Comments on: Some teachers are better than others

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By: Some teachers are better than others « Jeonglankinser's Blog

Some teachers are better than others « Jeonglankinser's Blog — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:33:37 +0000

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By: Mike Curtis

Mike Curtis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:03:32 +0000

If you apply to the concept of Administration as a career path, then the best teachers for a principal will be those who don’t bring any attention to the school. Careerists are at their best when nobody notices them. They play the pay scale and go to great lengths to avoid doing anything wrong. This typically results in them doing nothing at all.
Principals who have the education of their students as their goal, will look, hire, and support teachers who believe their job is to teach.
An intrinsic quality of all institutions is for the institution to preserve and reproduce itself. Therein, lies the Principal’s dilemna…preserve your status, or, risk making mistakes, and do what you’re paid to do.

By: allen

allen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:55:24 +0000

Yup.

Either all the professionals have a clear, measurable stake in improving the quality of the school or it’ll just be an exercise in frustration or, more likely, another way of funneling funding to the current system with education taking its usual when-we-get-around-to-it role.

By: teach?

teach? — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:30:21 +0000

And while the higher ups argue about gaining and retaining good teachers, we are getting smart enough to leave the profession in droves.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:51:37 +0000

I think they are going at it the wrong way. Right now there is no incentive for principals or other administrators to hire better teachers. (no getting a student to pass a test is not indicative of a good teacher)
As far as principals, school boards, etc are concerned one certified teacher is as good as another, except one is cheaper than another.

By: allen

allen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:29:01 +0000

One thing at a time Darren.

Right now a good teacher’s skills simply are of no professional interest on an institutional basis. Oh sure, you’ll find the occasional principal who thinks it’s peachy to have good teachers working for them but by and large, who cares?

But when teaching skills do become important I don’t think some bright, young creature will come up with the pedagogical equivalent of a Geiger counter.

There’ll be objective measures as well as subjective measures but the way to deal with subjective measures is tie the fate of the subjective measurers to objective measures. A principal who insists on making decisions unsupported by evidence had better end up with a good school to show for their judgment or move on down the line.

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:18 +0000

But how can we *objectively* identify those good teachers, allen? That’s where the big money is going.

By: allen

allen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:13:55 +0000

Good teachers make for good teaching? The brilliance of the insight is simply breathtaking.

I wonder if Bill Gates’ll kick a few of those $500 million over my way? I can supply the further brilliant insight that good principals make for good schools.