Is the age old memory of the life long teacher becoming extinct? Are we just to accept that long ago were the days where educators entering the teaching profession with aspirations to remain in the classroom until retirement? Why do teachers leave? Can we devise a solution to promote prestige and allure people once again to the teaching profession?
While many areas in education are experiencing teacher shortages the retention of teachers in particular is a critical concern in many schools and districts across the nation. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates that all teachers be “highly qualified” meaning teachers are trained and certified before entering the classroom. These “highly qualified” teachers are usually products of various university certification programs where they acquire pedagogical knowledge imperative to educational applications of academic content areas as well as relative information on ethics, state laws, and educational research. Before receiving the hard earned title of a certified teacher, “highly qualified” teachers are required to successfully pass a series of state-mandated exams. However most, but not all, certification programs include a student teaching component where aspiring teachers serve a short apprenticeship in a classroom with an experienced teacher in their respective academic areas. This student teaching experience allows an opportunity to observe and practice actual implementation of content knowledge, instructional skills, and classroom management in a “real world” setting. Unfortunately, classroom training rarely mimics the complicated stresses associated with the real life application of a trade and comparable to most careers, teaching is a very difficult profession to ...
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...ected to show traits of higher morale and manageable stress in comparison to non CFG participants.
References
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166-173). Linda Darling-Hammond (2000) discusses how teacher education has changed and how it has affected our education system (p. 166). The author also notes how even the most intelligent people found it hard to prosper in the field without the right skills and preparation (Darling-Hammond, 2000, p. 166-173). In the article, she presents how post baccalaureate programs are carefully structured, versus alternative routes which can be no more than backup employment options. Darling-Hammond (2000) also addresses how it becomes difficult for aspiring teachers to learn both subject matter and pedagogy (p.
...ategies” that have been used and research shows how schools are impacted” (Ramsey, 2006, p.xv11).
Wallis, Claudia. “How to Make Great Teachers.” Time Online. 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 16 March 2011.
It is a well-known fact that students entering higher education increasingly lack the academic skills necessary to succeed in their collegiate endeavors. It goes without saying that this is largely due to the widespread substandard education provided by legions of mediocre teachers—teachers who deliver shoddy instruction due to their own innately inferior academic abilities. At least, these facts are what Notre Dame Professor of Philosophy Gary Gutting would have readers of The Chronicle of Higher Education believe in his article “Why College Is Not a Commodity.” Although he makes many points that, if true, would be damning of the elementary and secondary teaching professions, Gutting stops short of proving his arguments logically or empirically. He claims today’s budding K-12 teachers often come from the bottom of the heap academically, directly leading to poor teaching—yet he provides no research to back up this connection. Furthermore, Gutting attempts to provide a solution to this so-called travesty by recommending that teaching be “professionalized,” ignoring the already-present professional practices and standards present. Gutting’s critiques, though thought-provoking, ultimately are logically and statistically unsatisfying in both their explanations of the state of teacher qualifications and in their calls to action.
In her article “Teachers Hiring Teachers,” Mary C. Clement (2013) describes the benefits of using teachers in the teacher hiring process, strategies and considerations while doing so, and moving past obstacles that may be encountered. She draws evidence from the principal at Berry Elementary and Middle School in Mount Berry, Georgia as she outlines their best practices. This article supports the idea of “cultivating leadership in others,” one of the five key practices of effective principals outlined by The Wallace Foundation (2013). In my opinion, this article provides a worthy example of the benefits realized through advancing teacher leadership.
Ingersoll’s (2001) research, in which he examined the impact of workplace conditions on teacher migration and attrition, revealed retirement numbers could not account for the increase in demand for teachers (neither was it the student growth – find that reference). This increase in turnover, Ingersoll (2001) argued, was due to teachers’ “job dissatisfaction” (Ingersoll, 2001, p. 501) caused by building level working conditions. Ingersoll (2001) concluded from his study that an inadequate supply of teachers was not the culprit of teacher shortages; instead, an excess demand for teachers caused by school working conditions led to teacher shortages. Cameron and Lovett’s (2015) more recent study affirms the work of Ingersoll; they found the majority of teachers, 52 percent, migrated to new schools within the 3 previous years. Dissatisfaction with working conditions accounted for 33% of the migration (Cameron & Lovett, 2015). Notably, working conditions contributed to more turnover in schools than did students’ socioeconomic status (Cameron & Lovett, 2015). Luckily, with the exception of teacher salary, these conditions can be changed by building-level administrators. Salary
Teacher tenure creates complacency among teachers who do not fear losing their jobs. Once a teacher becomes certified after a certain amount of years in a school system, he or she becomes satisfied with the way they teach and act towards their students. Nixon, Packard, and Douvanis stated that some teachers have more of the ability to help care for and see students’ succeed than others might, “as some do not have any incentives to perform better than others” (Philips 2). This point also relates to the fact that “when teachers become tenured most try to only get by with the bare minimum of teaching and do not prepare in depth lessons because they believe tenure gives them a heightened sense of job security” (Philips). Furthermore, allowing teachers to bec...
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A secure and stable job “attracts many teachers to the teaching profession, and eliminating teacher tenure would hamper teacher recruitment” (“Teacher Tenure - ProCon.org,” 2017). The greater the number of teachers, the more teachers there will be for students decreasing overcrowding in classrooms. It also aids in decreasing unemployment because it will prompt individuals to teach since there is the security of keeping their jobs. Additionally, it “encourages the careful selection of qualified and effective teachers” (“Teacher Tenure - ProCon.org,” 2017). School administrators and higher-ups in the school system look carefully in identifying the best teachers that encourage learning and bring back promising test results to keep to have every child succeed. They want to choose the best out of the best, so their school can continue promoting quality and secure education for students to prosper and exceed in future schooling. Although a teacher tenure is beneficial for the community, it also proves to be very useful for students
In a book written by Farr (2010) book, Teacher as Leadership: the Highly Effective Teachers Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap, effective teachers are ...
York-Barr, J. & K. Duke (2004) what do we know about teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of educational research 74(3), 255-316.
Toch, T. (n.d.). Membership. educational leadership :expecting excellence: fixing teacher evaluation. Retrieved November 8, 2013, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Fixing-Teacher-Evaluation.aspx
President George Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act” fails to focus on the recruitment and diversity within the profession. He sets a goal for the year 2005 for every classroom to have a quality teacher but no goal for retaining these teachers. The improvement of the profession requires a national step-by-step effort. The purpose of this paper was to gather and explore information on the teaching profession and with it explore the shortage within in order to educate and strike up reform. It is clear, that reform will require a lot of time and money. The end product however, will show success within the profession thereby equaling success in the classroom. Success comes when present in the classrooms are caring and committed teachers, all with the goal of education and diversity is among them. .
Our nation’s education system strives through the hard work and dedication of its educators. Often great teachers, principles and supporting staff are drawn to the profession because they possess the desire to empower, inspire, nurture and watch young people grow - not only academically, but also emotionally. These people are there because they want to make an impact upon our society and the lives of whom the reach. Highly effective teachers are those who have taken learning to new heights by accelerating student learning, closing achievement gaps that persisted for decades, and promoting a mindset of change. Moreover, the presence of highly effective teachers in classrooms today continues to manifest as a result of the support from strong school leaders (U.S. Department of Education, 2013).