tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post1961112556414563928..comments2024-03-09T03:28:44.216-05:00Comments on Thoughts on Education Policy: Teaching and Barriers to EntryCorey Bunje Bowerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764159604965707919noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-13984478316221283762008-05-23T08:57:00.000-04:002008-05-23T08:57:00.000-04:00Rachel: Thanks for your insights. Always fun to d...Rachel: Thanks for your insights. Always fun to debate teaching policies with others similarly interested! I may agree with you that I'd prefer to send my own (future) children to a school where the majority of the teachers are certified - but again I think it's because the dedicated teachers seek certification, not b/c the certification courses are so wonderful. (This could be in part due to my particularly useless teacher certification program in California - it's possible other programs in other states are more helpful). <BR/><BR/>That said, private schools often employ "uncertified" teachers with great credentials (including degrees from Ivy League schools, masters or even PhD's in their subject area, or certifications in other states) - so I wouldn't judge an individual teacher on his or her certification status alone.<BR/><BR/>Enjoy your holiday weekend!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-768667478138758722008-05-23T01:27:00.000-04:002008-05-23T01:27:00.000-04:00Teachers who are sufficiently motivated to go thro...<I>Teachers who are sufficiently motivated to go through all the (many) hoops to become certified are perhaps the more dedicated or committed teachers. However, a teacher credential then becomes an indication of dedication, not the cause of better teaching skills.</I><BR/><BR/>That's in interesting hypothesis, though a hard one to test.<BR/><BR/>However, my sense is that there's more than just dedication behind the differences I've seen -- that there are also learned skills about how address a wide variety of student approaches to learning. Again, I can't argue solidly that this has anything to do with the credentialing program. But it is a reason I'd be very hesitant to enroll my child in a school where the teachers weren't credentialed.<BR/><BR/>P.S. I agree that the state-to-state differences are silly.RDThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08566356038836885187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-86422133542448249452008-05-22T09:04:00.000-04:002008-05-22T09:04:00.000-04:00Again I'd like to point out that state-specific cr...Again I'd like to point out that state-specific credentialing requirements makes much of the credentialing debate silly. A fully credentialed teacher in X state who then moves to Y state is considered 'unqualified' under current law. <BR/><BR/>I'm in favor of standardizing and/or nationalizing the process, so that teachers are free to move from state to state (e.g., DC to Maryland) without losing their official certification.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-76772326345301503282008-05-22T09:00:00.000-04:002008-05-22T09:00:00.000-04:00Rachel: I may agree with you that credentialed te...Rachel: I may agree with you that credentialed teachers as a group have better teaching skills than non-credentialed teachers, but I think the cause and effect relationship is misunderstood. <BR/><BR/>If it is true that teachers with credentials are, on whole, more effective than teachers without credentials (which may or may not be correct), the process of obtaining a credential may be merely an indicator of a teacher's level of dedication to the profession.<BR/><BR/>Teachers who are sufficiently motivated to go through all the (many) hoops to become certified are perhaps the more dedicated or committed teachers. However, a teacher credential then becomes an indication of dedication, not the cause of better teaching skills.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-19068565990580080722008-05-21T17:24:00.000-04:002008-05-21T17:24:00.000-04:00I think the organizations that sponsor alternate c...I think the organizations that sponsor alternate certification routes do so in part because they believe that the barriers to entry are, if not too high, skewed in an unhelpful direction.<BR/><BR/>And, in my experience, the barriers were, if not high, strange. As a college senior, I was interested in teaching, and also in science education as a career path. At that time (late '70's) I did not find much encouragement from the people in education departments -- my general sense was that I was in some ways too ambitious -- that to see classroom experience as a piece of a career in education, but not its entirety, was to be less than fully dedicated to teaching. I think much of that has changed now that "educational leadership" is more fashionable, but I found it depressing.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, my sense from watching my daughter's teachers is that teaching children how to learn is a skill -- and it's a skill that in my (admittedly limited) experience is more prevalent in credentialled public school teachers than in teachers in other educational settings.RDThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08566356038836885187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-63106399708747075052008-05-21T13:06:00.000-04:002008-05-21T13:06:00.000-04:00Oops: Spelled 'acquired' wrong. Typing too fast!Oops: Spelled 'acquired' wrong. Typing too fast!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5458172893016186479.post-34577554772406202032008-05-21T13:04:00.000-04:002008-05-21T13:04:00.000-04:00In my opinion, teacher certification programs are ...In my opinion, teacher certification programs are very often useless. Teachers are not better teachers because they complete traditional certification programs. Unlike doctors (as you noted) who would have very different medical skills if they had not attended medical school.<BR/><BR/>As a former teacher, I taught in private schools before completing any teacher certification requirements. I then spent two years completing all the necessary classes, student teaching, and tests to obtain an official teaching license. I then taught in public schools.<BR/><BR/>Nothing changed. Nothing I learned in the programs made me a better teacher (other than the student teaching, which was no more or less helpful to me than my actual teaching in private schools and summer academies). <BR/><BR/>Good teaching requires enthusiasm, subject matter knowledge, people skills, hard work and classroom management. These are not things that are learned in a one-year "certification" program. They are skills aquired over a lifetime, and honed through the years teaching in the classroom.<BR/><BR/>Especially with the current system of state-specific licensure (e.g., I am officially licensed to teach English in X state, but am considered 'unqualified' to teach the exact same class in Y state), teaching certification becomes even more meaningless.<BR/><BR/>In my experience, teachers in my private schools WITH official certification were slightly less qualified than those without, because they often lacked the life experience (including military and business world experience) to be as effective as some of the career-changing teachers were.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com