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Excellent point! Here in the Northeast, the education programs in many
colleges are pathetic. Grade inflation, a problem in all disciplines, is
totally out of control in the education departments. There is no
incentive to excel because everyone receives the same grade, an A. The
Dean's list is primarily populated with education students. The students
are simply processed - and then bring this mentality to the schools
where they are employed after graduation.
Education students need to learn more than just a list of techniques. As
you implied, they have to be taught how to assess themselves and how to
take action for self improvement based on the particular circumstances
they are in. They need to personally search the relevant literature for
techniques that have worked for people in similar situations.
However, one of the frustrations I had during my brief stint teaching at
the high school level was that there was no reward for excellence (not
that I personally deserved it). The teachers who were known for their
skills and adaptability got exactly the same pay raises as those who
should have been fired years ago. This is where I think NCLB is weak.
The carrot and stick are applied to the schools, not the teachers. There
is little a "manager" can do if the individual teachers are shielded
from accountability by a strong union presence that prohibits merit pay.