OK, I am just going to say it........I am sometimes offended by this program. My oldest son graduated from Wabash College with a degree in English Ed. He had to search and interview for the job he has and he is very good at it. He has bought his own home, and is now working and paying for his Master's degree.
My niece graduated from IU with a degree in busniess but signed up for TFA. She got her MA paid for, she got 2 years of housing paid for, she got 2 years of teaching salary,she got a very large sign on bonus, and an 8 week crash course on teaching. She finished her 2 years and is now moving to Chicago to do her "real" job.
I just worry all this sends a message that ANYONE can teach and that someone without a teaching degree is more valuable than one who has devoted their life to this profession. Your thoughts???
My school corporation has made it clear they will not hire anyone without a teaching degree. It makes me sick that I went through 7 years, and 3 majors to get to where I am and someone can walk into a classroom with no experience and make the same, if not more, than I do. I feel confident that this trend will not last...at least I hope it won't.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! I worked extrememly hard to get to where I am! I really worry about placing teachers with little to no experience into today's classrooms! Now that I have a child of my own (only 6 weeks old but still...) I think about it a lot differently in the fact that those teachers could some day be teaching a class my daughter is sitting in. I'm extremely pick (obviously because I'm a teacher) about who should and shouldn't become teachers. I'm so picky that I have in fact not passed one of my student teachers because I just wasn't comfortable with her skills. I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, but I feel like our profession deserves the most effective, highly qualified individuals it can find!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with someone coming into the classroom without training as long as they have a desire to be there and to make a difference. I have witnessed some new teachers who have had the benefit of education courses who fail because they only want to be the students' friend. I also have the privilege of knowing new teachers from whom I have learned a great deal. It's not always about the training, but it should be about the individual.
ReplyDeleteI agree Susan. They are turning around teaching degrees in 18 months or less. I have my undergraduate years, adding a special education degree to that, now masters. I would hate to add up how much time and money I have spent on being a teacher because that was my passion. It sure wasn't worth the $38,000 a year. I am poorer now then I was when I made 17,000 dollars a year.
ReplyDeleteNew teachers are cheap. I have heard of school districts pushing people to retire who are at the top of the scale so that they can replace them with someone less expensive.
ReplyDelete