Time to get teachers who can teach
Most times, our government does things we find quite peculiar and unwarranted. But this time, the government actually seems to be doing something right.
Indiana is working on revising its rules regarding education requirements, a good move on the government’s part.
The new rule, known as Revisions for Educator Preparation and Accountability, would change the college’s teaching curriculum entirely.
Elementary education majors would need to get an education degree, along with a minor in the area they intend on teaching in.
Secondary education would require a bachelor’s degree in the intended area the student wants to teach, as well as an education minor.
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett – not to be confused with the crooner by the same name – feels these steps are needed to improve education.
"Research shows teachers are the primary factor influencing student achievement," Bennett said.
"Our goal is to ensure educators are highly knowledgeable in the content areas they’re teaching. These licensing recommendations will put the focus on teachers’ content knowledge and instructional skill while giving teachers and administrators greater flexibility and freedom to improve instructional quality."
And to that, I say, it’s about time.
For years, presidents have been saying that one of the most important things we need to do is to get our kids on the same level as kids in China and India, who are already worlds ahead in terms of their knowledge.
Indiana is finally taking steps in the right direction, trying to make sure teachers are qualified to teach given subjects.
Believe me. I had teachers in high school who had no business teaching their given subjects.
Basically, the only reason they even came to school was so they could coach football after the day was over. Ironically enough, that’s the same reason most of the football players came to school.
I took several classes with these "teachers" and spent a majority of the time doing group assignments, watching movies and not learning anything.
One day we spent the whole class period doing a "stick check," where we would look out the window to see if snow was sticking to the ground. Quality education.
But we can’t expect teachers to just know a lot about a particular subject; they have to be able to share that info. We still need teachers who will actually teach things in all levels of school, but this won’t change it. I’ve never taken an education class, but I’m pretty sure watching "Forrest Gump" does not substitute for a history lecture.
Filling out worksheets mindlessly while the teacher surfs the Internet does not help either. Half the time the students just goof off anyway and don’t take the work seriously. That results in the students continuing not to learn anything.
We need to do everything we can to be sure that people like this do not ruin one student’s potential ability to learn. We need to be sure that every student is learning as much as they can. That way, we can be sure to be able to compete with other nations in the future.
One day, our generation will be watching the news on television in a nursing home, and we’ll be outraged at all the crazy things the leaders of the world are doing.
Remember: The ones getting teaching degrees now will be teaching them. We have to be sure we are preparing future generations to lead and to keep up with everyone else.
