Blog Assignment #14

In Joel Klien's Teaching our children can be a profession: Column he lists many problems and solution that are in the world of teaching. The first thing that was mentioned that anyone can become a teacher that has a college degree. He states that everyone should recruit from the top one-third of graduates. The way teachers are rewarded also needs to change. Teachers are thought to be interchangeable based on seniority. We must understand no teacher is the same and all teachers vary. Teaching also needs to be professionalized. The more professional teaching is, the more students and teachers will benefit. Teachers will be more successful and will command greater public trust. Teaching can also be more professional by teacher examinations. These examinations will include a mastery of pedagogy and content knowledge. Teachers should also have to complete a supervised internship for three years. The most radical changes to help keep teaching a good profession are: teachers should have their own board to police the profession, standards need to be established, there need to be mechanisms to remove incompetent teachers, promotions should be based on a ladder and to move up on the ladder you must take an exam, fewer teachers need to be aided by teaching assistants, and there should be no mandatory assignments.

I completely agree that it seems way to easy to become a teacher. There needs to be a cut off point, just like in medical school. As teachers, we will be teaching these students who will eventually become our doctors and scientists. I love how he talks about every teachers is different. No teacher teaches the same and no student learns the same. I agree with Mr. Klien completely on this also. I also agree on teacher testing. I think that that is what they are trying to do with the Praxis, but I think we need to have tests after classes on that class to make sure we learned what we need to know. This would make test taking less stressful, than trying to take the test all at one time. I don't agree with the three year internship. This is practically what we will be doing during school. I also agree that teaching should have: a board to police the profession, standards, mechanisms to remove bad teachers, exams to move up on the ladder, and fewer teaching assistants. I don't agree with no mandatory assignments. I think students should have assignments, just maybe not grade every assignment. Let the students do a self-evaluation.

I could see myself using some of these ideas in my classroom, and bringing some of these ideas to the school I work at. Reading this makes you realize teaching needs to have more guidelines and cutoffs. It is a profession that needs to be taken more seriously.