But a lot of the training they get in school is. We can do better.
Source: Teachers Aren’t Dumb – The New York Times
I commented.
Professor Willingham does us a service by focusing our attention on the symptom – too many teachers don’t know their subject – but he misses the cause.
He misses the real “common sense” cause because he makes a false assumption. He assumes that colleges will ensure that students will learn the appropriate material by simply taking the appropriate courses. That is not at all true. I know. I was a professor.
But don’t take my word for it. Here is David Riesman from 1980.
“..advantage can..be taken of [students] by unscrupulous instructors and institutions…the student estate often does not grasp its own interests, and those who speak in its name are not always its friends..”
Here is just a little of what I personally saw over 25 years as a college professor – and how it damages k-12, and thus our whole society. (These examples and more are detailed on my blog inside-higher-ed .)
I saw faux-PhDs granted by unscrupulous professors who received large government grants to produce “American” math professors. (And when I say faux, I mean FAUX. Just look at the examples on my blog.) I don’t blame the students. They had no way of knowing what they were getting into.
I saw faux-PhDs become “professors” at state regional college, the colleges that train many of our future teachers. Thus, these future teachers did not have a chance to learn – as noted in this op-ed.
We do need to test teachers, but only in order to sniff out the colleges that are cheating them – and us.
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