Who is your child’s teacher? Are they a fully prepared, appropriately credentialed teacher, or a fast-tracker, a person who didn’t learn much about students, who maybe knows a subject, but essentially nothing about how children learn?
Public schools should provide every child with a real teacher prepared in the area they’re teaching, and they should be working towards that end.
Teachers with real degrees in the area they’re teaching, from accredited universities, should frame their degree/s and hang them on the classroom wall with pride! If you have a Masters and/or a PhD hang those degrees too. Don’t make parents ask for information. If you’re a real teacher, with honest credentials, let parents know.
Education schools, and those who attend them, have been criticized. We need to honestly evaluate teacher ed. programs and make them better. Some need to improve, and others have lost funding, like public schools. But these schools fulfill an important purpose. There have always been good teacher schools, and they’re still necessary for public school (all schools) to function well. Getting rid of education schools for teachers will end the teaching profession. It will be difficult to tell who’s teaching.
If your child’s teacher has no background in teaching, do not take it out on them, but complain to the principal and the school district. Parents need to be assertive about this difficult issue. Until a real teacher can be hired, work with that teacher if necessary.
Unfortunately, those who want to privatize public schools, want to make it easy to fire teachers, ultimately replacing them with online instruction and facilitators or tutors to watch children and keep them in line. They don’t seem to understand that teaching pedagogy does exist, and, without it, you’re not a teacher.
Every parent should wonder about the teacher who’s teaching their child. Ask your child’s teacher about their credentials. Here are some sample questions.
- Did you earn a teaching degree at an accredited university? Be wary of for-profit colleges and totally online (outside of real universities) and Teach for America.
- What are your credentials? Are they in the subject you’re teaching? Teachers credentialed in chemistry should be teaching chemistry.
- How long did you study teaching? It should be two to three years–and more is a plus.
- Why did you become a teacher? Was it a career choice, or were there no jobs in the person’s chosen field? If not, did they go on to learn how to be a good teacher?
- Where did you student teach? A teacher should have worked for a while under the guidance and supervision of a real teacher in a reputable school.
- Did you take coursework about, study and get experience with this age group? Teaching middle school is a lot different than teaching kindergarten.
- How long do you plan on teaching? Is this teacher planning on teaching temporarily?
- How large is the class? If the class is huge it will be more difficult for the teacher to work with your child.
- Did you take coursework pertaining to child development and child psychology? Every teacher should understand the developmental and psychological development of the students they work with.
- What courses did you take to learn how to teach reading? To diagnose reading difficulties? This is a critical question for teachers in elementary school and middle and high school. Teachers should have a well-rounded background in reading instruction.
- What is your disciplinary plan? School districts often have disciplinary requirements, but teachers might have a more specific plan of behavioral expectations in their classes.
- What is the emergency plan in the classroom in case of fire, earthquake, tornado, school shootings, etc.? Do you know first aid? The school should also cover this information, but teachers can help parents feel comfortable by letting them know their specific classroom plan.
- How will you update me on my student’s progress, problems? Parents need to feel involved and welcomed into their child’s instructional world, involving IEPs and class plans and spotting difficulties early.
- How much time will my child be online? Parents didn’t like their children online for all their learning during the pandemic, so why would they approve of them facing computers excessively in school?
- Ask teachers whether they’re getting needed resources and materials. What do they need in regard to what they’re teaching, and, join the PTA! If you have a skill or expertise in an area, let the teacher know.
Parents and teachers working together make the difference in a school. Speak against harmful reforms. Real teachers matter—don’t let anyone tell you they don’t!
This post has been revised and updated from its original form.
You obviously come from a particular political mindset that favors institutional monoculture, and considers change to be an enemy. Yes, there are specific well weathered methodologies to teaching at each grade level, and yes these methodologies should be taught in a rigorous manner to those who are entering into an educational career. But the world is changing and the existing school model will simply not work for much longer.
The bone I wish to pick with you most is your picture of online education. It is a naive view that online education is inferior to the traditional university experience. The only thing it lacks the face to face experience. I argue that universities are losing this as well. I also argue that it is harder to cheat with an online curriculum. Sure if all they used was multiple choice, cheating would be possible. But they focus on deliverables and participation more than simple tests. This establishes whether a student understands the material rather than simply knows the facts. The tools that online universities use do make the experience complete and comparable to a University experience. These tools enable a professor to have an intimate relationship with a greater number of students. And the vast majority of providers of online education are accredited.
I did not attend an online university. And in full disclosure, I am not an educator. You would probably argue that I am not qualified to talk on the subject. That is the exact institutional monoculture that I am talking about. I am not qualified to teach students, but I am a smart man. I have known university born teachers that should not be teachers, and I know of teachers that have online educations that know full well what teaching entails. They were completely trained in pedagogy and are skillful, adequate teachers.
You can keep on with your monoculture and blanket criticisms, but I know one thing to be true. Monocultures inevitably become irrelevant, and people who are unwilling to change with the times do as well. I’m not saying that online education is better than brick and mortar universities, but it is a valid and credible form of education.
I am not against some online schooling. In fact, I received credentials to teach gifted by working online through a major university. I found it to be engaging and well-administered, and that was years ago when online coursework was rather unique. The profs., all with backgrounds in teaching gifted students, were terrific!
I think online instruction for children in rural areas and homebound children is a very good thing.
I don’t think the cheating issue is taken care of yet. I believe it will be worked out better someday. Right now the problem that I see is how to verify who is doing the online work.
I have also read where some university professors are concerned about online coursework and the numbers of students they serve.
But do you really think online teaching should replace real teachers in the future?
As a teacher, knowing the wonderful experience of communicating, in person, with students, in good school settings, I would find it very sad to lose that means of instruction.
Are there lousy teachers? Yes. I agree! Are there good online teachers? Yes! The university profs in my gifted work were excellent!
But shouldn’t teachers earn a degree like any other profession? That just seems like such a no-brainer that I have never understood the argument.
Also, when I was teaching, I did not run from the latest information about new technology. I was thrilled when the media specialist and tech rep. provided inservice. I tried everything possible to shore up my student’s skills.
In fact, somewhere I blogged that children should get some coding instruction when they are young. I got criticized for that.
I am amazed by technology. I just don’t think it should replace teachers yet, if ever! My background is special ed. I can’t help but think that.
There is also currently no proof that I can find to show that online learning is better than brick-and-mortar. I will wait for some honest-to-goodness peer reviewed studies. If you find some please share.
But I appreciate your views. There’s a debate here. I know that. I guess I am just not on your side of it.