Janet Kaiser on fri 18 jan 02
Although it is obviously based on the Old World university system(s),
whereby "the educated" must have passively learned how to teach simply
because they themselves have been through the system, that appears somewhat
flawed to today's society. As soon as one graduated, one was considered
able and eligible to teach... Indeed, once one graduated from university,
one was qualified to teach any subject, not just one's own specialism! (I
will NEVER forget the time I had to teach mathematics to class of
adolescent boys... :-) Furthermore, most tutors from Masters and Fellows up
to Doctors and Professors did not need any educational background, either
practical or theoretical.
However, this lack of an educational and/or pedagogic element in graduate
and/or post-graduate degree courses is all part of history in the UK these
days. If you want to teach at any level in any situation (schools,
colleges, night classes, sheltered communities, workshops, etc.) you have
to pass the Post Graduate Certificate of Education (unless your primary
Batchelor/Master's degree was Education). The PGCE is a one year course
which at least gives some grounding in educational psychology, teaching
methodology and techniques, plus a number of weeks teaching in two
different situations, with (theoretically) full support and guidance from
the university. The first year of full-time employment teaching is also
_probationary_ so one only receives a fully accredited teaching Certificate
if that is also passed. This is all supposed to provide a safety net, so
that those who are unsuitable can be weeded out and/or given extra support
to achieve the goals and targets set by their personal mentors, as well as
The System.
The System has been turned on its head with the introduction of The
Curriculum in schools. These and other changes have lead to record numbers
leaving the teaching profession. With the resulting shortages of teachers
in certain key subjects/age groups/institutions/regions, some standards are
being lowered, but in general there is a huge push by the government to
increase the standard of teaching and teachers right across the board. This
has been the government's way of remedying drops in literacy and numeracy
levels in the UK. College/university reform has yet to catch up with this
trend.
There are other criteria which also come into play... For example here in
this part of Wales, native Welsh speakers are given the highest priority,
with other qualifications and skills of secondary importance. The result is
bemusing for some onlookers... We have a brilliant Dr. (Mathematics) as
director of one local secondary school (totally over-qualified), but the
German teacher does not even have an "A" level to their name (extremely
under-qualified). At the local sixth form tertiary college, another Dr.
(Botany) teaches 17-18 year olds part-time, whilst his father (also a
Botanist) was a visiting Professor at Berkley CA and his mother was the
first Head of Faculty of Celtic Studies at Heidelberg University. Funny old
world.
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
Marine Crescent . Criccieth LL52 0EA . GB-Wales . UK
E-MAIL: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEB: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
TEL: (++44) 01766-523570
Home of The International Potters' Path
| |
|
