Thread: Inept Teacher Training

My undergrad teacher "training" was a complete joke in academic terms. What I hear now coming out of that school is that it's a "diploma mill" convincing kids that there's a HUGE shortage of teachers around here -when in fact the opposite is true.

See, what happened here is this - this little "college" noticed what their money ball could be - advanced education degrees - because being centrally located between major cities, and with the new manditory laws for teachers to get more advanced training and degrees, people would flock here - as opposed to going to Akron, Columbus, Cleveland, Bowling Green, etc - making the drive shorter. And by God and Sonny Jesus, is the money ever rolling in!

But again, the "education" department is a diploma mill. The even have a DOCTORATE program now! Pay the tuition, and you too could put P.hD after your name! And the thing that pisses me off is that these people THINK they are intellectuals, when they can't go toe to toe with people with real degrees from real colleges and universities.

I could go into millions of examples of what a farce it is. But again, I'm smart enough to realize that there are those out there getting good teacher training and advanced degrees. But this is why I decided to go to a credible university to get my masters in my content area......................

CSW

I think the biggest issue with discourse on education these days is that we completely leave out the "home" aspect. What goes on in the households so deeply affects what goes on in the schools, and vice versa... yet the two remain these mutually exclusive realms. Being bounced between the two every day is so draining.

My suggestion is that this society get used to the idea of local, public boarding schools. I imagine it would be a much more cost-efficient system (though I haven't done the research) than the way we do things now, and the "boarding" aspect could be optional - that is, would have to be to avoid culture shock. It would save a lot of tension between the home and schools if students were to grow up in an environment where living is not separate from learning.

It's a completely radical idea, of course, and I don't ever see it happening in this country for many generations, if ever. But it's food for thought.

No it is not radical and was done in many parts of this country for different reasons throughout the years. It is a bad Idea. plain and simple.

Schools are not meant to raise children. A child's emotional well being is best served and supported at home. In the not too recent past Native American children were forcibly sent to boarding schools. The purpose behind this was assimilation. Yes it was a crappy time, and one which we as Americans should look on in shame.


Flash forward two or three generations and the effects of the boarding schools are still being felt. I am not even going to touch the loss of culture issue because it is a bit off topic. What needs to be looked at is the long term effects on family dynamics. these children who were reared by a school, lost their ability to connect with their children. Their personal and emotional needs were not met by their parents. they were met by the school. Their children and grand children suffer from this, and look to the school to fulfil the emotional and personal needs of their children. This is wrong.

Yes there are a lot of messed up families out there, but if you look specifically at Native Americans the number sky rockets, and the origin of this can be traced directly back to the boarding school era. Basically the individual lost the ability to raise their child.

Optional Boarding does not necessarily work either. Once again indian reservations provide a great example. If you look at BIA schools around the country there are still many who offer boarding to those families who live too far, or do not have the an ability to get their children to the schools. These schools have two extremely different populations to contend with. The boarders, and those who go home at night. The conflicts between these students are huge. You have two extremely different societies forced together.

Then you have the very unique universe of the boarding school society that is created by the Boarders. One researcher likened it to prison society. This society arises beause the children out number the adults, and the adults cannot be with all of the children all of the time. The majority of the adults are with the very little children. The older children often look after younger ones. A child cannot meet the emotional needs of another child.

I live and work on a reservation and deal with this every day. Private boarding schools suffer the same ills.

It is not cost efective at all to run a boarding school. Added employee costs, housing costs, and liability costs suck up more money than a day school ever could.

I spent a year in boarding school in Arizona and hated it. I don't think any of my classmates really cared for it.

There wasn't much privacy. Cafeteria food was the pits. My school also placed seniors in positions of responsibilities as dormitory proctors. The proctors severely abused their authority, overturning beds in the middle of the night and making students run naked around an inner courtyard while throwing clods of dirt at us and spraying us with a graden hose.

When I reported this incident to the headmaster, the proctors beat me unconcious and I awoke in the nurse's office.

I subsequently called my father and the headmaster laughed it off as a "boys will be boys" matter. The proctors were not disciplined and their abusive behavior continued.

In retrospect I should have called the police ... but I was a scared 16 year old kid. Having told adult authority about the situation, I didn't know what to do after the headmaster let me down.

By efficiency, I meant that day school PLUS home room-and-board costs would likely be less than if it were all going to literally the same place. Just to clear that up.

Mark, I would in fact like to hear what you have to say about loss of culture (if you don't mind...?).

I see what you guys are saying - discipline and basic care would be difficult to manage successfully (even if it weren't difficult to pay for) on top of the academics.

I don't see, though, how optional public boarding schools would necessarily force different societies together; or how, if it did, it would be any different from many of our public (and private) day schools today.

During the boarding School Era native american Children were forced into boarding schools to assimilate them. By assimilate, I mean turn them into english speaking god fearing good americans. Children were punished and beaten if they used their home language. They did not get to go home for the summer, and were often farmed out to "sponsors" as field hands and house help during school and in the summers. During this time there was also forced relocation of whole families, from rural traditional lands to the cities.

The efforts to deculturalize were pretty effective. Many tribes have lost their languages and most of their traditional practices. Tribal members straddle cultures. Some successfully, others not. Poverty, substance abuse, and domestic violence are extremely high among these individuals.

Once leaving the boarding schools, the students were caught hopelessly between cultures. The greatest effect was seen in children who started boarding school at a young age. They left with little to no traditional knowledge, which is what the, then, government wanted. not to mention very little child rearing ability. Those who returned to their reservations were not always welcomed with open arms. They remained outsiders among their people because they did not know their cultures or languages. The outside world was even less forgiving.

There has been several attempts to eradicate and assimilate the Native American. OSme more successful than others. All you can do is learn from them, and not do it again.

The two cultures I mentioned would be those who have a family to go home to, and those who do not. This is a lot different than what you see in a normal school. Boarding school social dymnamics are not what you are used to. You might want to read Lord of the Flies. A friend's father said it was a pretty good descrition of life in a boarding school. Boarding school society has it's own set of ethics and morals, laws and punishments. In many instances it really is survival of the strongest.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are good boarding schools out there, I have heard wonderful stories, but those stories still have the bitter after taste of the boarding school society.

Davd gave a very real description of boarding schools. Compared with what i ahve been told about these times, his would not be considered particularly bad experience. He lived. modern boarding schools, not necessarily those of a private nature, are strange beasts to say the least.

Mix this population with the other and you have a nasty volitile mixture.

It's a completely radical idea

Rather Stalinist, actually....the government should not be in the business of raising children. Providing some education at the taxpayer's expense, that much has been considered acceptable. Children are ultimately a parent's responsibility, until old enough to take care of themselves.

Being bounced between the two every day is so draining.

So is being bounced between home and work. So is being bounced atop the waves in the ocean of life. But I am glad you noted the dichotomy- often only us teachers can see the difference between how children are brought up and what that affects in regards to their learning. Some homes children are for all intents and purposes brought up to learn little or nothing. Conversely, some parents care a lot, are highly involved, and impress their concern on their offspring. And I am glad I live in a land where parents have the liberty to make that choice, even if one of the choices is a foolish one.

Ha, I can't believe it took that long for someone to bring up communism. :P But, seriously now. I don't know about you guys, but I've no more to say on the boarding schools thing. You all are right, of course - the cons outweigh the pros. Just a thought I've been sitting on; thanks for being here so I could air it. Now onto more realistic talk.

I was sitting in pre-cal today, waiting for class to start up, and I jotted a list of things that make teachers' jobs - and job training - difficult to perfect:

A. Just as much is expected from young newcomers as from seasoned pros.

B. They are expected to teach in such a way that both fulfills testing/standards requirements AND motivates students to fully invest themselves in subject material.

C. They are expected to teach; to handle classroom disruption; to help kids individually; to sometimes act as a personal mentor or guide; to otherwise act in behalf of children and their school; and to respond to parents' inquiries.

D. They are expected to have chosen teaching out of the goodness of their hearts; they are supposed to be warm and charismatic, ever concerned with the future of society, with the souls of the innocent, blah blah blah.

E. Considering all the above... teachers are not the only ones who have to deal with that crap, or similar conflicts; however, their job is different in that they are government employees (that is, a majority are) in a sacred-slash-hated-slash-clichéd-and-pop-culturized institution... and thus are responsible to pretty much the entire public at all times.


There is always somebody declaring that they've found the problem with the schooling of today's children - when the larger conflicts of education are ones that will never go away. I mean, really, how are these overarching themes supposed to change (if people always say it's so darn urgent that they do), when education will always be characterized by the mixing of unlike worlds? Adults and kids. Academics and emotions. They're forever together, baby.

If I had to name the number one problem in education, it would have nothing to with education theory or teacher training. It would be that the system is too cumbersome and bureaucratic to effect the everyday, school-specific changes that would alleviate pressure on teachers to be superhuman. Examples: hiring psychological/guidance/rule-enforcement/secretarial help. (Once again, a topic I've not actually researched, so I don't have enough wisdom to make a full argument.)

And then there's the money thing, but that's waaaaaay over my head. I went to a school board budget hearing a number of months ago, and I don't think more than three people in the room actually fully understood what functional purpose the formulas were supposed to serve....