Re: degrees, credentials and experts
[email protected]
> And I could work with them all, expert or not, even the ragingNot me. I worked as an Associate Teacher at Head Start for over 10 years
> egomaniacs and the truly idiotic. Even some who couldn't spell and
> punctuate. <g>
>
before I met a teacher I absolutely could not work with. Fortunately I was
able to transfer to another center.
Among the things that made me crazy was her inability to compose a memo. I
got ahold of a two paragraph letter she sent to the parents. Unfortunately I
didn't see it until it was already sent out. It had 13 mistakes in it. I
took it to the office and said to the room at large, "Did you SEE this thing? I
don't know who wrote it and I don't want to know, but it has 13 mistakes in
it! We're supposed to be teachers here!"
Obviously I could've been more diplomatic, but sometimes I get fired up and
away I go. Anyway.....One of the social workers took a look at it and said
smugly, "Well, I can only see eight."
OH, well, then, I guess we're still under the legal limit...??
I've met very few good teachers. Lots meant well, and were nice people,
but not great teachers. Some were mean. Some were clueless. Once the idea of
homeschooling began to percolate, I had to get out for good.
Yes, I can very easily see that someone with a background in education
might have difficulties with unschooling. Especially if you really BELIEVE in the
school system.
Mary J
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 12/31/03 11:02:49 AM, mc1mommy@... writes:
<< I worked as an Associate Teacher at Head Start for over 10 years
before I met a teacher I absolutely could not work with. Fortunately I was
able to transfer to another center.
Among the things that made me crazy was her inability to compose a memo. >>
I was an English major and minored in psychology and anthropology (didn't
decide until the end, and finished up both in my indecisiveness). The
education classes were like another minor. They were lame classes for the most part,
and when people in the other departments talked about education it was with
derision. I was defensive at first, but I relaxed and tried to really see what
they were seeing, and some of it was, truly, watered down nothing.
When I took graduate classes in education they were often really truly lame.
They were designed to help teachers be recertified. They were glorified book
reports, or they were summaries of recent research and legalities.
Just a few years back spoke to a class of PhD students in education. One of
the "study groups" was doing a presentation on Frank Smith's "The Book of
Learning and Forgetting," and I was brought in as a speciman of someone who was
actually practicing that sort of education.
The group's lead passed out an outline summary of the book, to the others in
the class, and then proceeded to read it aloud to them.
Nobody in the class was under the age of 40.
Everybody in the class had a master's degree in education and was working in
administration.
They were going to sit and read along as someone read to them the outline of
a book they all should have read anyway, and could have read in just a few
hours.
I interrupted theatrically and said she couldn't possibly intend to read that
outline, when they went directly against the book's principles, and I
launched into a talk on the book's principles.
I was in medieval costume that day, partly for the presentation and partly
because I was doing something two buildings over, OUTSIDE, at the university,
where a hundred people were in costume, doing music, fencing, and I had told
this group of educators that if they walked that way to their cars when their
class was over they could see LOTS of people learning in the way Frank Smith was
recommending.
You can probably guess how many of those 30 or so people bothered to walk to
the parking lot that way.
They wouldn't have gotten credit or a better grade for learning something.
Zero.
They weren't there to learn. They were there to get a PhD.
All those years of teaching to the test, and helping kids make good grades
and good test scores had sunken to the bone with them.
But they were experts, and I was just a mom.
Sandra
<< I worked as an Associate Teacher at Head Start for over 10 years
before I met a teacher I absolutely could not work with. Fortunately I was
able to transfer to another center.
Among the things that made me crazy was her inability to compose a memo. >>
I was an English major and minored in psychology and anthropology (didn't
decide until the end, and finished up both in my indecisiveness). The
education classes were like another minor. They were lame classes for the most part,
and when people in the other departments talked about education it was with
derision. I was defensive at first, but I relaxed and tried to really see what
they were seeing, and some of it was, truly, watered down nothing.
When I took graduate classes in education they were often really truly lame.
They were designed to help teachers be recertified. They were glorified book
reports, or they were summaries of recent research and legalities.
Just a few years back spoke to a class of PhD students in education. One of
the "study groups" was doing a presentation on Frank Smith's "The Book of
Learning and Forgetting," and I was brought in as a speciman of someone who was
actually practicing that sort of education.
The group's lead passed out an outline summary of the book, to the others in
the class, and then proceeded to read it aloud to them.
Nobody in the class was under the age of 40.
Everybody in the class had a master's degree in education and was working in
administration.
They were going to sit and read along as someone read to them the outline of
a book they all should have read anyway, and could have read in just a few
hours.
I interrupted theatrically and said she couldn't possibly intend to read that
outline, when they went directly against the book's principles, and I
launched into a talk on the book's principles.
I was in medieval costume that day, partly for the presentation and partly
because I was doing something two buildings over, OUTSIDE, at the university,
where a hundred people were in costume, doing music, fencing, and I had told
this group of educators that if they walked that way to their cars when their
class was over they could see LOTS of people learning in the way Frank Smith was
recommending.
You can probably guess how many of those 30 or so people bothered to walk to
the parking lot that way.
They wouldn't have gotten credit or a better grade for learning something.
Zero.
They weren't there to learn. They were there to get a PhD.
All those years of teaching to the test, and helping kids make good grades
and good test scores had sunken to the bone with them.
But they were experts, and I was just a mom.
Sandra
Danielle E. Conger
At 02:53 PM 12/31/2003 -0500, SandraDodd@... wrote:
a rolling my eyes icon here.) Truly unbelievable.
--danielle
>The education classes were like another minor. They were lame classes forI had a friend who took an entire class on how to make a diorama. (I need
>the most part,
>and when people in the other departments talked about education it was with
>derision.
a rolling my eyes icon here.) Truly unbelievable.
--danielle
[email protected]
In a message dated 12/31/2003 3:21:48 PM Eastern Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:
instructional design, way back pre-computer.
The program of study involved so much "doing" outside of class, like
storyboarding and scripting, photography and darkroom techniques, tv
production, etc. and yet you'd never have known it from the class sessions, which were
taught just like every other academic course. Talking heads lecturing on the
text, no creative -- or even mildly interesting -- use of instructional media.
OTOH, I wasn't the only student who saw the irony or was disappointed
by it. We endeavored to rise above it outside of class. <g> JJ
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
SandraDodd@... writes:
>Yes, it boggles the mind! My master's was educational media and
> They were going to sit and read along as someone read to them the outline of
>
> a book they all should have read anyway, and could have read in just a few
> hours.
>
> I interrupted theatrically and said she couldn't possibly intend to read
> that
> outline, when they went directly against the book's principles, and I
> launched into a talk on the book's principles.
>
> I was in medieval costume that day, partly for the presentation and partly
> because I was doing something two buildings over, OUTSIDE, at the
> university,
> where a hundred people were in costume, doing music, fencing, and I had told
>
> this group of educators that if they walked that way to their cars when
> their
> class was over they could see LOTS of people learning in the way Frank Smith
> was
> recommending.
>
instructional design, way back pre-computer.
The program of study involved so much "doing" outside of class, like
storyboarding and scripting, photography and darkroom techniques, tv
production, etc. and yet you'd never have known it from the class sessions, which were
taught just like every other academic course. Talking heads lecturing on the
text, no creative -- or even mildly interesting -- use of instructional media.
OTOH, I wasn't the only student who saw the irony or was disappointed
by it. We endeavored to rise above it outside of class. <g> JJ
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]