One topic I never really thought about to myself a lot since I started teaching is the controversial nature of being a teacher without an education degree. Probably because I have been so focused on myself as a teacher, I never really thought about what others might consider of me when I tell them I never went through an education program at college. I did some google searching, and as I thought, non-education majors as teachers are not very well liked and the question of their effectiveness is the prime reason. But, then that raises the question: does having an education degree make you a more effective teacher than those who are not?
A little back ground about me: I graduated with a degree in Studio Art. Initially, I went to school to study animation, however after noticing that the job prospects were low and the financial toll was high, I left for studio art, specifically to become a teacher afterwards. I have always wanted to teach art, since high school, but the appeal of being able to work in animation steered me away. I also wanted my degree to be in Art Education specifically, but this would be require me to move out of town 2 hours away. So, I was told by my mentor that I can get alternatively certified if I get my degree in the subject I wanted to teach. And so, I did. And it worked. I graduated with a degree in Studio Art and I then went on to become Alternatively Certified, which requires some extra schooling while you teach. You can take courses on weekends, evenings, and summer.
I am sure that someone who has never had experience in a classroom suddenly being thrown in will not be quite as effective as someone who spent a semester or two in the classroom during college. But then again, I am sure there are some teachers who have that internship experience and yet they are still as ineffective as someone with no prior experience. A person's personal ability is the major factor here, not their experience nor their schooling. Teaching is a skill and a talent like anything else, and if you just don't have it, you may as well never have it. I have seen some people go into teaching and realize that very early on. They understand that despite all the schooling and prior experience they had before, they just weren't cut out to be teachers. Many leave by their 3rd year.
Prior to entering the classroom, I made sure I took on many teaching experiences to help prepare me for the real thing. I taught as a volunteer and I took small jobs as after school or summer camp counselors to make sure I could handle being around children. Very early on, I noticed I had an incredible knack for it. It all just clicked. When I was in front of the classroom, it all felt natural, easy, comfortable. Children would stare at me with eyes wide open, fingers crossed, ready to learn. I was naturally predisposed for teaching. No one taught me how to do it. No one showed me the way. I was thrown in and in the end, it all worked out. Now, I must admit, I lacked some useful skills an education major may have learned in college, but these were skills anyone can learn to do and they were skills that did not hinder my ability to teach.
Now back to the question of teacher effectiveness and education degrees: I'd say, it does not make a difference if you're not already naturally predisposed to teaching. If you cannot teach, you cannot teach. It's that simple. I cannot sing as beautifully as Mariah Carey can and I never will be able to, no matter how many singing lessons I take. An ineffective teacher will not be able to magically become effective no matter whether they have an education degree or not. Being an effective teacher has nothing to do with your education and everything to do with your talent. And you dare to disagree, just remember all those crappy teachers you had back in school. Did they ever get better? Probably not.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
3rd year into teaching art - bad teachers
Thinking about running to this blog to get all of these nagging thoughts out of my mind got me excited for a while. I have actually always enjoyed taking the time to slow down and re-think anything I have thought before and form them into actual visible words on either paper or screen. Just something I've done since I've learned to read and write as a child. But lately, in the last year or so, that joy has waned. Well, I can't say that for sure. I still enjoy word vomit. I just find it harder to do. I find it harder to peel myself off the sofa, turn off the the mind numbing television and other various distractions (facebook, instagram, cellphone in general) and just sit and go within my own mind. Even now I have the TV running in the background, although on mute, I enjoy its ability to keep me up to date on meaningless and pointless little tidbits. Like that new CGI movie coming out, or that new company down the street that is hiring. You never know what you want to know!
But I digress. The whole point of me saying all of this is that I have been having a hard time forcing myself to sit down and get the words out. The words are there. The desire is there. The action is just not. I guess we can simply call that laziness.
One of the most persistent thoughts lately (with regards to teaching of course) has to do with my experience in high school and the teachers I had there. Well, what first initiated the thought was the question "why did you become a teacher?" and not only is the answer because I love art and I want to help share that love with others too but I also didn't like the teachers I had in high school. Just down right hated them actually. I always told myself "I could be so much better than that". I knew that teaching was so much more than what they were showing me, and I wanted to prove it. I had to prove it. I almost feel like some of my teachers gave on teaching, and I almost feel like some of my teachers gave up on some students specifically. Like me, for example. Like they saw me as a problem student and just turned away. But they had now idea that I actually enjoyed learning. I loved learning. I wanted to learn. I wanted to get better grades. They just didn't want to teach ME. They were problem teachers. I almost became bitter, in a way. I almost gave up on myself too.
And as far as art goes, I learned nothing. Just down right nothing it was not until I got into college that I began to actually learn how to be a real working artist and I saw what a terrible dis-service my art teacher in high school did to me. She had a degree in art yet she held her knowledge from me because she had no desire to teach. In fact, she often put down my work because she thought of it as being too immature. She cross her arms and shake her head and walk away, looking totally disappointed. She never accepted what I did. She was a terrible teacher. I always told myself I would never be like her.
And I'm not.
I teach my kids things I never learned in middle school, I never learned in high school. Things I never learned until college. By the time my students get to high school, they will know more than I did when I entered college. And you know what, I am damn proud of that. It was my goal to never be like the teachers I had in school. It was my goal to prove that they were bad teachers. And I did. I was I able to show that I am better than they ever will be. I think I am ready to keep moving forward.
Right now I am teaching middle school. And I hope to keep pushing to greater things. Who knows, maybe one day, I'll be a professor in college teaching other young adults how to become art teachers themselves.
Bah.
But I digress. The whole point of me saying all of this is that I have been having a hard time forcing myself to sit down and get the words out. The words are there. The desire is there. The action is just not. I guess we can simply call that laziness.
One of the most persistent thoughts lately (with regards to teaching of course) has to do with my experience in high school and the teachers I had there. Well, what first initiated the thought was the question "why did you become a teacher?" and not only is the answer because I love art and I want to help share that love with others too but I also didn't like the teachers I had in high school. Just down right hated them actually. I always told myself "I could be so much better than that". I knew that teaching was so much more than what they were showing me, and I wanted to prove it. I had to prove it. I almost feel like some of my teachers gave on teaching, and I almost feel like some of my teachers gave up on some students specifically. Like me, for example. Like they saw me as a problem student and just turned away. But they had now idea that I actually enjoyed learning. I loved learning. I wanted to learn. I wanted to get better grades. They just didn't want to teach ME. They were problem teachers. I almost became bitter, in a way. I almost gave up on myself too.
And as far as art goes, I learned nothing. Just down right nothing it was not until I got into college that I began to actually learn how to be a real working artist and I saw what a terrible dis-service my art teacher in high school did to me. She had a degree in art yet she held her knowledge from me because she had no desire to teach. In fact, she often put down my work because she thought of it as being too immature. She cross her arms and shake her head and walk away, looking totally disappointed. She never accepted what I did. She was a terrible teacher. I always told myself I would never be like her.
And I'm not.
I teach my kids things I never learned in middle school, I never learned in high school. Things I never learned until college. By the time my students get to high school, they will know more than I did when I entered college. And you know what, I am damn proud of that. It was my goal to never be like the teachers I had in school. It was my goal to prove that they were bad teachers. And I did. I was I able to show that I am better than they ever will be. I think I am ready to keep moving forward.
Right now I am teaching middle school. And I hope to keep pushing to greater things. Who knows, maybe one day, I'll be a professor in college teaching other young adults how to become art teachers themselves.
Bah.
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