Think it’s too easy for teachers to get tenure? How about a system where only six out of ten teachers get tenure? If that sounds about right to you, click here.

8 Comments »

Thanks for the plug!

Comment by Miss Eyre — December 10, 2009 @ 7:37 pm
Mulgrew states, “37% of teachers who start in the system quit, are “counseled out,” or are rated unsatisfactory and dismissed (as they certainly can be in their first three years).” There are other teachers who also have no intention of making teaching a career, become disenfranchised/disillusioned with the “system” and simply opt out because they believe the “system” is a sham.

Comment by Paul Hoss — December 10, 2009 @ 8:21 pm
Or who feel ineffective, hamstrung and unable to do the job they signed up to do.

Comment by Robert Pondiscio — December 10, 2009 @ 8:34 pm
Paul, I might suggest yet another option: those who do (or did) intend to make teaching a career, but, as you state, become disillusioned with the “system” and subsequently opt out. I think those are the ones I worry about the most, and I imagine that’s what Robert’s thinking too.

Comment by Miss Eyre — December 10, 2009 @ 9:16 pm
It can really be a daunting job. Not everyone can control 34 teenagers at a time. I remember when I started, when I knew fewer tricks, and there’s nothing quite as bad as not having control over your class. I don’t know how I got past that, but many people simply never do, and I really understand why not.

Comment by NYC Educator — December 10, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
Teaching is a difficult job. Teaching in an urban district, brutal. I had the occasion to help out in a NYC school while I was at Teachers College. When I returned to Massachusetts I convinced myself to get a job in a suburban school system. I took the easy way out rationalizing, if I were going to spend my life as a teacher I wanted to enjoy the experience, not dread it. Again, teaching is a tough job. Teaching in an urban district…I know, I’m a coward, but I don’t regret my decision one bit. I loved my time in the classroom.

Comment by Paul Hoss — December 11, 2009 @ 7:46 am
One of the mistaken notions new teachers get fed is that there’s such a thing as “teaching”–some generic “teaching” skill that you have or don’t have, that makes you “effective” or not. But it is simply not true that if you’re cut out to teach, you’ll teach anything, anywhere, in any way you’re told.

Some who thrive in elementary schools would be miserable in high schools, and vice versa. Some who thrive teaching one subject would be awful at another. Some like bustling, fast-paced, highly social schools, whereas others like quieter environments.

Sometimes the “high-need” subjects are the ones that no one quite understands (and that’s why it’s so hard to get enough teachers to teach them). Many new teachers are recruited into ESL. ESL is wonderful to teach in some ways, but schools and districts keep changing their minds about how they want to handle it. An ESL teacher who had her own classroom one year might be a “push-in” the next (going into other classrooms and helping the English language learners quietly while the main teacher teaches the lesson–or in some cases co-teaching). These are dramatically different situations and reflect confusion over what ESL is supposed to be. Such confusion can drive new teachers out of the field.

New teachers should try to find their way to the subject, age group, and environment that suits them best. Someone may ask: very well, but how many of them will choose inner-city schools? Well, many will, if said inner-city schools have strong curricula and healthy resistance to fads. It’s a combination of things–poorly planned teacher placements, hectic environments, and weak or nonexistent curricula–that overwhelm new teachers and lead them to think they shouldn’t be in the field.

Comment by Diana Senechal — December 13, 2009 @ 11:03 am
Diana writes:
One of the mistaken notions new teachers get fed is that there’s such a thing as “teaching”

I agree. You cannot teach a subject well unless you KNOW it well. To a lay person this may seem obvious, but this runs counter to conventional wisdom in the world of education. One way to boost American education is to put a stop to the merry-go-round of teacher placements. Let a teacher stay with one course for at least eight years. Master the content and you can master the teaching of it.

Of course, if the curricula and materials are weak, even a teacher who stays with one course for eight years may still never master his subject.

Comment by Ben F — December 13, 2009 @ 12:07 pm