Is 'Teaching' a supervisor or manager type job/profession?

1. 83

   ComfortBposted 11 years ago

   Is 'Teaching' a supervisor or manager type job/profession?
   
   I would think it is, since one a teacher is  responsible for ensuring the safety of the students, and also providing guidelines and instructions through the day. What think ye?

   replyreport
2. 74

   nArchuletaposted 11 years ago

   Absolutely -- 100%. We must evaluate data to formulate the best instructional methods, then further evaluate the data to ensure it is working. We must liase between students, admin, and parents. We must be experts in our field and in diplomacy. On a daily basis a teacher has to manage between 20 - 40 people at a time, usually 4-8 times a day. That is face-to-face management of people whom we cannot "fire" if they are not doing their job. Rather, it is seen as our fault if students are not doing their "jobs" -- something they didn't want to do in the first place. We must therefore be entertainer as well as manager, because students must be "engaged" otherwise it's our fault. In addition, we have numerous anciliary duties to ensure the safety of the children and the well-being of the school. A teacher who is doing all that effectively works at least a 60-hour week.
   
   However, according to O-Net, a supervisor or manager with an associate's degree makes more money than a teacher.

   replyreport
   1. 83

      ComfortBposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Lol. You are funny. "face-to-face management" that's something that's rare today. Doesn't that make us micro-managers.

      replyreport
   2. 74

      nArchuletaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yea! And it is, after all, called "classroom management."

      replyreport
3. 61

   Anjiliposted 11 years ago

   A teacher is supposed to guide the learner through a given curriculum. He is expected to play the role of a catalyst sometimes. Where new bodies of knowledge come in, a teacher is expected to disseminate knowledge to enable learners to absorb information. The term manager may not adequately define what a teacher does. Teachers give much more than what is expected of them. What do you have to say about role modelling, character building, discipline in students, taking over where the parent left off in the morning in surrogate style? Supervision falls short where the teacher has to be an active participant in the learning process. A teacher has to constantly motivate the learner to enable them to absorb content. Whatever a learner gains at the end of a semester is charged upon a teacher, who has to answer to the proportion of learners who passed or failed. The big question is What do managers or supervisors do? Do they do what teachers do? The answer is no. If teachers would manage students the way managers do their stuff, nobody would pass examinations or even want to go to school. Secondly, a supervisor lords over those who know what they are doing. Do pupils know what to do?
   Teachers teach, supervise, manage, guide, goad, discipline, lead, demonstrate, motivate, reward, encourage, correct, chasten or chide. Somebody said teaching is a calling. I think they were right. A teacher's best reward is not the salary but the success of the learner under their charge.

   replyreport
   1. 74

      nArchuletaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely. Don't forget the creative aspect of the job -- I have created a lot of my own curricula that aligns with the standards. But, yes, we do much more than a manager -- well-put.

      replyreport