I think that you are absolutely right. One of the keys to good teaching is admitting that you are not infallible. Teachers that presume to have all of the answers leave no room for their students to correct teacher errors, much less have different interpretations. If, however, teachers make it clear from the beginning that they do not have all of the answers, make mistakes, etc., the teaching will be more realistic and the students will be more involved in their own learning. Ideally. In a perfect, utopian, classroom.
As an education major I believe that I can speak firsthand about how teachers come to be ill-prepared. The teacher education program, at least at my university, bombards students with teaching theories. We read about theories, we discuss theoires, we write lessons plans that deal with different theories. Not that I have any opposition to learning theory, but the education program is short on the one thing that beginning teachers really do need- experience. I think that if teacher education programs really put education majors in the classroom early-on the public school system in the US would be greatly improved. Potential teachers would learn what teaching really entails, and maybe the screw-ups and the generally apathetic would be weeded out. Obvoisly I'm over-generalizing the issue, but I really do think that this is a factor. It's a vicous cycle- the underprepared and ill-eucated creating more underprepared and ill-educated teachers.
Slashdot Mirror
I think that you are absolutely right. One of the keys to good teaching is admitting that you are not infallible. Teachers that presume to have all of the answers leave no room for their students to correct teacher errors, much less have different interpretations. If, however, teachers make it clear from the beginning that they do not have all of the answers, make mistakes, etc., the teaching will be more realistic and the students will be more involved in their own learning. Ideally. In a perfect, utopian, classroom.
As an education major I believe that I can speak firsthand about how teachers come to be ill-prepared. The teacher education program, at least at my university, bombards students with teaching theories. We read about theories, we discuss theoires, we write lessons plans that deal with different theories. Not that I have any opposition to learning theory, but the education program is short on the one thing that beginning teachers really do need- experience. I think that if teacher education programs really put education majors in the classroom early-on the public school system in the US would be greatly improved. Potential teachers would learn what teaching really entails, and maybe the screw-ups and the generally apathetic would be weeded out. Obvoisly I'm over-generalizing the issue, but I really do think that this is a factor. It's a vicous cycle- the underprepared and ill-eucated creating more underprepared and ill-educated teachers.