Welcome to Liberal America. My cousin who is a teacher with a masters degree was just told In California Bay Area,( contra costa county) San Fransisco On Monday, May 23, the MDUSD School Board authorized the Personnel Department to hire up to 92 non-credentialed teachers. This will more than double the number of non-credentialed teachers at our District and bring the total to more than 10% of the teaching force. This move by the Board is appalling, as it demonstrates lack of professional respect for teaching as a craft. That means they are not accredited by the state or college and have no formal training. What this means is. They have no teaching skills yet they are hiring 92 of them more, welcome to Liberal America. I put this in my blog today but thought was worth a share here.
LOL- love that sign & @TXKajun At first I was going to squawk about non-accredited teachers but then, Gen Stanley McChrystal is now teaching at a college. Not sure if he has a teaching degree but he is a smart man.
So after spending 16 years in Manufacturing I shouldn't teach kids in a shop class how to safely operate equipment? How about Blueprint reading and GD&T and quality inspection methodologies? Operation of a CMM? Or my 20+ years of computer programming for business of all types, actual real world experience not just book learning. I'd not be qualified to teach kids about the SDLC and agile methodologies, object oriented programming, iterative constructs, user experience, interface design, data storage, web services? Computer networking? Building a computer from a bin of parts? I actually think we need to know more about these 92 people that were recently hired. What are they bringing to the table. I don't think that there is enough information to say this is actually a bad thing.
So far as college level instructors are concerned there are no teaching credentials needed. That said, a certain level of expertise in the areas the instructor is hired to teach must be demonstrated by past experience. There are a slew of PhDs (and Master's holders) in college classrooms without needing to take "How to Teach" classes. I agree with VT, much more needs to be known about those 92 folks. What credentials do they have and what is the intended chair they will fill?
There is a program in many states that allows former military member to move into teaching positions while at the same time obtaining the necessary state credentials My best friend, retired military and then moved into overseas defense contracting (Iraq, Af'stan, etc.) is now in his second year teaching in Houston, Texas. He was an instructor in the military for a few years (electronics and communications) and I can see that he would be quite good in the civilian school. He teaches 8th grade and the kids apparently love him. He is not one to put up with nonsense and I expected him to have problems but the kids were quick to pick up on this. Last year when he changed job to a school closer to his home his classes were in tears. He really enjoys the kids but hates that the teachers are so tightly controlled and they are expected to work even in their off time. I have had many more bad teachers and professors than good ones and don't think credentials make a good teacher/instructor. As with most things in life, I think knowledge and temperament do. I have thought about teaching and I might try it but I doubt I could put up with the BS that they are forced to work under.
Thinking about this a bit more.... As I stated, knowledge and temperament are definitely important to make a good teacher but there is something else - the ability to 'teach', to be able to communicate that knowledge or experience in a manner than another can learn from. In my experience, this is what is lacking in most teachers and/or professors. I had the most amazing Programming teacher at University. She taught the Pascal and C++ courses in such a manner that it was easy! But, all my other programming instructors were rubbish and, of course, we students were to blame if we didn't understand the material. I am taking a 'Defensive Handgun' course in a few weeks and the normal instructor who I have had before and is wonderful is not giving the class due to other commitments. My question was, "Can this instructor teach?" "He has had all the courses from the big names and..." I laughed, "That was not my question..." The ability to connect and impart knowledge in different ways to different individuals so they truly understand is what makes someone a 'teacher' and not just someone that knows the material.
To Clarify my cousin is a teacher there, spent near 4 years in college will not get paid about the same at the new hires. There is a hugs article on it. Mt. Diablo Education Association He was involved in the whole process and as he explains it there are zero qualifications they are filling the majority with minorities many who are not even US citizens yet. No its not as bad it sounded in my OP its worse way worse. So to be clear these will not be experienced people, kinda thought most would read thru the lines but you guys do not know me well enough. I do not post something unless its important or accurate. But as I post more you will get to know that I am not a BS drama kinda guy I am what you see is what you get kinda guy. And no I do not want a hug, or to know how you feel about my posts hehe. If I want warm and fuzzy I will let my dog lick my feet,
Teaching Credentials.... are mostly a load of Crap.... Less Book Learning and MORE In-Class Student Teaching would help fix a lot of what is WRONG with out Public Schools.... Dump the NEA, and their Goons.... Let people who are Credentialed in their Field of Expertise, teach their Field, to the Kids, who are interested in that Field.... Let a Person with a PE Stamp teach Engineering, and related subjects... Way to much Liberal Indoctrination BS being taught in Teacher Colleges.... The adage "Those that can do, DO.... those that can't DO, Teach..." applies way to much.... My best instructors were always Older, reTIRED, Professionals who just wanted to pass along their Trade.... True for Chemistry, Electronics, and Life..... My Opinion, YMMV...
Not just teaching anymore. Many of our skills now are being handled by "professionals" with an advanced degree and no practical experience and were taught by people who also had no experience in the field. Was told by an applicant for a good job, welder with 20 years experience, that a company that will have a multi year contract with very good pay and benefits told him that they could not hire him as their staff lacked diversity and they had to hire at least X numbers of Y groups in order to get the contract. Qualified white male with security clearance, no job, unqualified woman, with no experience we will pay you and train you, unqualified black male, we will ignore your criminal record, history of drug use, and pay you and train you. Now if your life depends on their work, isn't it nice to know that they were well monitored while they learned to work as they built the item and they probably weren't stoned. Recent examples of Sec. of State, Attorney General, heads of the cabinet positions, Federal judges, military leadership positions, heads of college and school staffs etc also come to mind.
I started my career as a teacher, and the state I was originally credentialed in had what was at the time some of the strictest requirements to be a teacher. That said, all I needed beyond by Bachelor's degree was 15 hours of education classes (basically one semester) and one semester of student teaching. If that's all one of the hardest places to become a teacher requires, then I'd hate to see what everyone else is doing. The point is, having a teaching credential doesn't neccessarily mean you know much more than the average schmuck with a BA or BS degree, so thinking that all the kiddies will become stupid because Teacher didn't have that one extra semester (or less) of educational fluff is a bit of an overreaction. I think it may be helpful to have teachers who were not run through a mill and expected to fit some predetermined mold. I'm not against the concept of uncredentialed teachers, but I would need to know more. As always it's all in the details.
My wife is qualified to teach social studies, history, and criminal justice on a high school level, but due to dumb regs, she is not qualified to teach kindergardeners to read and write. (That requires additional training). She (was) requested often over other subs, due to her dedication, preparation, and going beyond the lesson plan. She was requested when another teacher went on maternity leave, and the kids scored better than with the state certified teacher. I believe most of the school system problems are with the school board, not the teachers.
I am so conflicted by this news. My first reaction was that people who didn't have schooling shouldn't be in charge of teaching others but then I remembered the common core educational system and how you can be right even when you're wrong and I thought... does it really make a difference at this point? It's like telling one slave who taught themselves to read not to teach another slave how to read...
