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Re: [Phys-L] teaching credentials +- qualifications +-administration




On Oct 20, 2013, at 11:34 PM, John Clement wrote:

Here I will disagree with the first statement, but the rest is right on.
Teaching can be learned. The Modeling program teaches teachers how to get
better results. But to do this the teachers have to experience the program
in long term. It takes about 6 to 8 weeks of training to complete the
program. Shayer & Adey monitor their Thinking Science program and the
results are quite good.

As to classroom management, it too can be learned. There is research that
shows what works and what doesn't, but of course nobody pays any attention
to it. There are some programs which actually train teachers in management,
but this is never really done in teacher preparation programs. They teach
teachers about management.

You can learn some things in Modeling programs and decent ed courses about what works and what doesn't, but true classroom management is a complex of issues that arise unexpectedly and you have to be able to react as well as act. Proactive is great but how you react is just as important. The best comparison I could make here is to compare what and how a teacher learns compared to the experiences an ER doctor must gain on the job. He may know all his A & P; how to insert a catheter; how to treat a gunshot wound. But under the pressure of reality... can he do these things without flinching and with skill? The classroom is like that. Here are some examples that I was confronted with over the years. The list would take a book so these are just ones that come to mind right away. Girl falls off her lab stool from hunger pains and she is 5 months pregnant. Two boys get into it over some girl. Two friends blame each other for a busted play at the last football game and one suddenly shoves the other starting a ruckus. Girl accuses a boy of touching her on the way by his seat while she is carrying a $200 microscope... do you save the microscope or the boy? Students come to you after class complaining about the boy who is high and wanted to sell them some weed.

People have actually enticed me to write the book.

By the way... lightning really does strike twice... the girl who fell off the lab stool? That was in 9th grade physical science. Guess what people! She took physics and THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN! really, honest! Why the heck did she pick my class to have pregnancy sickness??? This time was worse because not only was she pregnant, her drug dealer boy friend had just gotten busted for possession with intent to sell and was going away for a long time leaving her with a 3 year old (the first child) and now 4 or 5 months expecting with the second and HOMELESS as well. This story had a nice ending, though for the high school part of it, at least... a female teacher took her in, she graduated, went on to Rutgers. I do not know how the whole story ended because after that I lost track of her.




Having gone through teacher training, I can say it generally does not do
much to change the student's attitudes or improve their skills in teaching.
It needs a good dose of interactive engagement to change attitudes and
skills. Part of the problem is also our society which thinks that "those
who can, do, and those who can't, teach". The attitude that competence is
inborn is another big barrier. Research shows that incompetent people think
they are very competent, but when trained to recognize competence, they
change. They become more competent. But this can't be done by just telling
people they are incompetent and need to improve.

How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Just one, but the light bulb has to WANT to change.
How many prospective teachers exit their ed courses (maybe taught by someone who left the classroom with one or two years experience) thinking they are ready and blow up after a year because it was nothing like they were told it would be and they couldn't adapt?


And yes, a lot of the business of teaching credentials is skewed. Schools
do assign classes to teachers who have no competence in the subject matter.
But what is worse is that many teachers who are competent in the subject
lack the necessary understanding of what they need to get the students to do
to understand the subject.

Agree!

John M. Clement
Houston, TX