No no, I am not becoming an establishment-hating radical after one week of courses. My "Inquiries"-related ennui is not making me regret my decision to enroll in a teacher certification program rather than going the emergency certification route.
I just question the value of certain curricular requirements toward achieving that goal.
BTW, it's not just my program; all New York State teaching candidates must take "college coursework" in "foundations in education."
And BTW again, maybe my rebellious spirit is the result of the undemocratic way in which the state tells me I must learn how to be a teacher. Paulo Freire meets the Gadfly!
3 comments:
If it's any consolation, you can fail all the required tests and Joel Klein will hire you anyway.
It's unfortunate that ed. courses are such crap when there's so much uselful and practical info to be shared with new teachers.
It is not surprising that Eduwank would be giving you a hard time for taking ed courses, since he sits on the National Council for Teacher Quality, a US Dept. of Ed-supported outfit whose aime is to demolish professionalization of teaching (NEA) and teacher ed programs.
Besides, knowledge about the events and ideas that have shaped schooling is irrelevant to those who see education as a never-ending series of tests aimed solely at securing good jobs for the privileged. Fortunately, our history assures us that even the current reform regime will be short-lived--there are too many snake oil salesmen and too many continuing social problems that require someone to blame--and we all know that schools are always the cause for any societal failure, economic, military, governmental, or otherwise.
As for the crap of foundations courses, I invite you to come across the River and take my grad course at Monmouth. If you find it crap, I promise you a refund, out of pocket.
Best to you.
I apologize to Jim for my characterization of ed. courses. I believe there are worthwhile ones--I just wasn't in many.
I will never forget the first one I took. A professor from St. Johns meticulously lectured us on keeping a library in the back of our classroom. At that time, I was a brand-new English teacher in the Bronx in a school where there were no textbooks, let alone the makings of a library.
She had not the faintest notion of what inner-city schools, teaching, or kids were like, and I'd be surprised if the likes of my job ever crossed her path.
I know a nurse and a lawyer who both tell me their education was not germaine to what they do at their jobs, so I'm fairly sure this phenomenon is not limited to our field.
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