The Education Wars II

As mentioned in an earlier post, education secretary Arne Duncan, the rebel without a clue, has focused some of his ire against public education on colleges of education. You know, they are supposed to be shitty because they attract all of these morons who end up being shitty teachers, and of course, in this Harvard graduate's eyes, that can't happen.

The REAL problem with colleges of education isn't with the courses; it is with the fact instructors, whether intentionally or not, do NOT tell prospective students what it is REALLY like to teach in public school districts in the 21st century. Teachers are NOT "professionals," for professionals have wide discretion in how they perform their jobs. Teachers do not, at least not anymore. Yet prospective teachers are taught in course after course how to be "creative" in designing lessons for students, about what other resources they can use besides traditional text books, and so forth, to help them do their jobs better.

This isn't the case in a real public school classroom. Creativity, let alone having an opinion about anything relating to how the school is run or how a principal or other administrator does his or her job, is absolutely squelched in public education. New teachers find out soon enough they must put up and shut up about their betters in the front office or face disciplinary action, including termination. And again, once terminated or even disciplined, teachers can never work in their chosen occupation ever again throughout the entire public school system in the United States.

Schools are run on a military model, but colleges of education do NOT tell prospective teachers that. If prospective teachers knew this, they would run as far away from public education as possible. When there is a true shortage of teachers, then and only then can real reform happen.