- THE ART OF TEACHING AND THE FOG OF ABSTRACTIONISM
- THE NOOSE OF CERTIFICATION
- DOUBLE DIPPING
- TEACHER UNIONS
- TENURE
- ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: TEACHER INTERNS AND APPRENTICES
- GUIDANCE OR MISGUIDANCE
- TEACHER OF THE YEAR
- FALSE INDUSTRIAL MODEL VS. A COLLEGIAL ORIENTATION
The sole essential element in education is the teacher, the key to significant education reform. In the deepest sense, nothing else really matters, not even a school building ! Obviously wind, snow, sleet, rain, extreme cold or heat and other external problems or dangers make the importance of secure school building a no-brainer.
However, as happens from time to time, if classes have to be held outdoors -- al fresco -- in benign weather, students’ education will still move forward when they have the guidance of a competent teacher.
Any adult -- and any savvy student -- knows that the first thing they look for when they want to learn something is a talented teacher. They might desire all the other trappings of their educational experience: buildings, equipment, etc., but if there is a choice to be made between a competent, talented teacher and any other element in education, the choice will always be for the competent teacher.
Education reform requires enrichment of each teacher’s intellectual competence. Education reform also requires putting classroom teachers where they belong, at the center of American public education, with the administration and the rest of the education establishment serving as assistants to the teachers in carrying out their all-important classroom duties.
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