Re: Teaching in America

[al brown <aesbrown@HOTMAIL.COM>]

What are peoples general experiences in High Scool teaching?  Joe insinuates
that one becomes...practically a class supervisor for whatever class needs
covering.  Is this just prevalent in High School education system or is it
rampant in colleges too.  I wish to inspire people to think( abit corny- I
know) ciritically and indpendently(with the required guidence).  I wish to
show how wonderfully varied and satisfying physics can be and express the
awe it inspires in me.
I  would like to teach people who want to be in the class, but at the same
tiime encourage those less enthusiastic- I suppose thats what makes a good
teacher.  However, I think that the less enthusiastic group should not be
dominant in terms of numbers.  I fear this is the case in high schools.
Thanks for all the advice recieved so far.
                          Cheers
                              Alex

PS I have native blood in me(choctaw-grandfather).  What are indian colleges
like? I might be interested in something like that.


> From: Joe Heafner <heafnerj@VNET.NET>
> Reply-To: "phys-l@lists.nau.edu: Forum for Physics Educators"
> <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
> To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
> Subject: Re: Teaching in America
> Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 13:38:30 -0500
>
> > From: Michael Edmiston <edmiston@BLUFFTON.EDU>
> >
> > Getting a "teaching license" or "teaching certificate" for teaching in
> US
> > High Schools requires a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science
> (BS)
> > degree in the field you plan to teach, and also requires some number of
> >
> Not here in North Carolina (unless the standards have changed in the past
> 3-5 years). One doesn't have to have a degree in the subject taught. One
> only has to have a degree in "education" and some courses in the subject
> area. However, once hired the school system here can make you teach
> anything they want you to teach regardless of your course preparation.
>
> > (1) Two-year community colleges or junior colleges or technical
> colleges.
> > These grant "terminal degrees" where the student does not go on to
> further
> > education after the two-year degree.  This degree is typically called an
> > Associates Degree.  Some of these students do continue (with varying
> > success) to four-year programs.  Teaching science at these schools
> typically
> >
> Tracking studies have shown that students who take their first two years at
> a community college do significantly better at the four year schools than
> those who do not. One of my former students is now doing undergraduate
> research in chemistry at NCSU.
>
> > (2) Two-year or 4-year branch campuses of larger universities.  The
> two-year
> > branch campuses typically provide the first two years of the main-campus
> > four-year degree.  The four-year branch campuses provide the same full
> > program as the main campus.  Teachers at these places typically must
> have
> > the same degree as the parent institution, and that would be a Ph.D. for
> > people teaching in science areas.
> >
> Not according to SACS standards.
>
> > (3) Four-year colleges and universities.  These typically require a
> Ph.D.,
> > and post-doctoral experience is either an advantage or required.
> >
> SACS only *requires* a Master's degree to teach at any college or
> university, unless one is specifically teaching graduate level courses.
> Even then, experience can count in place of a PhD. The hiring of PhD's is
> more for political appearance than for teaching quality.
>
>
>
>
> Cheers,
> Joe
>
> Due to my excessive teaching load, I cannot reply to email during the
> business day.
>
> CVAC Home Page <http://users.vnet.net/heafnerj/cvac.html>
> My Book <http://www.willbell.com/new/fundephcomp.htm>
> My Home Page <http://users.vnet.net/heafnerj/>
> Please -- no Microsoft attachments. They're a security risk.




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