Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on September 6, 2007 - 08:28.
I think there needs to be a balance. A new teacher should have the background knowledge of the subjects s/he will teach. You can't get that 'on the job', you need to study it - before you go in front of a group of students. But academic coursework alone will not prepare a new teacher to use effective strategies to help students learn. Skill in actually 'managing a classroom' only comes from real experience. Fast track certification programs too often shortchange the participants, which ends up cheating their eventual students.
Fast Track Certification
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on September 6, 2007 - 08:28.
I think there needs to be a balance. A new teacher should have the background knowledge of the subjects s/he will teach. You can't get that 'on the job', you need to study it - before you go in front of a group of students. But academic coursework alone will not prepare a new teacher to use effective strategies to help students learn. Skill in actually 'managing a classroom' only comes from real experience. Fast track certification programs too often shortchange the participants, which ends up cheating their eventual students.