08-10-2016, 10:31 AM
(08-09-2016, 09:00 PM)bfine32 Wrote: This is something that makes a lot of sense. I have never understood why one has to go to college for 5 years to teach 3rd grade. I think education could take a page from the Nursing industry.
My sister is now an RN and an administrator at a Retirement Community. She worked her way up from CNA (I think it takes about 3 weeks to get certified) cleaning bed pans, up to where she is today.Her schooling was paid every step of the way by the facilities that wanted her services.
Being a teacher is absolutely ridiculous for what you get paid (no disrespect to educator). I looked at being an ad-hoc Professor at a local College here. To teach undergrad classes; I have to have a Masters (which I have) and then 3 additional classes in the discipline I want to instruct.
That would be assuming that teachers only need to learn the curriculum to teach. In other words, you not only have to know the third grade material, you have to know third graders. Things like their psychological and social development, classroom management, effective teaching strategies, how to integrate technology into classrooms, how to create not only engaging individual lessons, but also how to connect the lessons to previous and future lessons, and how to connect the previous year's curriculum to next year's curriculum. And those are just some of the things that go beyond just knowing the third grade level material.
Secondly, the continuous calls for education improvement have resulted in a paradigm called "highly qualified teachers" which required a teacher to hold a license in the area that they teach. You no longer just hold a teaching license. In Ohio you can be licensed in k-3, 4-9, or 7-12. And once you get into 4-9 or 7-12 licensure, you have to declare and have studied ever more specialized curriculum. In 4-9 you have to choose two of english, social studies, math and science. So for instance you would hold a 4-9 licensure in math and science, or english and social studies, or any combination of the 4. Then when you get to 7-12, it even further specializes. For instance, mine is 7-12 life science.
On top of all that licensure nonsense, there is then renewal. In Ohio you are required to renew every 5 years. You can renew once with a 4 year degree. But to renew a second time, you must have earned a Masters of Education. Again, this is due to the public clamoring for more qualified teachers. So on the one hand you have to be better educated to teach because there is more to know than just the curriculum. Things that most people do not see or consider. And on the other hand, there is the movement for better qualified teachers.
Knowing what I now know. I think a two year degree is a little light. I think a Bachelor's in education is about the correct amount of education needed to be an effective teacher. I think requiring a Masters of Education is a bit of overkill.
