"Classroom instructors, educational experts, politicians and the media agree the classroom teacher is the most important contributor to student learning. As a practitioner with 15 years’ experience at the secondary, community college and university levels, I cannot avoid the popular and pedagogical debates concerning student achievement, teacher tenure and quality of instruction our children receive. The irony of the controversy is that when the trajectory of the high-stakes testing and standardization reaches its apex, there will be no need for individual teachers."
The state, and cadre of expensive experts it hires, will simply proscribe orthodox curriculum, methods and management. I envision a day when the policymakers replace the troublesome teacher with a singular, pedagogic hologram. Let’s ditch the science-fiction scenario for the moment. Instead, allow me to discuss three assumptions that accompany the popular treatment of these debates.
— Assumption No. 1: Effective teaching guarantees learning.