Blog #14

In the article Teaching Can Be a Profession, Joel Klein expresses how he wants to professionalize teaching so that it can be a well-respected career. The article outlines a number of problems with teaching and possible solutions to go with each one. The problems and solutions that Klein talks about are as follows:

Problems & Solutions:

1. Pick from the best: Some teachers today are not the most capable or the most prepared. Those who are trying to become teachers are not being taught nor trained properly. Some solutions include providing better academic training for incoming teachers, finding a new approach to recruiting teachers (recruit from the top third of graduates), and changing how teachers are rewarded.

2. Seniority distraction: Seniority dictates the way schools operate, and all teachers are paid the same and rewarded the same regardless of level of performance. If layoffs have to happen, the most recently hired is usually let go first, even if they are doing the best job. A possible solution to this issue is creating a "national teacher examination" requiring that prospective teachers complete a supervised internship that would last from one to three years.

3. Radical change: There are too many incompetent teachers that need to be removed. Solutions for this problem include establishing standards in order to remove incapable teachers and giving teachers the opportunity to promote based on specialty exams.

1. Pick from the best:
I agree with Mr. Klein that some teachers are simply not qualified to teach, and I believe that is a result of the requirements (or lack thereof) that are in place to become a teacher. I do not necessarily agree that recruiting solely from the top third of graduates would help anything. I do, however, agree that the given issue could be fixed by improving academic training programs. If students were properly and effectively taught and trained, there would be no need to only recruit the best, because everyone should be at the same level.

2. Seniority distraction:
I definitely think that seniority is an issue in some ways. I have witnessed teachers being removed from schools not because they were incompetent but because they were the most recently hired. Teachers got to keep their jobs because they had taught there for years even though the other teachers were more capable and more effective. I do not think that is right at all. I think that Klein's idea about giving a teacher examination and requiring the supervised internship is good; however, I do not know that it would completely get rid of this issue. They may pass the exam or make it through the internship, but they may not be able to adapt to the ever-changing education system, and they may become incompetent over time. While I do not agree that this solution would be effective, I do think that seniority is a problem, and I think that it needs to be fixed.

3. Radical change:
I completely agree that incompetent teachers need to be removed. I believe that establishing standards is a great way to see who is inadequate. Promoting based on specialty exams is a good idea as well. I think that the possibility of promoting would push teachers to go above and beyond. Klein also states that this could lead to less and less teachers being aided by teaching assistants, which I personally think is a good thing. Although everyone needs help at some point, I agree that most teachers are perfectly capable of running a classroom without help.

This article definitely makes some very good points. Klein listed numerous problems that need to be fixed in order to make teaching a well-respected profession, and I think that most of his solutions would help a tremendous amount. While I do not agree with all of his thoughts, I do for the most part. I think that if we fix these problems, we will be on our way to professionalizing teaching.