There's a great line from a kid -- a teacher has to be a good "explainer" -- particularly with math (algebra).
Friday, January 04, 2013
"American Teacher": will the US get serious about teaching as a profession?
“American Teacher”,
directed by Vanessa Roth, Brian McGinn (2011, from First Run Features,
79 minutes) documents the argument that the United States needs to get serious
about making teaching a profession.
Finland, Singapore and South Korea all do it; why can’t we?
The film focuses on four specific new teachers. One of these
is a man who needs a second job to support his family and eventually leaves for
financial reasons. Another has a baby
and needs to deal with lactation after going back to work.
The film points out that 90% of teachers buy supplies out of
their own pockets, and that new teachers are often given the “toughest
classes”, with the least promising students. In a country like Finland, expecting teachers
to pay for their own supplies would be unthinkable and unprofessional.
But in the United States we seem to have a mentality that
teaching should require sacrifice. But there is a long history, where most
academic public school teachers were women (the men typically doubled as
athletic coaches) and, in the world of a few decades ago, did not have to be
paid as much; married teachers counted on their husband’s support. As a result of subtle social prejudice,
teaching lost its standing as a desirable profession.
Today there is a real schism in the challenge posed by
disadvantaged students, who need to be “reached”. It is a pleasure to teach a ninth grader with
the cognition and “near social maturity” of a young adult. (Let me add, kids that perform – in drama,
music, etc – nearly always seemed more mature when I was subbing a few years
ago. To be honest, teens that attend a
church or synagogue, mosque, or equivalent – it can be conservative or liberal
on issues – seem to be more mature.) At
the other end, kids need parenting skills from teachers, something that is a
challenge from someone who did not have his own kids. That may be true of men; in earlier
generations, though, there were a lot of unmarried female teachers who were
still expected to know how to care for kids (as kids, not developing adults).
There's a great line from a kid -- a teacher has to be a good "explainer" -- particularly with math (algebra).
There's a great line from a kid -- a teacher has to be a good "explainer" -- particularly with math (algebra).
The official site is here.
Matt Damon provides the narration.
Picture: Career Center, Arlington County Public Schools (VA).
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