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Are the educational requirements to be a K-12 teacher overkill?

Are the educational requirements to be a K-12 teacher overkill?


  • Total voters
    22
Just finished a teach education program, myself.. and about to start full time next January. My answer is Yes and No. I shall explain.

You see, it is a tough job that requires a great deal of knowledge. Therefore, a lot of education is needed. However, the type we recieve is very much mis-directed and not helpful. State officials like to load up on requirements, regardless of how useful the actual classes are.

So I am not mad at needing six years of education to make 30K a year, nearly so much as I'm angry at 5 of those 6 years on junk I can never use, taking classes either out of my subject matter and/or designed by non-educators.

Fun fact: I am about to teach European history at the high school level. I took 120 credit hours for my BA..guess how many classes were in Euro history? TWO!

Only took four in American. So whether we teach american or euro, my state gives licenses to people with hardly any actual subject-matter experience. Vast majority of the classes are not germane to my job: foreign language, mathematics, biology, etc.

There is no such thing as a two dot ellipsis as you used above. (..)

Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission") is a mark or series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word or a phrase from the original text. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate a pause in speech, an unfinished thought, or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence (aposiopesis) (apostrophe and elipsis mixed).

The most common form of an ellipsis is a row of three periods or full stops (...) or precomposed triple-dot glyph (…).
 
There is no such thing as a two dot ellipsis as you used above. (..)

I am entirely familiar with such grammer rules. However, I did not feel it necessary to be so precise on an internet forum. Do you have any actual rebuttal?
 
I voted yes since I believe that you can give someone all the education in the world (yes they will be more knowledgeable in the subject that they will be teaching) but to be a good teacher, that only comes with experience. If colleges would get rid of alot of their BS class's I could see a teacher doing just as good with a 2 year degree than one with a 4 year degree. For example I went to college to get my certification in welding. Low and behold I look up my class i have to take and find out I need an English and psychology class :thinking. Now wtf that has to do with welding I don't know but it's a good example of such BS class's.

Fun Fact: Me and few others that were taking welding scored higher in the class than the ones that were taking journalism (and i failed an English class in high school in 9th grade)
 
I completely disagree. It's already exceptionally easy to gain access to elementary students when you have no degree. As a college degree child development and becoming an elementary teacher is fairly easy as it is.

We don't want dumbasses teaching our kids. It's best to weed out the tards. It's not just about teaching a kid 2 + 2 = 4.

If you want to "weed out the tards," you could still have standardized tests like the PRAXIS. There's simply no need to make someone waste their time and money on four years of classes that, for the most part, don't do anything to help them learn how to do their job better.

I would much prefer a system where college is optional for K-8, college grads earn more than non-college grads, and pay is based on merit rather than the number of years someone has been teaching.
 
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No. Our students are not as well educated as their foreign counterparts. The solution is not to lessen the qualification level of our teachers.

The question here is what makes someone "qualified" to be a teacher. Is it a little piece of paper saying that you sat through Education classes for four years, or is it the ability to engage and motivate students and improve their performance?
 
I guess you guys who make idiotic posts in this thread had some of them High school graduate teachers. ****ing idiots.

Now here is an 'intelligent' post... :rolleyes:

(rather oxymoronic if you ask me....)
 
I guess you guys who make idiotic posts in this thread had some of them High school graduate teachers. ****ing idiots.

It is legitimate to question whether or not the educational requirements for teaching are necessary. You wouldn't make someone go to culinary school to just so they can flip burgers at McDonalds or someone get a degree in calculus just so they can be a cashier at walmart,or make someone get a degree in engineering just to be a house framer? Of course you wouldn't make anyone do those things its overkill and not really related to their specific field, so how exactly are college level courses relevant to teaching little Timmy that 2+2=4 or that George Washington is our first president/


Perhaps instead of bashing posters for their comments you should perhaps explain which college classes helped you make lesson plans, how exactly to teach kids(I am sure a lot of parents who homeschool their kids never went to college to be a teacher) and so on and explain how the classes that seem irrelevant to us is relevant to being a teacher and exaplin why none of these classes couldn't be done a trade school or junior college level.
 
There should be complete separation between church education and state, and the free market should decide what religion educational philosophy people choose and how its priesthood teacher qualifications are to be managed.
 
Think about it from this perspective, by showing up to enough college education courses to pass, you are essentially proving to a potential employer that you will more often than not show up. I really do not buy the statement, "i never went to any of my classes in college and got A's (or passed)." Therefore attendance is shown to increase performance, at least from my perspective.

The question is, do you believe someone who never had to, or never did show up 180 days per year to class will be willing to do so in a fashion acceptable for young students to learn?

Primary education is all about attendance. The curriculum is geared towards it, and those who show up every day are proven to do better than those who rarely show up.

Getting back to the OP, i think the college requirements are a little much given the demands of the job. Maybe 2 years learning the subject matter to be specialized in, and another 2 performing OJT.
 
As one going to college to be a teacher, the requirements are profound but that is good. What is underkill is the salaries which are a joke.

As in so many other areas, reform and improvement are a must.
As the education is so expensive; starting salaries should be higher..But my school taxes are killing me now and others I am sure..
Solution : Find a way to determine who is a "natural" teacher and be less concerned with degrees.
Then, after one has their tenure, after 10-20 years - they seem to be overpaid...
The ability to teach is a gift from God..Master and super master degrees do not change this...
 
As in so many other areas, reform and improvement are a must.
As the education is so expensive; starting salaries should be higher..But my school taxes are killing me now and others I am sure..
Solution : Find a way to determine who is a "natural" teacher and be less concerned with degrees.
Then, after one has their tenure, after 10-20 years - they seem to be overpaid...
The ability to teach is a gift from God..Master and super master degrees do not change this...

My god, perhaps we should look for the eye of the tiger and stop training boxers. We should just throw in the naturally gifted and let them figure **** out in the ring :3oops:.

Honestly speaking, pay should be based on results with a better starting base. And if you want to reduce your taxes going toward school push your goverment to introduce competition for these funds between private and public schools based on results.
 
No. Our students are not as well educated as their foreign counterparts. The solution is not to lessen the qualification level of our teachers.
Not really.
The solution is to find out exactly what the problem is and its cause.
For instance, the opening statement could be false.
But, given that it is true, its logical to consider the quality of the student, the cooperation of the parents, and the teaching ability of the instructor.
Its a rather simple puzzle, but all the pieces must fit..
 
My god, perhaps we should look for the eye of the tiger and stop training boxers."Naturally gifted boxers do better as well; but we need more teachers and less boxers.. We should just throw in the naturally gifted and let them figure **** out in the ring :3oops:.

Honestly speaking, pay should be based on results with a better starting base. And if you want to reduce your taxes going toward school push your government to introduce competition for these funds between private and public schools based on results.

I'd like my tax load to be more fair. Now, I have kept my property taxes as low as possible, the income or sales tax could be increased and the prop. tax decreased...no one wants to do this, particularly the conservative Republicians...
Results ?
We want all the results in the world from our teachers, but our lawmakers are giving us none !
 
I voted "other".
Increasing the teacher educational requirements is NOT the solution to the problem.
Lets poll concerned instructors and hear from them rather than opinionated old fools(OOF) and politicians(is there a difference)??
From this OOF, we need
smaller class sizes
much more cooperation from the parents
support from the public and the school board.
The primary requirement should be an ability to relate.
 
I'm spending many years preparing to do so and plan to get both a masters and doctorate in the field. When I was growing up, I agreed with the more stringent requirements upon teacher certifications. Should they make more? I would never argue against teachers making more money. Should college tuition be cheaper? My wallet and future debt would agree.

I hold little sympathy with my fellow students preparing to be teachers. You could always fill a library with articles, films, and books playing the violin for educators (just as you could with people over obsessing with trashing teachers).
 
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There is no point arguing with arrogant but ignorant people. I think Rep Franks said it best......................

If you aren't interested in discussing the subject beyond infantile insults, no one is forcing you to post on the thread at all. :2wave:
 
Think about it from this perspective, by showing up to enough college education courses to pass, you are essentially proving to a potential employer that you will more often than not show up. I really do not buy the statement, "i never went to any of my classes in college and got A's (or passed)." Therefore attendance is shown to increase performance, at least from my perspective.

The question is, do you believe someone who never had to, or never did show up 180 days per year to class will be willing to do so in a fashion acceptable for young students to learn?

Primary education is all about attendance. The curriculum is geared towards it, and those who show up every day are proven to do better than those who rarely show up.

Getting back to the OP, i think the college requirements are a little much given the demands of the job. Maybe 2 years learning the subject matter to be specialized in, and another 2 performing OJT.

I don't think there is much correlation between getting a college degree and showing up at work (beyond the fact that people who go to college in the first place might be inherently more responsible). Surely schools that are considering hiring a teacher could look at their attendance record at previous jobs, including their student teaching assignment, whether they went to college or not.
 
There is nothing to discuss with idiots.
Thankfully there are pretty smart folks on this board, beyond you bunch of retards.

Great. So go talk with them, and leave us retards be on this thread. :2wave:
 
Are the educational requirements to be a K-12 teacher overkill?

I saw another thread as was wondering what everyone's opinions are on the subject.

I ask this question because it seems like overkill. What the hell does college level classes has to do with teaching little Timmy that 2+2=4 or that George Washington was the first president,especially if you only teach one subject? You wouldn't go to culinary school just so you can get a job at McDonalds flipping burgers or cooking french fries nor would you go to calculus just so you can be a cashier at Wal-Mart. Wouldn't be better if those wanting to be teachers only took courses related to the field they want to teach in or maybe a trade school for like lesson plan and test making and perhaps how to deal with unruly children?

No, a college degree should be the norm for any teacher, even Kindergarten. Anyone who suffers the illusion that being a teacher is just teaching little Timmy 2+2=4 has such a myopic understanding of a teacher's job that they cannot be taken seriously.

Teaching involves not only covering the course matter but also having an understanding of child development, child psychology, and an arsenal of behavior adjusting and teaching techniques to be effective.
 
There is nothing to discuss with idiots.
Thankfully there are pretty smart folks on this board, beyond you bunch of retards.

If I were gay, I would ask that you would be my gay lover. But as I am not, you will have to settle with my overwhelming applause.
 
No, a college degree should be the norm for any teacher, even Kindergarten.

A kindergarten teacher is nothing more than a overated babysitter or daycare worker. Anyone can teach children their ABC's and 123's. Would you demand that the burger flipper at McDonalds go to culinary school or that the cashier at walmart get a degree in calculus?

Anyone who suffers the illusion that being a teacher is just teaching little Timmy 2+2=4 has such a myopic understanding of a teacher's job that they cannot be taken seriously
Teaching involves not only covering the course matter but also having an understanding of child development, child psychology, and an arsenal of behavior adjusting and teaching techniques to be effective.

Then what college courses specifically teach these things? How is this any different than a parent who homeschools their child?
 
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