Imagine telling a dentist or a doctor how to do a procedure,
imagine telling an engineer how to build a building, imagine telling a plumber
how to fix a leaky pipe, or imagine telling a farmer how to grow their crops. These
people are experts in their field and we go to them for their expertise (I should
say in this generation of internet there are some folks who think they are
experts because they “Googled” it), they have been trained and certified.
Guess what, teachers are trained and certified; in fact, teachers
have to achieve a Master’s degree level of education before being fully
certified and that is more schooling than 80% of the population. I am sure many
non-teachers are now saying “well teacher training is garbage”, or “there are a
lot of bad teachers”, and that is matter of opinion not expertise. Yes teacher training, just like all training
needs to be strengthened from time to time, and yes, there are bad players in the
profession, just as there are in every profession. Teachers are not perfect,
nor have they ever claimed to be perfect; however, teaching is a profession, often a selfless
profession, and professionals need to have input on how they do their job from
professionals not “arm chair quarterbacks”.
I thought this piece was interesting:
“Yes, I Am a Teacher
and No, I Did Not Stay at a Holiday Inn Express Last Night”
“You may recall the popular commercials
for the hotel chain in which people justify taking the role of doctor,
professor, or pilot because they stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. After
attending a recent education policy conference, I reflected that the bulk of
policy discourse suffers from this same type of thinking. Call it the Holiday
Inn Express syndrome, if you will. Just substitute 'classroom teacher' for
pilot from the above excerpt and the premise seems to be just as ridiculous--Hey,
I was never actually a teacher, but I am an expert because I did go to school
growing up! Unfortunately, there are far too many instances when those who
have never taught, or who have not taught for any substantial period of time,
claim expertise over those doing the work every day.”
Read the whole thing here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2014/02/yes_i_am_a_teacher_and_no_i_did_not_stay_at_a_holiday_inn_express_last_night.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3
If you do not have faith in your professionals, if you do
not start letting your professionals do their job, then I would like to hear
your plan on how to educate children, and I want to see your credentials along
with your plan.
Dr Flavius A
B Akerele III
The ETeam
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