I have been thinking a good bit about these so called "Degrees in Education" of late. Don't get me wrong; there are very many wonderful teachers and other education professionals who hold this type degree, but there are far too many folk who actually believe (and practice) some of the concepts taught in these programs. That is a problem and detrimental to the nation's educational system(s).
In Texas, and most other states, a person without an Education Degree can not teach (in govt and most private schools) without going through some sort of "alternative certification program." These are offered at universities, community colleges, and private (OMG for profit), institutions. No small problem there, and, having first hand knowledge, I can tell you that there is very little of real value learned. Nothing that actually prepares a teacher for the "real world." A good bit of theory is about all there is to it. I have found that there is very little that is more useless than "educational theory." I have sat through quite a few meetings where the phrase "studies have shown" or some such nonsense is bandied about. I look around and see the sighs, rolled eyes, and general glazed over look that some of my more experienced (and jaded) colleagues have and I know that a line of bullshiiiite is being forced upon us. I have sort of wondered myself if two years is already not enough.
In the "old days" a person with a college degree would get hired to teach the subject(s) that they have become expert (or some semblance thereof) in. A mathematics major would teach math; history major teach history; so on and so forth. That person would either become an effective teacher or not. Usually those not effective or who did not enjoy it would find something else to do. Not so today. A great many of our "educators," (I hate that word), hold these useless education type degrees and in fact know really very little about the subjects they are assigned to teach. Some rise above their ignorance and become very good at their job but I would say that a great many just coast along. This is detrimental.
What needs to be done, in my humble opinion, is ditch a whole lot of this useless theory and get back to teaching the basics. If all of this theory on the correct way to educate our children was so good; then why is our educational system so messed up?
A lot of it has to do with "do gooders" in the educational system having no clue on what they are about.
Most of those hold some type of "degree" in Education.
1 comment:
I think the colleges that graduate 'administrators' are complete BS. How can you give a person a position telling others how to do a job if you haven't done it yourself? Principals should be former teachers, not given the position because they took extra college credits.
The high school I graduated from (1981) had one pricipal and two vice principals, with a graduating class of over 1,000. Now, many Texas schools have multiple vice pricipals with much smaller student bodies. Why do we need more administrators - they just suck up funds that teachers need to do their job.
Not a teacher myself, but my wife is, my Mom was, as were many of my relatives. Ask them how to fix The System - they know.
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