Recently, Time magazine discussed some of the problems going on in public schools. One subject that it spoke about in particular was training and putting new teachers in the classroom. Unfortunately today, there are many unmotivated teachers in the classroom, not teaching with the best intention in mind. Instead of instructing young ones and making sure they are prepared to move in life, they are more concerned about making a paycheck. With this attitude common among teachers around the country, it is not shocking that students are not learning the material that they need to be successful in the future. Having teachers that didn’t care about students is something, unfortunately, I can relate to. Coming from a low income high school, it wasn’t uncommon to have a teacher that didn’t care about the welfare of students. Every day in class, you knew that the teacher didn’t want to be there, not only because they told us that, but also by their actions. It was common for me to teach myself the materials because the teacher didn’t teach it nor cared about us learning it. Even though I made it out of high school and got into a good college, now I am starting to see the effects of having teachers such as that. Today, while learning new things on the collegiate level, I still struggle with basic material that was supposed to learn back in high school. Even though I spent 4 years in high school, I am still not totally prepared for college. Even though there are some teachers out there that are concerned about the welfare of students and are truly passionate about teaching, because of cut salaries and mistreatment from the school board, this problem is only expected to get worse.
I believe the biggest problem with the public school system is generated by the type of teachers in the classroom. As you pointed out, there are numerous teachers that students come in contact with on a daily basis who find no joy in teaching. Not only do they detest their job, but they don’t do their job either. If schools could find a way to get qualified teachers in their schools, then they could easily pull up test scores. In fact, good teachers outweigh smaller class sizes in my opinion. One good teacher could help fifty students learn something, while ten bad teachers won’t be able to help one student. I completely agree that unmotivated teachers are the biggest downfall of public education, but how could schools counter this issue? Incentives and bonuses might prompt teachers to try and teach with more enthusiasm, but competition between teachers could cause problems. Giving training to unmotivated teachers wouldn’t help them either. There are many different ways to try and attract good teachers, but how often would public school be the better choice for teachers than a private school? The government needs to find a way to draw in good teachers that can help students learn.
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate to this situation. The high school I came from is not a low income school but still had teachers who did not care about the quality of education they provided. (I’m not sure if luckily is the word but) Luckily this was more common among the standard classes, not honors or AP however; there were still AP teachers who did not care. In one of my AP classes I literally did nothing the last half of the class but still received an A on all my assignments. The tests and quizzes in the class were ridiculously difficult since she didn’t teach any material and most students in the class openly cheated or begged her for answer on assignments. Two weeks prior to the AP exam the teacher divided the class in half, the halves consisted of people who planned on taking the AP exam and those who did not. Needless to say, she only taught those who were actually going to be taking the exam while the rest of us talked and found something to occupy our time. This nonchalant attitude caused me to not take the AP exam which could have earned me placement out of classes at UNC.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very unfortunate situation you were in at your high school. I can relate to that for the first two year of my high school experience. Most of my teachers didn't care and students openly cheated and they wouldn't stop them. It drove me off the wall because I wanted to learn the material so I would never cheat and the people that cheated would earn the same grades as me! I did benefit in the long run though. The point is that having teachers that don't care gives students all the more reason not to care. If they can get away with cheating, then why wouldn't they? After 9th and 10th grade, I was so fed up with teachers not caring and not stopping the cheating, that I had to switch high schools. I was placed in an honors program where the teachers truly cared about our success. They didn't give us tests where we would regurgitate facts that they told us in class. Every test was synthesis based. We had to think outside of the box on everything. Our teachers even cared so much as to take us on trips to places where we could get hands-on learning about what we were studying in class. We went to the Florida Keys to go snorkeling while we were studying marine biology in class. We toured Ernest Hemingway's house while we were in Key West because we were studying about him in English. Yes, it was an extremely tough two years but it has prepared me for college better than anything. I'm so thankful because I do not think I would be sitting at UNC Chapel Hill had I not switched high schools. Having teachers that care is so important.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone! Thanks for commenting.Me- unmotivated teachers is definitely a major problem in today's public schools. When you have a teacher that makes it clear everyday that he/she doesn't want to be there, it is hard to find the motivation to go to school and work hard. Unfortunately many schools, especially those with a high minority or low income population, have an abundance of these teachers. As for your thought that a caring teacher is more effective than having a small class, I definitely agree. If you have a teacher that has their goals on set on helping students, it is easier to learn from them than those that sit in their chair the whole time and not leave their desk once.Lazed- 'Im sorry you had to go through that at your high school. Your story reminds me of one of the AP classes that many of my friends were in last year. The whole year they had to teach themselves what was in the book and about 2 weeks before the exam, I guessed she realized that the exam was close and she decides to teach a chapter a day. Needless to say, majority of the class didn't score above a 2.
ReplyDeleteWow Beachgirl, consider yourself lucky. I think all of the teachers that I had in high school as well as middle school would cringe at the thought of going out of state on a field trip with students. It's sad. Even though making it through high school was tough, I was determined to go to college and become a doctor, so I just endured through it. Even though I made it, my motivation and ambitious attitude is what got me through high school. But I wonder about those students though, that have no motivation. They have nothing to look forward to in the future.
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