training to come up with decent programs to get the kids to talk, which is where they needed the most work. They knew grammar better than I did, but they sucked at conversation. I succeeded, modestly, but not withing battling the school's bureaucratic bullshit.
I think (to a certain extent) this may be a problem that is specific to certain countries and regions. Where I live (Alberta) you need a bachelors degree before you can get your education degree; and you need that degree to work as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteWith how many people with worthless degrees apply to the education department, you typically need a very high GPA to get into education with these degrees; in contrast, the GPA is often much lower for harder degrees.
While I would agree that the GPAs are incompatible and you cannot judge an English major's GPA against a math major's GPA, the English majors are often near the top of their class just to be accepted by the department; and are likely still very intelligent.
With that said, education is a pass fail department and the only difficult part about getting your education degree is being admitted.
Why on earth does a teacher need a college degree to teach grade school?
ReplyDelete