Blog Post #14

In the article called Teaching Can Be a Profession by Mr. Joel Klein, I found some of his points to be valid and some to be totally ridiculous. The first change he suggested is that families should have more choices when it comes to school. I agree with this because schools do not have a even distribution of well qualified teachers. For example, schools in a good neighborhoods usually get better qualified teachers ,and more government funding leading to a better quality education for the students. Schools that are in low income neighborhoods get more unqualified teachers and less federal funding leading to a poorer education for those students. I must say this is not fair and children should get the same quality education no matter where they come from. There should be some policy put in place that allows for schools to have highly qualified teachers and equally distributed funding. If this were to happen there would be no need for parents to worry about what school their children will attend. I would like to stay hopeful but this will probably never happen.

Mr. Klein next suggestion was technology should be used to improve teaching and learning. I agree with this because we are living in the 21st century and it is our job as educators to give our students the best quality education possible. The only way I feel this is possible is by incorporating technology into the classroom. Before taking EDM 310 I had no idea how important technology was in the classroom. It keeps the students engaged and also prepares them for the future in a way that is more suitable for the real world. Technology is taking over and the best way to handle this is to just incorporate it in the classroom. If you are an educator and you are not on the technology bandwagon then you are putting yourself and more importantly your students at an serious disadvantage to the rest of the world.

His next suggestion was that education should be started for a child earlier than five years old. I would have to agree with him on this matter. Children are progressing at a faster rate than ever before. Why not shape the minds of little ones as early as possible?

Last but definitely not least he said that "Teaching should be professionalize, making it like other well-respected professions, such as law and medicine. I am rather offended by his suggestion saying that teachers are not professionals. So, I looked up the definition of professional to see did I miss something. According to Websters dictionary a professional is relating to a job that requires special education, training, or skill. To become a teacher you must attend at least four years of college, past several certification test, and successfully complete your internship and student teaching. That falls under the category of special training and skills. Next, he said that there should be better academic training for teachers. I have to agree with this teachers should be better trained in the basics of reading and math instruction. He also said that only the teachers of the top third of the class should be recruited. I do not feel this is an effective way to recruit teachers. My philosophy is that just because you score high and make good grades does not mean you are the best person for the job. For example, a teacher can have all the knowledge in the world and be ineffective at getting that knowledge across to their students. Teaching does not just involved academics you have to be able to emotionally support your students, be able to manage a classroom, and also be able to adjust to the needs of each student. His next point was that teachers are rewarded by seniority. I agree with his point because to often are teachers rewarded because they been around a long time and they are not effectively teaching their students. Mr.Klein brought up the fact that when there must be layoffs, the most recently hired teacher is terminated. There should be something to stop this from happening. For example,  here at the University of South Alabama students are able to evaluate each course. That information is used to determine whether the professor is effectively teaching the class. I feel this should be used at all schools to determine whether a teacher should be allowed to teach the following year. Parents and students should have a say in the quality of education they receive. I don't think the term professionalizing teaching should be used for the changes that need to be made. In my opinion teachers are already professionals. Mr. Albert Shanker suggested that educators should be required to take entry exams and do longer supervised internships. I don't agree that all that is necessary. However, I must say if this were to take place would this also include the pay of teachers being raised. They referred to the profession of doctors and lawyers but doctors and lawyers both receive a higher pay than teachers.

There are a lot of changes that need to be made concerning education and teachers. Teachers also should be respected more and be considered a respected profession. Because after all we would not have doctors , lawyers, and other so called respected professions if someone did not teach them the skills they know.