Survey Finds 40% Of Colleges Have ZERO GOP Professors

[BmorePat87]

(05-08-2018, 07:41 PM)Beaker Wrote: I see where you're going with this. But I disagree speaking from experience. Most of the best teachers in my district are ones who have other experiences to draw from. It doesn't go to the nuts and bolts of teaching subject matter, but more to the ability to relate that subject matter to real world experiences.

You are correct to say that having an outside job doesn't make someone a better teacher. A good architect will not necessarily be a good teacher. I believe that one either has an innate gift to teach, or they don't. But I also think if you take someone with that gift and give them other experiences, it make s a good teacher even better. 

Personally, all of my best teachers were career teachers and not career change teachers, but my anecdotal evidence is no more better than yours. 

What I will say is that knowing how to relate your content area to real world applications does not require first hand experience. I won't discount the fact that there are great teachers who joined the profession after working a different career first, and their experiences play a major role in how they teach, but it's not necessary.