Teachers Wanted, No Credentials Needed
A school district in Georgia is hiring 450 teachers but they’re not requiring any educational training. A bachelor’s degree will suffice.
More and more students are entering Savannah-Chatham schools, but there are fewer and fewer teachers to meet their needs. As a result, the school district is developing a new program called Alternative Pathways to Teaching, which allows anyone with a Bachelor’s degree in any field to become a teacher. This is a work-as-you-go program that takes one to three years to complete.
This district in Georgia is not alone. At least another five states, Utah, Alabama, North Carolina, Texas and Kansas have decided to allow anyone with a BA to teach. Across the U.S., there is a huge drop in the number of students pursuing education degrees. So these states have decided that the solution to the teacher shortage is to hire people with no qualifications.
As someone who has dedicated most of her professional life to teaching and education, I am outraged. How many people would want uncertified doctors, lawyers, pilots, or police? Probably not many, so why is it acceptable to hire uncertified teachers?
Why Are Fewer People Choosing The Teaching Profession?
Faced with a shortage of teachers, state education policy makers would do well to examine why fewer people are choosing to become teachers. Could it be the low pay, the poor working conditions, the push to remove teacher job protections, and the lack of good support systems?
Instead of examining these options, these states are declaring that the preparation for a teaching career is unimportant.
The answer to a diminishing number of educators is not to grab a bunch of unqualified people, throw them in the classroom, and call them teachers. This denigrates the profession of teaching and has a terrible and lasting effect on our students.
Instead the answer is to first ask why there is a shortage of teachers and then develop a new model for training teachers.
In other countries, including Finland, China and Singapore, teachers are treated with great respect, receive extensive training and earn decent salaries.
As a result, teachers do well, their students do well, and education is recognized as being extremely important to the success of both the students and the country as a whole.
Teaching Is Not A Highly-Prized Profession In The U.S.
With some exceptions, the U.S. does not respect the profession of teaching. This I know
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/teachers-wanted-no-credentials-needed.html#ixzz4Cn5SYppW