The section we read for this last class was about the teacher
preparation and how that is important for the environment of a school. I think
that what I most liked was the idea behind the prompt for last week’s reading
response. The quote talked about how when you really think about it education
should boil down to the actual learning that happens between the student and
teacher in the classroom. More often than not when I talk to my friends about
the education system in the United States they all try to chime in on how they
think it needs to be changed. Either funding or size or location or jobs need
to be changed or created and every time they give me advice as to what needs to
be changed about our education system they never once mention the teachers or
students in regards to the actual teaching and learning that takes place in the
classroom. Now this always confuses me because I think that at the base of it
all education in the United States should be about learning and not that the
other things are not important or do not affect the learning, it just seems
that people are so quick to find solutions within these areas except learning
and teaching as to how we can better our education system.
My question is
do you notice this whenever you talk about education? What is your reaction to
this? What do you think that we can do as teachers to show people that the most
important aspect of our job is the relationship in learning we develop with our
students?
I totally agree with your point about how a lot of people view the education system and to be honest, I was one of those people before starting the education program this year. As a political science major, it was hard for me to think outside of the governmental realm, and I always tend to blame politicians for shortcomings in all sectors, including education. But, through actually seeing teaching in action, I've come to realize that, as the chapter says, teaching is "doing what matters most." It's a very cavalier idea to think that issues can be resolved from an entity (the government) that is so unrelated to teaching. As Darling-Hammond mentions, we are still so far off from our international counterparts due to the lack of attention that our system has paid to teaching. As a teacher, I want to show others that despite lack of funding or resources, the actual teacher student relationship and learning is what actually matters in changing education.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I have always found it rather strange that politicians, although unrelated to teaching, are kind of the head of the education system. Where does the teacher voice fall in these bigger policy, legislative changes in education? Something just doesn't quite add up there. It's hard to disagree with the idea that the teacher student relationship and learning is what matters most. In terms of pay though, maybe this is the problem. So many teachers go into the profession understanding that they aren't going to have the highest paying salary. They choose this profession because they are do-gooders and want to make an impact on childrens' life and the future of the country. The really good teachers are going to teach regardless of whether their pay goes up or down. The government really doesn't have a reason to pay teachers more because there isn't a high demand for teachers. There are more teachers than jobs available (sadly some of these "qualified" individuals just choose to not work in the lower performing schools, so there is more of a need there). That's just my thoughts about pay and perhaps a reason as to why teachers are not paid more.
DeleteIn regards to Ulysses' example of people saying they all the things that should change about education, I have the same type of comments. It drives me absolutely insane that my friends think they can just quick fix the U.S. public education system by changing one or two policies. They have no idea what they are talking about. People who study education in college, especially at Trinity, aren't just playing with kiddos all day. We are learning about problems in education, teaching strategies, how schools work, etc. I wish more people would take teaching and teachers a little more seriously and see the bigger picture of how education today affects the future.
Your post made me think of one of the things that really stuck out to me when the Germans presented to us which was their shortened school day and the lack of anything extra, and I am really curious about how their schools function. I see how having all the "extra" things like football and the arts and other sports and activities is essential to keeping kids motivated and enjoying school, but sometimes I think that all the outside world sees is the "extra." When there are articles about certain schools in the paper, they are probably about football and special programs and money most of the time (from what I've seen anyways) and about the actual teaching a very small amount of the time. So that might be all that people are hearing about schools.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the reason people don't talk about or see the importance of investing in teacher education is that it may not have an instant effect. It might take years and years to develop good teacher education programs (where they don't already exist) and that time of waiting is one that people don't generally seem to like.