How hard is teaching.

Like it or not, you cannot reliably judge a teacher by the abilities of the student. My experience as a teacher (grades 6-12) was that most teachers are of above average intelligence, and many public school teachers are geniuses (literal, not figurative) who are remarkably dedicated to pushing Sisyphus' rock uphill.

A lot of the Moron-on-the-Street interviews result from some obvious problems that are beyond any teacher's control or influence.

Public school policies often prohibit requiring actual mastery in order to advance to the next grade. Moreover, many school boards, district & state policies, and principals actively discourage teachers from failing students who do not complete the work or learn the material. (I was actually ordered by a principal not to hold students accountable for work completed outside class time.) This means that it is easy to get a high school diploma without actually having a high school level of knowledge and skills.

Hell, many state-mandated high school exit exams are set at an 8th grade level! I personally saw this to be the case in the tests for California, Texas, and South Carolina. One of my colleagues in San Diego was on the committee that calibrated the rubric for the High School Exit Exam writing requirement. Because too few sample 8th grade students were passing the test, the committee was repeatedly ordered to recalibrate the evaluation requirements until at least 70% of students could pass it by the end of 9th grade.

Yep, a high school diploma is proof that some millennial has an 8th grade education.

Think about what this means for universities. The push to get all kids to go to college, and the push to grant entrance to underprepared student populations means that even university educations are watered down. Students no longer have to be "college ready" in order to be admitted to many state and private universities.

In many cases, a B.A. in Liberal Arts or Humanities indicates a level of education that used to be signified by a high school diploma.

This dismally common ignorance is augmented by the shift from reading books to watching YouTube videos or reading short internet articles and tweets. The abysmal communication skills are predictable results of changing from writing letters using paragraphs and developing complete ideas, to writing text messages in all lower case and without punctuation.

Many of the smartest teachers, especially in STEM subjects, shift to private industry jobs that pay double or triple a teacher's salary. I had a Master's degree in Education, was certified in English, ESL, and Life Science in two states. I went from 70-hour weeks teaching for $50,000/year to 40-hour weeks being a technical writer for $70,000/year.

I miss teaching, but now I am in a profession where I have control over how successful I am. I no longer get blamed for other people not meeting their responsibilities.

 

I think teachers are even more valuable than doctors simply because more things depend on education than on medical care.

Teachers are more like roads, bridges, and dams. Education is necessary in a lot of the same ways physical infrastructure is.

Education, police, roads, bridges, dams, and power plants are necessary to support ALL the other business of society.

 

Good point.

 

This is very disheartening! From all the posts it seems that to be a good teacher you have to love what you do, be an excellent communicator, and have a special gift to teach. To become a great teacher you also have to love the students, and be willing to give 100% to your job. We all know most teachers aren't like this. And if there are teachers on this forum please tell the truth. You know most in your profession are not bringing these skills to the table. If they don't have these things, then how are they supposed to make a dent with the kids?

 

Teaching?
Think about it: where else can you work for part of a day, for part of a year, for part of a career and end up with a 6 figure pension?
Of course you do have to look yourself in the mirror every morning. I don't know how they can stand it.

 

This is great explanation of why the public looks down on the teaching profession.

 

What is the average teacher's pension income after 30 years? Do you know?

 

Well, then that looks like a good career.
What do you do to sustain yourself?

 

Can you please explain why teachers don't have the skills necessary to positively effect our kids?

 

You ought to have a try. Don't think I ever met a teacher with a six figure pension.

 

I already addressed that but why can't you address my question that you quoted?

 

Can someone explain to my why teachers don't have the necessary skills to do a good job? Not talking about administration or the rules. Why don't they have the skills and love for the profession and the kids? That's what it takes.

 

Most do. That's why they're teachers considering the rather low pay and the headaches.

 

From what we're seeing they don't have the skills. Why not?

 

We'll ignore your false assertions.

I know many teachers and have had several in my family.

It's not easy.
It doesn't pay great
The hours are not as you make them out to be
Most are dedicated to their profession and the kids they teach
Most have a masters degree (along with the bills that engenders)

 

What is your evidence? As Lesh said, most have master's degrees.

 

I can introduce you to my ex-neighbor in Florida. She taught in California and has a 6-figure pension. She would come every winter for a month or two. (the rest of the year the house was vacant) It was her 2nd vacation home. She always complained how inflation was making her "limited" pension harder and harder to stretch. And of course, even though Obama had been President for over 6 years, she blamed it all on Bush.
At one time, teaching was a noble profession. Too bad it's evolved into a cancerous disease feeding off of students ill equipped to pay off 6-figure student loans.
Lest we forget: Elizabeth Warren was paid $400,000 to teach a single class at Harvard. (tell you what.......anyone wants to pay me $400,000 to work for one hour, 3 days a week for only a few months ---------- and I won't need a pension)

 

A 6 figure pension (if it's true..although why she would tell someone like YOU what her income is...is a mystery)means she was NOT a teacher but more likely a superintendent and likely had a doctorate.

 

As a parent, I don't want you training or indoctrinating my children. I reserve that privilege, insofar as it can be accomplished, for myself. Your job is to educate.

 

I think you have distilled the thread admirably.

I think the only thing you may have missed (I hope) is that the majority (not all) of teachers really do fit your criteria.

The problem is that your criteria are not enough to reach ALL kids. The majority of what learning requires must be done by the student, without duress. Teachers are supplied with no sticks or carrots that are meaningful to teenagers.

Many people, whether as parents or as former teens, know how little actual control anyone actually has over the efforts and actions of a kid. Our students have their own emotions, divergent perspectives, unbidden desires, unspoken hopes, irrational beliefs. Moreover, they have an armor of ignorance they confidently interpret as "idealism" and as "being misunderstood".

Teachers can ask, suggest, trick, wheedle, cajole, recommend, and demand. We often try to convince, but some kids have such shallow experience of life that we have too few touchstones on which to build a reason they will accept for doing what we tell them.

There are a lot of people who think teachers should be able to "inspire their students", and I am pretty sure every teacher thinks that would be lovely and useful.

However, it is juvenile to believe that somehow there is a superpower that enables one to inspire at will or need anyone we choose.

As someone who has only rarely been inspired by someone else, and who seemingly did it a few times as a teacher (if my students were to be believed), I can confidently assert that there is no such ability to inspire at will. There is no training program for it, no textbooks, no methodologies.

Like it or not, teachers only have influence over the willing.

 

Great, Home school

 

Anyone can come up with an anecdote to support whatever they wish. I know teachers who are struggling to make modest ends meet. But rather than post anecdotes, I post national data, facts, trends, etc.

 

Anyone who has kids can speak to this. I have been exposed to teaches for almost 25 years between my two kids being 10 years apart. I was president of my oldest boys PTA for 5 years. Teaching mirrors most professions. 1/3rd wants to do the least amount of work required to keep the job. 1/3rd don't want to teach anymore but are stuck in the position due to the benefits. 1/3rd want to teach and enjoy it.

In order for school to succeed in the future 3 things need to be done. Tenure and the unions hold on teaching need to be broken. Lousy teachers pass on kids to good teachers who now have to teach 2 years of education. The 3rd is that parents need to understand that the responsibility of educating their kids is their's and not the schools. How many parents check their kid's work? How many visit the school? Call the teacher? How many tell the kids that Cs are not acceptable and hold the kids responsible for getting good grades. Parents think it is the teachers job to insure their kids get good grades, if their kid doesn't get good grades it is the teacher's fault. Look in the mirror, it is your fault no matter how poor the teacher. We are not talking differential equations or conic section trig, but if your kid is taking those subjects the school is doing a decent job by your kid.

Like everyone, if you think you are being watched and parents of your kids are contacting you you will do a better job. If the parents don't show up for conferences or return phone calls, why are you wasting your time beating your head against the wall. Principals are not leaders but compliance officers with all the regulations that need to be followed. I hope Trump stays true to his word and funds alternative schools to replace public schools in areas of poor performance.

 

Feel free to mischaracterize a responsibility as a privilege, if it makes you feel better.

Whether you like it or not, the minimum basic behaviors, attitudes, and habits required for meaningful participation and success in all parts of the adult world are the exact same behaviors, attitudes, and habits required for even moderate success in school.

Consider them prerequisites to learning any curriculum.

Any student absolutely must do the following to take part meaningfully and successfully in the educational process:

• Show up regularly
• Be on time
• Bring required supplies, books etc.
• Keep track of assignments and deadlines
• Complete assignments
• Follow instructions
• Pay attention
• Ask questions
• Be polite (at the most basic level)
• Be honest

When kids showed up and did these things on their own, I only trained them in the skills specified in the curriculum(reading, writing, discussion, logic, mathematics) and in the knowledge specified in the curriculum.

When kids showed up deficient in any of these prerequisites, I had no choice but to train them. Otherwise they could not take part in the activities required for learning what was specified in the curriculum.

You can reserve all the "privileges" you like, but when a kid shows up deficient, teachers have to fill in these basics. Otherwise parental failures become problems not just for the student and the teacher, but also for all the other students in the class.

 

I agree with what you said:
1) End tenure
2) ???
3) Parents need to get involved and monitor the child's work and progress.

I missed #2. Didn't see it.

Too many parents don't seem to care. They may have graduated from high school and maybe not, so they don't value education because to value it would mean that they don't think much of their own status and development, intellectually. So they let the kid do what he/she wants.

But there's more. There's the failure of the federal government's influence on education. There's "teaching to the test". There are federal evaluations of teachers. The Dept. of Education should only be overseeing and incentivizing states to manage school districts with the intention of putting more or all control in the hands of the teachers. Let them teach and let them test or not. That would save taxpayer dollars, in addition. But first high quality teachers must be attracted to education with decent pay.

Teachers are on the front lines. They know best how to do their job. (Remember I said that the first thing is to end tenure and then raise pay and weed out the worst teachers. They are out there. I know because I had one that should never have been allowed in a school when I was in high school.)