What Makes a Great Teacher? →
For years, the secrets to great teaching have seemed more like alchemy than science, a mix of motivational mumbo jumbo and misty-eyed tales of inspiration and dedication. But for more than a decade, one organization has been tracking hundreds of thousands of kids, and looking at why some teachers can move them three grade levels ahead in a year and others can’t. Now, as the Obama administration offers states more than $4 billion to identify and cultivate effective teachers, Teach for America is ready to release its data.
A very compelling article about teacher accountability. I didn’t agree with it all… and I admit I didn’t think very much of the included video examples. Part of that reaction is probably why I can’t stomach the notion of teaching at a primary grade level, on topics I hardly remember.
Before you go and read it, though, I must speak about the hours I spent agonizing over this article and a particular, highly acidic response in the comments that 50+ “likes”. The latter made me afraid that I was being taken in by the journalist and not really analyzing the content presented.
In a serious effort to elucidate the topic for myself, I have been crawling over various articles, especially on Michelle Rhee, who I have actually previously linked to on this log. Apparently she is an extremely polarizing figure in Washington DC, or was… a lot of people hate her work, whereas just as many think it’s effective. To be honest, I wasn’t able to come to any conclusion, so I can’t offer any opinion.
Ultimately I still believe in teacher accountability and though I sympathize with teachers who are working with students with difficult home conditions, I don’t feel that it relieves or lessens the potential impact a teacher could have on a student. (In fact, it could be magnified.) But I am willing to concede that it is likely that teachers working in these environments should be measured by a modified metric, designed with those particular issues in mind.
And though I am a sometimes teacher and therefore perhaps sometimes entitled to opinions about teaching, I am mostly thinking of my time as a student. Like all children, even the high school students will know whether or not the teacher is serious about them and their learning. And if the teacher can’t convince the student that they believe they can learn, how can the student do any better?
