Over time there has been a change in the teaching profession. It used to be that in order to be a teacher you went to college and majored in education. You studied for at least four years, spent time student teaching, wrote lesson plans, and in some states HAD to obtain your masters degree within a specified time. Well, this is not necessarily the case anymore. More and more people are entering the educational field and transitioning from other professions.
This raises a few questions for all those involved. Why are these people making this transition? What impact does this have on our students education? Do they offer something to our students that "teachers" can't offer? What are the possible benefits from this transition? What are the problems? (Just to mention a few)
As a teacher for over twenty years and an administrator of four years I have been able to witness the positives and negatives of transition teachers. For a vocational technical high school such as the one in which I work I can see many benefits. For example, obtaining a business teacher who has spent years in the business field definitely has its advantages. However, we always get back to the same old story. Simply because someone is well versed and knowledgeable in a particular area does not mean that he/she can teach it to someone else.
In the state of Florida other things regarding teacher certification has also changed. In some cases you only need to pass a subject area test to be certified in a particular subject area. I truly wonder who thought of this. After spending years in college, student teaching, and receiving my masters degree in special education I could find myself next door to another special education teacher who may have been certified in social studies who PASSED A TEST and is now teaching special education! How is this possibly helping our students?
Yes, there now seems to be a shortage of teachers and transition teachers may be one way to fill this gap. Don't get me wrong, I know some great teachers who have transitioned from other fields and I applaud them. However, maybe if teaching became a more respected profession and if teachers were paid what they're worth we probably wouldn't have a teacher shortage.
Thanks!
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7 comments:
I teach grad. students on the side at Chapman University's San Diego campus and I have to say that, in general, my second career students tend to do a better job in my class than my 23-25 year old students. I don't know if it is their previous vocational experience, or simply the fact that the extra years have given them a level of maturity not typically possessed by my "twenty-something" students. As you said as well, their experiences can bring a special "richness" to their instruction.
Personally, I think that many of them simply realize that the professions they chose in college because they looked lucrative at the time ended up being boring and arduous. After all, money is only money, not happiness. The strongest of my many student teachers was such a student. Both he and his wife had worked in the corporate world, and decided together that they had had enough. She worked while he completed his credential program, and then she quit and joined him. That was five years ago, and he was just announced teacher of the year for his high school, and works as a lecturer during the summer directly for Apple Computing and Stanford University.
Jeanette,
Real or Transtion teachers...hmmm, lets think about this for a moment. I understand your point about people changing careers and having to pass a test when others went the more traditional route. It is almost like our degrees. Sure we will have our doctorates but to others who sat in a classroom and defended their disserations infront of a committee, receiving online educational doctorates does not seem as rigorous.
In my experiences, it will appear to others as "someone found an easier way to get something completed".
I enjoyed your post.
William
It can be insulting when I read how professional standards state certification can be for people wanting to get into education. Can anyone teach? In my opinion , someone who is extremely knowledgeable doesn't mean they can explain what they know to an elementary student, or even high school students. There are so many variables when it comes to being a teachers theses days. I believe that management skills must be strong in someone who is going to be in a class of 25 students every hour on the hour.(behavior and classroom management).
I was not always the brightest one in college, but I had very good people skills, which helped me in the long run. Many of these "cross over professionals", do not have the needed people skills to engage students. In the county where I teach, many retired Navy personnel went through a "troops to teachers" program the Navy provides and our state certification program endorses. Some were and still are very good with kids, especially at the HS level. While others treat them like they are little soldiers, causing more problems than they started with.
These professionals have very good intentions wanting to transition into education. My suggestion is to really research it, become a substitute, observe and then make the commitment. Find a teacher who has been in the profession a while...Ask questions and get honest feed back. Then decide...You will be glad you did!
Renni Wooden
Jeanette,
I am making a comment on the post on teachers who transition. I graduated from my 4 year institution 3 1/2 years ago. I have been teaching since I graduated. However, I was not an education major. I took several classes in education and passed all the necessary test before I left but I was a communication sciences and disorders major for about two years, education and finally ended with Linguistic at the BA level. Shortly after I graduated I obtained a masters in Exceptional students. Before I obtained this masters I was already teaching. That first year was one of my best years, not only for me but for the school because the students in my class made tremendous gains which was great for the school. It also caused alot of veteran ESE teachers to change their way of teaching. These are teachers who majored in education. So I believe there are some people who do well when they transition.
I do however believe that everyone can not reach students. This does not necessarily mean all these people are those who have transitioned. In fact many of them may be the ones who majored in education.
I completely agree. I often tell collegues to always have options and not live inside of a box. I have taught elementary 3-4 for the past 3 1/2 years. However, I aspire to other things in the educational realm. I do not want to be content with one level.
I have often experienced the same in classes I have taken. The older generation does seem to do better than the younger. I'm not 100% sure why but do believe one of the reasons is that they are often occupied with so many things.I believe there are many people who transition into different professions throughout their life for various reasons. Transitions are apart of life.
Clap, clap, clap! You deserve a hand! You said a mouthful when you said if the teaching profession paid what it should pay and had the respect it deserved there would not be a teacher shortage. Now, how do we get someone in office that can make that happen?
On the issue of “transition” teaching, I must say to begin with that I am a transition teacher but that I agree with you on the issues. I was an accountant in the business world before I quit work to stay home with my children when they were born. When they started school, so did I. I realized during those years of not working that when I went back to work, I wanted to do something different and teaching was what kept coming to mind. I will admit the lack of student teaching didn’t do me any favors and I suffered because of it but made it through those first years with a lot of help and support from co-workers. It didn’t take me long to figure it out but I wonder, truly, just how many first year teachers who had the student teaching experience manage. Do they have the same issues I had and isn’t real experience the best teacher? I do teach in the vocational department and I think this is the best place for a “transition” teacher. However, the one thing that makes me wonder if “transition” teachers aren’t an asset is that in Virginia, teachers are recruited every summer to participate in the Educators in the Workplace Program to work in the “real” world for a few weeks in the summer to see what students really need to be learning. Do others states have this program?
Hello Jeannette,
I really enjoyed reading your post "Transition" Teachers or "Real" Teachers and in agreement with much that have been commented on by the respondents as well. It is because of these comments that I too, decided to input dialogue. It is in my opinion and through experience that I believe “really good teachers” are rare jewels to be found. For that reason; I also, believe that when such teachers are found one must do what it takes to retain them. Yet; as my other colleagues have mentioned many individuals including the Professional Standards Commission seem to think otherwise. It is my belief that teachers are born and not made and that the naturally born teacher is know by the work she does in molding minds that were once thought to be unreachable because that is her gift.
Therefore, I get disgusted when I see and hear how society has tried and still continues to believe the teachers not professionals and that we don’t do anything except have days off from work. I am really disturbed when individuals make negative remarks such as, “I don’t know why those teachers complain when they have every summer off and still get paid for it, that’s why they don’t need a raise.” I am even more dismayed in seeing how the Professional Standards Commission accommodates those wanting to enter the teaching field without having ever student taught or set foot in a classroom.
I am without a doubt, not against individuals that want enter the teaching profession, especially, if that is honestly what they want to do. My reservation is with the fast track method that is used in attracting people interested in obtaining a teaching certificate, merely to keep classroom filled. There are many individuals that do will when it comes to taking and passing test as well as knowing the subject matter for which they teach. However, some of the some individuals aren’t able to relate the known information over to their students. Consequently, many will wind up leaving the teaching profession too, because these individuals do not know how to deal with students (children) that are very much unlike the staff they were once in charge of.
Rhonda
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