Do You Think It's Ridiculous that Education Majors Become Teachers?

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   CrescentSkiesposted 11 years ago

   Do You Think It's Ridiculous that Education Majors Become Teachers?
   
   Every time a teacher in high school introduced themselves they bragged about their degrees from some big name university and I would always ask "What was this degree in?". They reply, every single time, "Education". So I ask "how does this qualify you to teach me advanced level chemistry with just an education major?". They couldn't answer.
   
   Does this worry anyone else about the level of education in public school teachers? Yes I was a perceptive little brat.

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2. 67

   NathanielZhuposted 11 years ago

   There's a major called education? O.o
   I didn't even know that existed.
   I agree. Seems absolutely useless.
   
   Learning to teach well is defined by how well a person knows his/her subjects + like a class worth AT MOST on the techniques of teaching. Even then, teaching well is something that is self learnt. It can't be taught.

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   1. 0

      Larry Wallposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Just curious, do you have any idea how you would teach a young child to read. Do you know how to teach or explain phonics and are you equipped to help the student who may be a little slower than the others while maintaining order with the class?

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   2. 67

      NathanielZhuposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Salman Khan is not an education major  (he's a computer scientist) but he offers great education to new and older students. I'm only saying that spending 4 YEARS for a degree is useless, not the skill itself. It's like majoring in circles. Easy much?

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   3. 68

      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It may seem vastly different to you, Larry, but I've taught martial arts before. I didn't receive training for it, it was expected of you that once you attained black belt you understood how you were being taught, thus how to teach others.

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   4. 0

      Larry Wallposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I can only speak for my state where test scores of students are used to determine which teachers are keeping up. Many music teachers, major in education. Many coaches were ed. majors.  I really think most of you understand the idea of an ed. degree.

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   donnah75posted 11 years ago

   First, there is a lot more to teaching than knowing the subject matter, which of course is also crucial.  I am a high school English teacher.  I have an undergraduate degree in English literature.  My master's degree is in Secondary English Education, so that makes me an "education" major.  The thing is, that for that degree, I had to take courses that were focused on both education and the subject of English.  A chemistry teacher studies chemistry and education.  Plus, depending on the state, educators must past exams that show they have knowledge of both being an educator and of the subject area of specialty.  I had to take 4 different exams before I recieved my teaching license.  There is nothing useless about a degree in education.  I taught before I had my master's degree, and I can tell you that I am a better teacher after having gone throught that program.  In addition to diving deeper into my subject area of choice, I learned a great deal about constructing effective lesson plans, classroom management, differentiating instruction, action research, assessing students, etc.  Please do not add to the constant teacher bashing that exists in this country, especially if you haven't walked in our shoes.

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   1. 68

      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Then I have a remark for your exact department in high school I was taught MLA format which was supposedly the "standard" paper writing format...queue college, never used MLA once. Had to learn APA on my own since my high school teachers failed to

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      donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      There are many forms of citation. MLA is one standard. Your college professor should have provided review or instruction if APA was what he or she required. Teaching source citation is the job of every teacher who requires writing and research.

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      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      MLA is normally used in English papers and Hard Sciences, APA is generally used in most soft sciences. My high school teacher claimed that we'd never use APA ever...and was dead wrong.

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   4. 94

      donnah75posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I am sorry you are so bitter about your education, but the reality is that it seems to have worked for you the way it should. Teachers are facilitators who should work with parents to ensure the best for their child. It is a team effort.

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   5. 68

      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The problem is that a lot of teachers are encouraged to teach their students to get good grades on the State tests, not to prepare them for what they'll need in college. I've actually had teachers admit this fact to my face before.

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4. 69

   multiculturalsoulposted 11 years ago

   MOST secondary teachers major in something (English, for me) and minor in education. Otherwise, most colleges (and big name universities) won't let you graduate. I seriously doubt that all your teachers only had education degrees. It is possible that your elementary school teachers had elementary education degrees, however.
   
   That said, I took secondary education classes that were, to be blunt, useless, and they were taught by professors who had either never been in the classroom or had spent the bare minimum in a secondary classroom. These "escapees" were theorists and researchers who taught methods they had never used, but they expected me to implement them. "Do as I say, not as I DIDN'T do" was their motto.
   
   Was I prepared to teach by these people? No. When did I really "qualify" to teach English? After my first full year of teaching. When did I "qualify" to teach AP English? It took 17 years. On-the-job training is crucial to every profession, and no 10- to 12-week "student teaching experience" can duplicate it. 
   
   Am I worried about the quality of teachers in public schools? Sure. Any parent with children should be. Have there been times when I questioned the intelligence of those who teach (and taught) my sons? Sure. Have I had MY intelligence questioned by parents? Sure.
   
   You could call it "quality control."
   
   Do I think it's "ridiculous" that education majors become teachers?
   
   What else would they become?
   
   By the way, you write well. I'm sure you can thank some of your public school teachers, huh?

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      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Just aimed at the last statement, nope. I got this good at writing because my parents saw how abysmally the public school teachers were showing me how to write and decided to take matters into their own hands. Mom's a journalism major.

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   2. 69

      multiculturalsoulposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      So you give little or no credit to your public school teachers because of what happened at YOUR public high school. You paint with too broad a brush.

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      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Let's take the watered down version of history you learn in public high schools as an example here. It's 95% trash and 5% truth. Once you're in college you relearn US and State history almost 100%. Similar experience with most soft subjects here.

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   4. 69

      multiculturalsoulposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree that public high school teachers cannot fully cover ALL of any country's history. Calling it "95% trash" however, is an over-generalization unworthy of logical thought. I hope you're honing your argument skills in college.

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   5. 68

      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      And I hope you can open your eyes the next time a history teacher starts telling his students about the tyranny of the British government in High School. The reality of America's founding is not accurately portrayed in any public high school.

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      Larry Wallposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      No one said schools were perfect. American history is not adequate. Too much time is spent memorizing things you can look up. Do not blame the teachers--blame the elected officials who are not teachers but dictate what is taught.

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      multiculturalsoulposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Another error in logic: "not portrayed in ANY public high school." Have you attended them all? How can you logically make this statement?

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      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      A fair point, from what I've gathered so far let's say that a majority of Texas public high schools then. They all use the same book and teach from the same test bank, thus logically have similar history education which is...largely watered down.

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   Rochelle Frankposted 11 years ago

   A  lot of my friends were education majors-- and I thought they were nuts. I always asked them if they remembered how kids treated teachers.
   I did not want to be a teacher, so I became an English major-- until  I realized that English majors invariably became teachers.
   I switched to Art History, though I did take a few education classes. Not sure what I thought that would make me.
   Oddly enough, I became a teacher on the elementary level and found that my major prepared me pretty well for the diversity of subjects that are taught in lower grades... it had history, geography, politics, science, philosophy, and almost every subject that man has expressed through the ages --through art. It was in my stars, and I enjoyed teaching children.

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   1. 95

      Rochelle Frankposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      My major helped me, but I later realized that I was not teaching subjects, I was teaching children.  What you teach is not as important  as how you teach. The teachers you remember are
      remembered for who they were, not the subject they taught.

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   Larry Wallposted 11 years ago

   Teachers learn the methods for relaying information to students in a manner that they will understand and retain. My wife is a retired teacher. Yes, her degree does say education. She has a specialty in English and early-childhood  reading skills.
   
   Before we met, she dated a guy who was a physics major and later took the courses to become certified as a teacher.
   
   People who graduate with education degrees have to have an area of specialty be it English, math, physics, chemistry, reading, early childhood and so on. One of the problems we have in colleges is that the professors never took any teaching courses and do not always know the best method for delivering the information.
   
   So, no it is not ridiculous that education majors become teachers. It is common sense. The example you gave in your opening may be true, but it is a rarity. Most teachers would tell you that besides education. they studied other fields and the education courses taught them the best way to develop lesson plans, devise tests and most importantly deliver the material that the students needed to learn.

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