Re: A quotation

["Daniel L. MacIsaac" <Dan.MacIsaac@NAU.EDU>]

> > There is an article in The New York Times today
> > (7/26/99 p A15) which is worth reading. The author
> > is Leon Botstein and the title is  "MAKING THE
> > TEACHING PROFESSION RESPECTABLE AGAIN".
>
> > "... Right now, viewer that 65% of new teachers have either a
> > major or  minor in a subject matter they teach. Nearly a third
> > of all teachers today teach subjects in which they have no
> > formal training. More that half of all students studying physics
> > in high school are taught by teachers who had neither a major
> > nor a minor in physics.

> > Our universities and colleges have relegated the training
> > of teachers to second-class enclaves in which the industry
> > of education has flourished. We should disband the education
> > schools and integrate teachers education into the core of the
> > university. This would place teacher training under the
> > aegis of the graduate schools of arts and sciences. We should
> > eliminate the bachelor's degree in education and require
> > teachers to have a degree in a subject other than education,
> > and preferably in the subject the person intends to teach. ...

>         Elimination of the BA in education has already been done in
> Virginia, and one would presume in several other states.
>         I'm not sure, however, that I want any part of undergraduate
> education under the "aegis of the graduate schools".  As it     stands,
> there is a move afoot to require graduate degrees for teacher certification,
> with requirements narrowly tailored to  favor a few select schools in the
> state system.

This was Perot's impact on TX: the dismantling of the Education Schools.
TX is desperate for teachers, and I'm sure the shortage extends into
physics as well.  Signs are we'll be a lot more desperate for teachers here
in the US for some years.  Many schools will be happy to have anyone
certified in their classrooms, let alone physics-qualified.

The problem is NOT the schools of education; if you force all states to
only hire physics teachers with majors or minors in physics then you will
simply cancel a lot of physics classes.  There is a TREMENDOUS SHORTAGE of
physics teachers.  Right now there are 6+ openings in AZ that I know of,
and one of my recent grads (he has a BS in Physics) is having a field day
touring the state and interviewing.  The pay and difficulty pretty much
cuts the number of physics majors and minors who would want go on to teach.
By your stated criteria, we have NOBODY qualified to teach those classes
now taught by people without majors or minors.

Another missed point here is the assumption that to be truly qualified to
teach physics ONLY a major or minor would do.  The outgoing president and
current president of the Az-AAPT are first-class physics teachers who have
won awards for teaching physics and don't have a major or minor in physics.
As well, the current NSTA Science Teacher of The Year, (a Flagstaff HS physics
teacher) does not have a major or minor in physics.  He is perhaps the
best I've ever seen, and I visit lots of HS physics classes and see lots of
HS physics teachers (it's my job).  I have a personal theory that many of the
very best HS physics teachers are crossover teachers who had to make conceptual
sense of physics for themselves, and never confused mastery of mathematical
procedures with conceptual understanding, something the physics majors
and minors programs strongly encourage.

Yes, we have a problem.  No, dumping on the colleges and schools of education
won't fix it.  As college and university instructors, we train future HS
physics teachers in our classes (even for nonmajors).  As parents and
educators we shape our society.  We have created and contributed to the mess
we're in and if we don't positively contribute to straightening it out our
children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences.
Blaming others won't fix anything; in fact this exacerbates the situation.

When was the last time you pushed for a raise in pay for teachers, or assisted
a physics or science teacher?  In this current standardized testing frenzy,
does your state have a science standards test for physics teachers or
students?  Have you read and commented on this test to your state
legislators yet?  Odds are strong the test is garbage; it is here in Az
right now but we're trying to fix it...

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu          http://purcell.phy.nau.edu         PHYS-L list owner