Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why should we have to defend teachers?


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Posted by Kenneth Sloan on September 08, 2002 at 18:40:11:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why should we have to defend teachers? posted by Marc on September 08, 2002 at 14:38:57:

Teaching the subject matter is less than half the job of a good high school teacher. At the college level you can get away with ignoring everything else - but at the high school level you'd be ripped to shreds.

We don't teach our grad students how to teach - because we don't expect them to stand in front of high school (or elementary) classrooms.

Teaching even low-level undergraduate courses is *nothing* like teaching in high school.
It *might* be similar to teaching at an elite preparatory school - but I think I'd argue otherwise.

We do no favors for the public school system in this country by thinking that there are no concrete, learned skills required for success in the classroom. Mastery of the subject matter is simply not enough.

And, we do no favors when we assume that people who fail in their dreams of being performers (with impressive credentials), or people with impressive professional credentials (such as a Ph.D.) can simply transfer into a high school teaching job with no training or certification in *teaching*.

Teaching at that level is a learned skill; those who do it well deserve our respect. I know hundreds of highly qualified university faculty members who would be complete disasters in the high school classroom.


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