Sunday, June 21, 2015

We ARE Professionals

Teacher with students.attribution: Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com
When I look back at my youth, I am reminded of how teachers were a respected part of the community. My dad, who saw no use for education beyond high school, felt that teachers held the same social status as doctors and lawyers. My dad's milk route took him to every school in Madison, Wisconsin, public and parochial. It made things a little tough on me in high school, where the principal, Milt McPike, would take the time to chat with my dad as he unloaded his truck (until my dad lost his job due to union busting). Mr. McPike would remind me that he and my dad chatted every morning. Even with Mr. McPike keeping a close watch on me, I was not a very good student in high school. But, there were many teachers who influenced me at Madison East High School. Mr. McArdle (Aerospace), Mr. DuVair (Biology), Mrs. Bayer (English), Mr. Piddington (English), Mr. Sample (Auto Shop), Mr. Ross (World Civilizations), and many, many others.

Here it is 30 years after my high school graduation and I still remember them. I still remember piling into Mr. McArdle's yellow station wagon to go on a field trip to the airport, and Mr. DuVair's biology classroom with all sorts of creatures preserved in jars of formaldehyde on shelves throughout the room. Or walking into Mrs. Bayer's classroom the first day of ninth grade English to find her standing on her desk reading Shakespeare aloud as we came in, and Mr. Piddington pushing me to read ever more complex books, and then writing what I had learned from them. Mr. Sample calmly walking a student through fixing damage he did to the family car and reassuring the student that he would not tell his dad. Watching Mr. Ross teach about other parts of the world that a bunch of Midwestern kids could only dream of, yet he made us feel like we had actually visited those places.

In the 30 years since I graduated from high school we as a society have gone from valuing teachers and all that they do to treating them as if they are moochers who are overpaid for the nine months of work they do (they put in more hours during the school year than most people do in 12 months) and that anyone could teach. In Wisconsin the idea that anyone can teach has been taken one step further. Join me below the fold for details.
Our expectations, and quite frankly the expectations of the entire world, as to what we expect the minimum qualifications an educator should meet are:
Earning a bachelor's degree, taking rigorous courses within one's discipline, studying developmental psychology, curriculum design, pedagogy, assessment and being mentored by master teachers, provides teacher candidates with the knowledge and skills required to begin their teaching careers.
In Wisconsin, this very idea that we have professional, trained educators in our classrooms has been turned on its head:
Under the change, anyone with relevant experience could be licensed to teach non-core academic subjects in grades six through 12. They would not need a bachelor's degree and they could even be a high school dropout.
Anyone with a bachelor's degree could be licensed to teach in core subjects of English, math, social studies or science.
The decision on whether to hire someone with the alternative certification would be up to the school district, including private schools that accept voucher students and independent charter schools.
I have many friends who are teachers. They feel as if they are no longer respected, that they have no voice, and that they are not paid enough to do what they do. This proposal was just a slap in the face to them. Imagine being a music teacher who has a bachelor's degree in music, and a master's in education, finding out that in Wisconsin, the lead guitar player in the house band at the bar on the corner could soon be hired to do your job, and that it does not matter that he quit high school in 10th grade to move to Los Angeles to hit the big time. Now, I am sure he is a fine guitar player and he can play some tasty licks, but is he really who you want teaching your child? (No offense to lead guitar players in cover bands everywhere.)
Where has this gotten Finland in regards to their children's education?
[In] 2006, Finland was first out of 57 countries (and a few cities) in science. In the 2009 PISA scores released last year, the nation came in second in science, third in reading and sixth in math among nearly half a million students worldwide.
Can reforms be made to the teacher certification process? Yes, there is always room for improvement. Lowering standards is not the way to go; however, if someone does have at minimum a bachelors degree, then there should be a pathway to become a certified teacher. Just because you are good at something does not mean you can teach someone how to do it. Suggestions I would make—make it affordable to get a college education, pay teachers more (starting pay for teachers where I live is around 37k a year*), and lets start giving teachers the respect they deserve.
*It takes $36,000 a year minimum to be able to afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment within the city limits of Madison.
Update: Due to enormous statewide pressure, Rep. Mary Czaja (R-Irma) announced that she was pulling her proposed bill for re-drafting.
Czaja told the Wisconsin State Journal that under new language being drafted, individuals receiving the proposed alternative teaching licenses and permits could work only part time and in one school. The revised proposal would also require anyone teaching in a non-core subject area to have at least a high school diploma, something not included in the original language.
While her changes are welcome, it is not enough. This entire bill must be scrapped. If teacher certification changes are to be made, they should be made by education professionals, not an insurance agent with a B.S. in finance and economics.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO DAILY KOS ON SUN JUN 21, 2015

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