As someone who graduated magna cum laude from a very highly rated school of education in the nation, I sort of take umbrage at some of the comments....
Pedagogical skills are critical to the transfer of knowledge. If the teacher doesn't understand how their students learn or knowledge is transferred, they're wasting their time and that of their students. Just because one knows the subject matter doesn't mean they can teach it. This is a common fallacy and often the reason why very knowledgeable people can't teach worth a damn. I have a perfect example right now in a Cisco class I'm taking. The teacher is extremely well versed in the subject matter, but he doesn't know how to transfer the knowledge. I'm betting that fewer than the original 25 students in my class finish as a result. Those who don't or won't take the initiative to try and figure things out on their own are already dropping out. Yes, some schools of education are pretty lousy, but I'm sure the same is true with schools of science, engineering, etc., etc. The masters programs that you reference are endemic in education and probably other disciplines as well. The problem in education is that advancement in salary is often tied to educational level, therefore, you have a huge pool of potential customers who are motivated to take the program for one reason only, and not the "true" reason for getting the additional education. Nova, Phoenix and others have been quick to capitalize on this segment of the population, and their degrees are considered pretty much worthless within the teaching community. I know someone who got a "doctorate" in under three years through one of these degree mills. I refuse to address him as "doctor" and he knows why, and it pisses him off. He's no more a doctor as I am. I don't even think he had to do a dissertation. As far as I know a doctorate (Ph.D.) in a "real" university takes 4-7 years. The College of Education at USF is very rigorous, and requires subject area candidates to take courses in their respective subject areas in the corresponding school. That is, if you're a secondary teaching student specializing in History, you will have a fairly heavy load that is taken in the History Department of the College of Liberal Arts. I had math courses taught internally as well as ones in the College of Science, for example. My degree is in Varying Exceptionalities (Special Education). Along with classes in each subject area in the respective colleges I took very specialized classes that covered a lot of different disabilities, many of which were taught by faculty from places like our de la Parte Institute of Mental Health and our College of Medicine. I also had an additional two semesters of "practicals" at local schools that were centers for students with disabilities, all directed and conducted by master teachers in those areas. This was over and above the State mandated required practicals for a "regular" classroom teacher. My cohort was 16 people, all of which were managed by a group of four professors assigned to us specifically for teaching, managing and directing the program for two years. We lived, ate and breathed together for the most part. It was very rigorous, with a high attrition rate. Of the 16 that started only 9 finished. I believe much of what was said is true in that there are some colleges of education out there that are doing a poor job. However, I also believe there are others that are very rigorous and do an excellent job of preparing future teachers for the work they have to do. Much of the problem, I believe, is due to educational policy being a moving target. The latest and greatest is a constantly changing thing, requiring educators to constantly shift their efforts in different directions. We need consistency and focus on core subjects, and the heck with the latest foo-foo stuff. Dan B.A., B.S., A.A. On Dec 19, 2013, at 9:34 PM, Dieselhead wrote: >> I was definitely un-impressed with the quality of the work being done in the >> College of Education when I was a graduate student and on the Program Review >> committee. >> >> Not only that, but the College of Education REQUIRED their students to take >> all the content courses for their teaching areas in the College of >> Education, no courses could count if taken in another college. Pure hocum >> and bunkum, the "content free" concept was raging at the time. >> >> We need to require people to get a regular college degree in an academic >> area and then take the "teaching courses" needed to be an effective educator >> -- that would be a Master's degree and probably be actually useful. >> >> Inadequately educated people cannot teach an academic subject, it's not a >> matter of reading a book to children. >> >> Peter > > > Hear, Hear!!! > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
