teaching profession then and now essay

Redefining the Role of the Teacher: It’s a Multifaceted Profession

A closer look at what being an educator really means.

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Imagine a school where teaching is considered to be a profession rather than a trade. The role of teachers in a child's education -- and in American culture -- has fundamentally changed. Teaching differs from the old "show-and-tell" practices as much as modern medical techniques differ from practices such as applying leeches and bloodletting.

Instruction doesn't consist primarily of lecturing to students who sit in rows at desks, dutifully listening and recording what they hear, but, rather, offers every child a rich, rewarding, and unique learning experience. The educational environment isn't confined to the classroom but, instead, extends into the home and the community and around the world. Information isn't bound primarily in books; it's available everywhere in bits and bytes.

Students aren't consumers of facts. They are active creators of knowledge. Schools aren't just brick-and-mortar structures -- they're centers of lifelong learning. And, most important, teaching is recognized as one of the most challenging and respected career choices, absolutely vital to the social, cultural, and economic health of our nation.

Today, the seeds of such a dramatic transformation in education are being planted. Prompted by massive revolutions in knowledge, information technology, and public demand for better learning, schools nationwide are slowly but surely restructuring themselves.

Leading the way are thousands of teachers who are rethinking every part of their jobs -- their relationship with students, colleagues, and the community; the tools and techniques they employ; their rights and responsibilities; the form and content of curriculum; what standards to set and how to assess whether they are being met; their preparation as teachers and their ongoing professional development; and the very structure of the schools in which they work. In short, teachers are reinventing themselves and their occupation to better serve schools and students.

New Relationships and Practices

Traditionally, teaching was a combination of information-dispensing, custodial child care and sorting out academically inclined students from others. The underlying model for schools was an education factory in which adults, paid hourly or daily wages, kept like-aged youngsters sitting still for standardized lessons and tests.

Teachers were told what, when, and how to teach. They were required to educate every student in exactly the same way and were not held responsible when many failed to learn. They were expected to teach using the same methods as past generations, and any deviation from traditional practices was discouraged by supervisors or prohibited by myriad education laws and regulations. Thus, many teachers simply stood in front of the class and delivered the same lessons year after year, growing gray and weary of not being allowed to change what they were doing.

Many teachers today, however, are encouraged to adapt and adopt new practices that acknowledge both the art and science of learning. They understand that the essence of education is a close relationship between a knowledgeable, caring adult and a secure, motivated child. They grasp that their most important role is to get to know each student as an individual in order to comprehend his or her unique needs, learning style, social and cultural background, interests, and abilities.

This attention to personal qualities is all the more important as America continues to become the most pluralistic nation on Earth. Teachers have to be committed to relating to youngsters of many cultures, including those young people who, with traditional teaching, might have dropped out -- or have been forced out -- of the education system.

Their job is to counsel students as they grow and mature -- helping them integrate their social, emotional, and intellectual growth -- so the union of these sometimes separate dimensions yields the abilities to seek, understand, and use knowledge; to make better decisions in their personal lives; and to value contributing to society.

They must be prepared and permitted to intervene at any time and in any way to make sure learning occurs. Rather than see themselves solely as masters of subject matter such as history, math, or science, teachers increasingly understand that they must also inspire a love of learning.

In practice, this new relationship between teachers and students takes the form of a different concept of instruction. Tuning in to how students really learn prompts many teachers to reject teaching that is primarily lecture based in favor of instruction that challenges students to take an active role in learning.

They no longer see their primary role as being the king or queen of the classroom, a benevolent dictator deciding what's best for the powerless underlings in their care. They've found they accomplish more if they adopt the role of educational guides, facilitators, and co-learners.

The most respected teachers have discovered how to make students passionate participants in the instructional process by providing project-based, participatory, educational adventures. They know that in order to get students to truly take responsibility for their own education, the curriculum must relate to their lives, learning activities must engage their natural curiosity, and assessments must measure real accomplishments and be an integral part of learning.

Students work harder when teachers give them a role in determining the form and content of their schooling -- helping them create their own learning plans and deciding the ways in which they will demonstrate that they have, in fact, learned what they agreed to learn.

The day-to-day job of a teacher, rather than broadcasting content, is becoming one of designing and guiding students through engaging learning opportunities. An educator's most important responsibility is to search out and construct meaningful educational experiences that allow students to solve real-world problems and show they have learned the big ideas, powerful skills, and habits of mind and heart that meet agreed-on educational standards. The result is that the abstract, inert knowledge that students used to memorize from dusty textbooks comes alive as they participate in the creation and extension of new knowledge.

New Tools and Environments

One of the most powerful forces changing teachers' and students' roles in education is new technology. The old model of instruction was predicated on information scarcity. Teachers and their books were information oracles, spreading knowledge to a population with few other ways to get it.

But today's world is awash in information from a multitude of print and electronic sources. The fundamental job of teaching is no longer to distribute facts but to help children learn how to use them by developing their abilities to think critically, solve problems, make informed judgments, and create knowledge that benefits both the students and society. Freed from the responsibility of being primary information providers, teachers have more time to spend working one-on-one or with small groups of students.

Recasting the relationship between students and teachers demands that the structure of school changes as well. Though it is still the norm in many places to isolate teachers in cinderblock rooms with age-graded pupils who rotate through classes every hour throughout a semester -- or every year, in the case of elementary school -- this paradigm is being abandoned in more and more schools that want to give teachers the time, space, and support to do their jobs.

Extended instructional periods and school days, as well as reorganized yearly schedules, are all being tried as ways to avoid chopping learning into often arbitrary chunks based on limited time. Also, rather than inflexibly group students in grades by age, many schools feature mixed-aged classes in which students spend two or more years with the same teachers.

In addition, ability groups, from which those judged less talented can rarely break free, are being challenged by a recognition that current standardized tests do not measure many abilities or take into account the different ways people learn best.

One of the most important innovations in instructional organization is team teaching, in which two or more educators share responsibility for a group of students. This means that an individual teacher no longer has to be all things to all students. This approach allows teachers to apply their strengths, interests, skills, and abilities to the greatest effect, knowing that children won't suffer from their weaknesses, because there's someone with a different set of abilities to back them up.

To truly professionalize teaching, in fact, we need to further differentiate the roles a teacher might fill. Just as a good law firm has a mix of associates, junior partners, and senior partners, schools should have a greater mix of teachers who have appropriate levels of responsibility based on their abilities and experience levels. Also, just as much of a lawyer's work occurs outside the courtroom, so, too, should we recognize that much of a teacher's work is done outside the classroom.

New Professional Responsibilities

Aside from rethinking their primary responsibility as directors of student learning, teachers are also taking on other roles in schools and in their profession. They are working with colleagues, family members, politicians, academics, community members, employers, and others to set clear and obtainable standards for the knowledge, skills, and values we should expect America's children to acquire. They are participating in day-to-day decision making in schools, working side-by-side to set priorities, and dealing with organizational problems that affect their students' learning.

Many teachers also spend time researching various questions of educational effectiveness that expand the understanding of the dynamics of learning. And more teachers are spending time mentoring new members of their profession, making sure that education school graduates are truly ready for the complex challenges of today's classrooms.

Reinventing the role of teachers inside and outside the classroom can result in significantly better schools and better-educated students. But though the roots of such improvement are taking hold in today's schools, they need continued nurturing to grow and truly transform America's learning landscape. The rest of us -- politicians and parents, superintendents and school board members, employers and education school faculty -- must also be willing to rethink our roles in education to give teachers the support, freedom, and trust they need to do the essential job of educating our children.

Judith Taack Lanier is a distinguished professor of education at Michigan State University.

Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

an undergraduate course with Professor Jack Dougherty at Trinity College, Hartford CT

Teaching Then and Now: Has Teaching Changed Over the Years with the Introduction of New Technology? And Have Interactive White Boards Changed the Way Teachers Teach?

Technology is becoming more and more advanced everyday. Items that are faster and sleeker are replacing items that we once used. These are anything, from things that are in our homes to things that are in our schools. Many schools have new technology that teachers use. This might sound great, that most schools have this advanced technology, but when we look deeper do we see any change over time? More specifically, do we see any change over time in the way teachers teach? In this research paper, I will pay close attention to what author, Larry Cuban, feels about teaching and the implementation of technology over time. I will look at a couple of his books The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 and Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom where he says that how teachers teach has pretty much stayed the same over time. I will answer this question in a different way and say that technology has changed the ways teachers teach. I will do this by r by reviewing some articles and books that look at teaching methods from about the 1970’s to the present to show that many teachers use this technology and there have been changes in how teachers teach. Finally, I will look at a pretty recent technological innovation, interactive white boards, and show that the addition of this novelty has changed how teachers teach.

In Cuban’s book, Teachers and Machines: The classroom use of technology since 1920, Cuban says that electronic technology has not changed the way high school teachers teach. Cuban says this is due to “school and classroom structures and culture of teaching” (Cuban 2 , 63). For example, there are teachers who resist using technology, which could be for a number of reasons (Cuban 2 , 80). Teachers might not be prepared, they might not have the time, they might not like change, etc. In regards to computers, Cuban feel like they are being used like how past innovations, radio, films, etc., have been used which means things have stayed the same (Cuban 2 , 81). When looking into when TVs were introduced, Cuban says that they replaced the teacher in a way because the TVs had things that were represented in better ways than the teacher could show (Cuban 2 , 38).

In Cuban’s book Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom he continues to say how technology in the classroom has no affected the way teachers teach and how some teachers don’t even use it (Cuban 1 , 71). Cuban found that in some high schools, teachers used computers to help prepare them for their classes rather than to teach their classes (Cuban 1 , 85). When teachers were asked about how they thought of the new technology in their school, they said “technology changed the way the prepared for classes, but not a lot of teaches said their daily practices changed” (Cuban 1 , 95). Furthermore, Cuban says that the classroom is still teacher centered and not student centered. Teachers might not use technological innovations, like computers, because “it takes a while to implement things in schools because they are citizen controlled and nonprofit” (Cuban 1 , 153). Even though Cuban feels that teachers’ methods have not changed with the introduction of technology, he feels things will change as we move forward and teachers get more used to seeing and using the technology (Cuban 1 , 179).

References:

Cuban, Larry 1 . Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom. Harvard

College: President and Fellows. 2001. Print.

Cuban, Larry 2 . Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920.

New York: Teachers College Press. 1986. Print.

One thought on “Teaching Then and Now: Has Teaching Changed Over the Years with the Introduction of New Technology? And Have Interactive White Boards Changed the Way Teachers Teach?”

Your topic is very interesting and I think you did a great job with your draft! Your research question is very clear and your draft is right on track with answering the question you are presenting. I know that your research question is specifically focused on teaching and not learning but maybe you can find out if teaching with new technology has affected they way in which students learn, whether or not you find that the ways of teaching have changed since the 1920s. Another idea I might suggest, although you did mention that you would be using other sources, is that you don’t only focus on Larry Cuban’s books because that might make your research too narrowly focused on his ideas. Great job!

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Chapter 1: The Changing Teaching Profession and You

Teaching is different from in the past.

In the past decade or two teaching has changed significantly, so much in fact that schools may not be what some of us remember from our own childhood. Changes have affected both the opportunities and the challenges of teaching, as well as the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to prepare for a teaching career. The changes have influenced much of the content of this book.

To see what we mean, look briefly at four new trends in education, at how they have changed what teachers do, and at how you will therefore need to prepare to teach:

• increased diversity: there are more differences among students than there used to be. Diversity has made teaching more fulfilling as a career, but also made more challenging in certain respects.
• increased instructional technology: classrooms, schools, and students use computers more often today than in the past for research, writing, communicating, and keeping records. Technology has created new ways for students to learn (for example, this textbook would not be possible without Internet technology!). It has also altered how teachers can teach most effectively, and even raised issues about what constitutes “true” teaching and learning.
• greater accountability in education: both the public and educators themselves pay more attention than in the past to how to assess (or provide evidence for) learning and good quality teaching. The attention has increased the importance of education to the public (a good thing) and improved education for some students. But it has also created new constraints on what teachers teach and what students learn.
• increased professionalism of teachers: Now more than ever, teachers are able to assess the quality of their own work as well as that of colleagues, and to take steps to improve it when necessary. Professionalism improves teaching, but by creating higher standards of practice it also creates greater worries about whether particular teachers and schools are “good enough.”

How do these changes show up in the daily life of classrooms? The answer depends partly on where you teach; circumstances differ among schools, cities, and even whole societies. Some clues about the effects of the trends on classroom life can be found, however, by considering one particular case—the changes happening in North America.

New trend #1: diversity in students

Students have, of course, always been diverse. Whether in the past or in the present day, students learn at unique paces, show unique personalities, and learn in their own ways. In recent decades, though, the forms and extent of diversity have increased. Now more than ever, teachers are likely to serve students from diverse language backgrounds, to serve more individuals with special educational needs, and to teach students either younger and older than in the past.

Language diversity

Take the case of language diversity. In the United States, about 40 million people, or 14 per cent of the population are Hispanic. About 20 per cent of these speak primarily Spanish, and approximately another 50 per cent speak only limited English (United States Census Bureau, 2005). The educators responsible for the children in this group need to accommodate instruction to these students somehow. Part of the solution, of course, is to arrange specialized second-language teachers and classes. But adjustment must also happen in “regular” classrooms of various grade levels and subjects. Classroom teachers must learn to communicate with students whose English language background is limited, at the same time that the students themselves are learning to use English more fluently (Pitt, 2005). Since relatively few teachers are Hispanic or speak fluent Spanish, the adjustments can sometimes be a challenge. Teachers must plan lessons and tasks that students actually understand. At the same time teachers must also keep track of the major learning goals of the curriculum. As you gain experience teaching, you will no doubt find additional strategies and resources (Gebhard, 2006), especially if second-language learners become an important part of your classes.

Diversity of special educational needs

Another factor making classroom increasingly diverse has been the inclusion of students with disabilities into classrooms with non-disabled peers. In the United States the trend began in the 1970s, but accelerated with the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, and again when the Act was amended in 2004 (United States Government Printing Office, 2005). In Canada similar legislation was passed in individual provinces during the same general time period. The laws guarantee free, appropriate education for children with disabilities of any kind—whether the impairment is physical, cognitive, emotional, or behavioral. The laws also recognize that such students need special supports in order to learn or function effectively in a classroom with non-disabled peers, so they provide for special services (for example, teaching assistants) and procedures for making individualized educational plans for students with disabilities.

As a result of these changes, most American and Canadian teachers are likely to have at least a few students with special educational needs, even if they are not trained as special education teachers or have had no prior personal experience with people with disabilities. Classroom teachers are also likely to work as part of a professional team focused on helping these students to learn as well as possible and to participate in the life of the school. The trend toward inclusion is definitely new compared to circumstances just a generation or two ago. It raises new challenges about planning instruction (such as how is a teacher to find time to plan for individuals?), and philosophical questions about the very nature of education (such as what in the curriculum is truly important to learn?).

Lifelong learning

The diversity of modern classrooms is not limited to language or disabilities. Another recent change has been the broadening simply of the age range of individuals who count as “students.” In many nations of the world, half or most of all three- and four-year-olds attend some form of educational program, either part-time preschool or full-time child care (National Institute for Early Education Research, 2006). In North America some public school divisions have moved toward including nursery or preschool programs as a newer “grade level” preceding kindergarten. Others have expanded the hours of kindergarten (itself considered a “new” program early in the 20th century) to span a full-day program.

The obvious differences in maturity between preschoolers and older children lead most teachers of the very young to use flexible, open-ended plans and teaching strategies, and to develop more personal or family-like relationships with their young “students” than typical with older students (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Just as important, though, are the educational and philosophical issues that early childhood education has brought to public attention. Some educational critics ask whether preschool and day care programs risk becoming in appropriate substitutes for families. Other educators suggest, in contrast, that teachers of older students can learn from the flexibility and open-ended approach common in early childhood education. For teachers of any grade level, it is a debate that cannot be avoided completely or permanently. In this book, it reappears in Chapter 3, where I discuss students’ development—their major long-term, changes in skills, knowledge, and attitudes.

The other end of the age spectrum has also expanded. Many individuals take courses well into adulthood even if they do not attend formal university or college. Adult education , as it is sometimes called, often takes place in workplaces, but it often also happens in public high schools or at local community colleges or universities. Some adult students may be completing high school credentials that they missed earlier in their lives, but often the students have other purposes that are even more focused, such as learning a trade-related skill. The teachers of adult students have to adjust their instructional strategies and relationships with students so as to challenge and respect their special strengths and constraints as adults (Bash, 2005). The students’ maturity often means that they have had life experiences that enhance and motivate their learning. But it may also mean that they have significant personal responsibilities—such as parenting or a full-time job—which compete for study time, and that make them impatient with teaching that is irrelevant to their personal goals or needs. These advantages and constraints also occur to a lesser extent among “regular” high school students. Even secondary school teachers must ask, how they can make sure that instruction does not waste students’ time, and how they can make it truly efficient, effective, and valuable.

New trend #2: using technology to support learning

For most teachers, “technology” means using computers and the Internet as resources for teaching and learning. These tools have greatly increased the amount and range of information available to students, even if their benefits have sometimes been exaggerated in media reports (Cuban, 2001). With the Internet, it is now relatively easy to access up-to-date information on practically any subject imaginable, often with pictures, video clips, and audio to accompany them. It would seem not only that the Internet and its associated technologies have the potential to transform traditional school-based learning, but also that they have in fact begun to do so.

For a variety of reasons, however, technology has not always been integrated into teachers’ practices very thoroughly (Haertel & Means, 2003). One reason is practical: in many societies and regions, classrooms contain only one or two computers at most, and many schools have at best only limited access to the Internet. Waiting for a turn on the computer or arranging to visit a computer lab or school library limits how much students use the Internet, no matter how valuable the Internet may be. In such cases, furthermore, computers tend to function in relatively traditional ways that do not take full advantage of the Internet: as a word processor (a “fancy typewriter”), for example, or as a reference book similar to an encyclopedia.

Even so, single-computer classrooms create new possibilities and challenges for teachers. A single computer can be used, for example, to present upcoming assignments or supplementary material to students, either one at a time or small groups. In functioning in this way, the computer gives students more flexibility about when to finish old tasks or to begin new ones. A single computer can also enrich the learning of individual students with special interests or motivation and it can provide additional review to students who need extra help. These changes are not dramatic, but they lead to important revisions in teachers’ roles: they move teachers away from simply delivering information to students, and toward facilitating students’ own constructions of knowledge.

A shift from “full-frontal teaching” to “guide on the side” becomes easier as the amount and use of computer and Internet technologies increases. If a school (or better yet, a classroom) has numerous computers with full Internet access, then students’ can in principle direct their own learning more independently than if computers are scarce commodities. With ample technology available, teachers can focus much more on helping individuals in developing and carrying out learning plans, as well as on assisting individuals with special learning problems. In these ways a strong shift to computers and the Internet can change a teacher’s role significantly, and make the teacher more effective.

But technology also brings some challenges, or even creates problems. It costs money to equip classrooms and schools fully: often that money is scarce, and may therefore mean depriving students of other valuable resources, like additional staff or additional books and supplies. Other challenges are less tangible. In using the Internet, for example, students need help in sorting out trustworthy information or websites from the “fluff,” websites that are unreliable or even damaging (Seiter, 2005). Providing this help can sometimes be challenging even for experienced teachers. Some educational activities simply do not lend themselves to computerized learning—sports, for example, driver education, or choral practice. As a new teacher, therefore, you will need not only to assess what technologies are possible in your particular classroom, but also what will actually be assisted by new technologies. Then be prepared for your decisions to affect how you teach—the ways you work with students.

New trend #3: accountability in education

In recent years, the public and its leaders have increasingly expected teachers and students to be accountable for their work, meaning that schools and teachers are held responsible for implementing particular curricula and goals, and that students are held responsible for learning particular knowledge. The trend toward accountability has increased the legal requirements for becoming and (sometimes) remaining certified as a teacher. In the United States in particular, preservice teachers need more subject-area and education-related courses than in the past. They must also spend more time practice teaching than in the past, and they must pass one or more examinations of knowledge of subject matter and teaching strategies. The specifics of these requirements vary among regions, but the general trend—toward more numerous and “higher” levels of requirements—has occurred broadly throughout the English-speaking world. The changes obviously affect individuals’ experiences of becoming a teacher— especially the speed and cost of doing so.

Public accountability has led to increased use of high-stakes testing , which are tests taken by all students in a district or region that have important consequences for students’ further education (Fuhrman & Elmore, 2004). High-stakes tests may influence grades that students receive in courses or determine whether students graduate or continue to the next level of schooling. The tests are often a mixture of essay and structured-response questions (such as multiple-choice items), and raise important issues about what teachers should teach, as well as how (and whether) teachers should help students to pass the examinations. It also raises issues about whether high-stakes testing is fair to all students and consistent with other ideals of public education, such as giving students the best possible start in life instead of disqualifying them from educational opportunities. Furthermore, since the results of high-stakes tests are sometimes also used to evaluate the performance of teachers, schools, or school districts, insuring students’ success on them becomes an obvious concern for teachers—one that affects instructional decisions on a daily basis.

New trend #4: increased professionalism of teachers

Whatever your reactions to the first three trends, it is important to realize that they have contributed to a fourth trend, an increase in professionalism of teachers. By most definitions, an occupation (like medicine or law—or in this case teaching) is a profession if its members take personal responsibility for the quality of their work, hold each other accountable for its quality, and recognize and require special training in order to practice it.

By this definition, teaching has definitely become more professional than in the past (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2005). Increased expectations of achievement by students mean that teachers have increased responsibility not only for their students’ academic success, but also for their own development as teachers. Becoming a new teacher now requires more specialized work than in the past, as reflected in the increased requirements for certification and licensing in many societies and regions. The increased requirements are partly a response to the complexities created by the increasing diversity of students and increasing use of technology in classrooms.

Greater professionalism has also been encouraged by initiatives from educators themselves to study and improve their own practice. One way to do so, for example, is through action research (sometimes also called teacher research ), a form of investigation carried out by teachers about their own students or their own teaching. Action research studies lead to concrete decisions that improve teaching and learning in particular educational contexts (Mertler, 2006; Stringer, 2004). The studies can take many forms, but here are a few brief examples:

• How precisely do individual children learn to read? In an action research study, the teacher might observe and track one child’s reading progress carefully for an extended time. From the observations she can get clues about how to help not only that particular child to read better, but also other children in her class or even in colleagues’ classes.
• Does it really matter if a high school social studies teacher uses more, rather than fewer, open-ended questions? As an action of research study, the teacher might videotape his own lessons, and systematically compare students’ responses to his open-ended questions compared to their responses to more closed questions (the ones with more fixed answers). The analysis might suggest when and how much it is indeed desirable to use open-ended questions.
• Can an art teacher actually entice students to take more creative risks with their drawings? As an action research study, the teacher might examine the students’ drawings carefully for signs of visual novelty and innovation, and then see if the signs increase if she encourages novelty and innovation explicitly

Two other, more complete examples of action research are summarized in Table 1. Although these examples, like many action research studies, resemble “especially good teaching practice,” they are planned more thoughtfully than usual, carried out and recorded more systematically, and shared with fellow teachers more thoroughly and openly. As such, they yield special benefits to teachers as professionals, though they also take special time and effort. For now, the important point is that use of action research simultaneously reflects the increasing professionalism of teachers, but at the same time creates higher standards for teachers when they teach.

Bash, L. (Ed.). (2005). Best practices in adult learning . Boston: Anker Publications.

Bredekamp, S. & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice, Revised edition . Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Cochran-Smith, M. & Fries, K. (2005). Research teacher education in changing times: Politics and paradigms. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education , 69–110.

Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Fuhrman, S. & Elmore, R. (2004). Redesigning accountability systems for education . New York: Teachers College Press.

Gebhard, L. (2006). Teaching English as a second or foreign language: A teacher self-development and methodology guide, 2nd edition . Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Haertel, G. & Means, B. (2003). Evaluating educational technology: Effective research designs for improving learning . New York: Teachers College Press.

Mertler, C. (2006). Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

National Institute for Early Education Research. (2006). Percent of population age 3 and 4 who are enrolled in school: Census 2000 . Retrieved on March 21, 2006 from http://www.nieer.org/resources/facts/ .

Pitt, K. (2005). Debates in ESL teaching and learning: Culture, communities, and classrooms . London, UK: Routledge.

Seiter, E. (2005). The INTERNET playground: Children’s access, entertainment, and miseducation . New York: Peter Lang.

Stringer, E. (2004). Action research in education . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

United States Census Bureau. (2005). The Hispanic population in the United States: 2004 . Retrieved on March 21, 2006 from http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hispanic/cps2004.html .

• Educational Psychology. Authored by : Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton. Located at : https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?bookId=153 . License : CC BY: Attribution

• Instructional Videos

The Book Teacher

The evolution of the teaching profession.

Dear Readers,

The Covid 19 Pandemic provided us with much time to reflect upon our lives, and even our chosen professions.  I always  assumed that our profession has evolved over the decades to “state of the art” teaching and instruction, grounded in sound reasoning and research.  Yet, veteran teachers continue to talk about a “pendulum” that swings back and forth between direct instruction and more progressive methods.

So, I decided to do some research, and even include some family archival records to determine how we have changed over the past 100 years.  The result is a piece I’ve entitled: “Then and Now: How Different is Reading and Writing Instruction Today?  I hope you enjoy it!

 Then and Now: How Different is Reading and Writing                  Instruction Today?

(Willard School, Perry, Iowa, 1914.  John M. Robertson, my father, is fifth from the left in the top row.)

                                 Introduction

Historical narratives allow us to appreciate the rich legacy of our profession, and to imagine possibilities for teaching in the 21 st century.  In this piece, I focus upon the preparation and supervision of teachers, and the instructional materials for teaching reading and writing in the 1920s.  Family photos, primary source documents, archival photographs, and Ancestry records were part of the inspiration for this piece.  Vintage textbooks helped to frame an analysis of differentiated language arts instruction one hundred years ago.  Issues of constancy, change, and teacher resiliency are examined, with implications for contemporary teaching and learning.

The 1920s was a time of optimism and progressive thinking in education.  However, it was also a time when Americans strove to reclaim a sense of normalcy in their lives.  The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, which lasted until December of 1920, claimed approximately 650,000 lives in the United States. Urban and rural families lost parents, children, friends, and relatives.  Emotions were raw, and further compounded by World War I fatigue. Consequently, issues related to home and family took precedence in most people’s thinking.

Waves of newly arrived immigrants made people anxious about their own job security.  In general, the populace was totally unprepared for the stock market crash of 1929, and the “Decade of Depression” that would follow.  The 1920s was literally the calm before that economic storm.

                                   My Father’s Story

My father, John M. Robertson, grew up in the mid-western town of Perry, Iowa. 1920 census records report that nearly all residents spoke, read, and wrote in English.  Everyone on the census claim the United States as their country of birth.   Many “heads of the household” were listed as farmers, but others are recorded as linemen, brakemen, engineers, conductors, or laborers for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad.   My grandfather, Charles, was a lineman/maintainer.

In 1920, my father would have been ten-years-old.  He would have known all about trains, riverboats, and the “Wild West.”  He could have told you how to set up a camp site, that the Mississippi river ran all the way from Perry to New Orleans, how to swim against a river’s current, and even how to “break a bronco.”  He would have been familiar with the Jesse James and James Younger gangs, as his grandmother lived in the vicinity of the gangs’ first, successful train robbery.  His report cards show he was an average to above average student.  Of particular note is that fact that only 78% of children between the age of five and seventeen were enrolled in school at this time.  Many students left school after eighth grade to help support their families, as  Child-Labor Laws were not enacted until 1938.

There were no integrated schools in the 1920s, and schools were classified as either “white” or “colored.”  Moreover, only Black teachers were permitted to teach in the “colored” schools.  Over this decade, an 5000 additional schools would be built for Black children in the South.

Teaching Philosophies of the 1920s

The progressive movement, spearheaded by John Dewey (1916), paved the way for experiential and individualistic approaches to the teaching of readers and writers in the 1920s.  Dewey highlighted the role of the learner in the process, and further acknowledged that students learn differently.  Thus, he proposed they be taught with materials suitable for their strengths and needs.  As a result, educators began to reconsider the value of basic reading and writing instruction to individualize instruction and create future productive citizens.  Educators began to re-conceptualize teacher preparation, instructional materials, and the modernization of their classrooms.  In doing so, they strove to apply a vast body of educational research to classroom practice. The major research topics of this time were: reading interests; reading disability; and readiness for beginning reading (Banton Smith, 1985, p. 256).

The gradual transition in thinking is evident in educational textbooks from the 1920s through 1930s, which were a mix of traditional and progressive ideas about teaching children to read and write. In the literature between 1918 to 1924 two topics were frequently discussed.  They were: the preparation and supervision of teachers; and remedial reading (Banton-Smith, 1965, p. 195).

Preparation and Supervision of Teachers

Teacher Manuals

Teacher manuals or professional books of this decade, started to have more form and substance. Paper covered pamphlets and teacher editions were replaced with cloth bound books differentiated for each grade level.  Essential elements of these manuals included scientific investigation and learning theories; reading objectives; pre primer methods; procedure by lessons or stages of development; word recognition and phonetics; tests; individual needs; and remedial work.  Instructions were less dogmatic in these manuals, and teachers had flexibility in planning instruction and integrating enrichment activities.  The first-grade grade teacher manual contained instructions for the primer and first reader.  Instructions for second and third graders were combined in a single book, as were those for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders (Banton-Smith, 1965, p. 208).

Student Basal Readers

According to Banton-Smith (1965), “supplemental books never before had been so abundant, so beautiful, or so varied in content” (p. 209).  The pre-primer was an innovation of this time period, and considered a foundational preparation for the series of readers that would follow in the subsequent grades.  The authors took into account the limited word recognition of young children who were just learning to read, therefore, there were fewer words in each sentence. Pre-primer and primary texts were highly repetitive to promote word recognition.  Standard word lists were the basis for the selection of vocabulary for each story (p. 217).

Reading Instruction

Methods for teaching beginning reading were varied, and included: reading stories composed by the children; reading and carrying out direction sentences; dramatizing stories; learning and reading rhymes, and reading from prepared charts containing the primer vocabulary (Smith, 1965, p. 232).   Sets of small books (pre-primer to grade six), included realistic narratives, old tales, modern fanciful tales, informational selections, poetry, fables, and silent reading exercises.  As an example, first graders read texts such as The Just So Stories, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and Alice in Wonderland. There were also workbooks for “silent reading and directed study” seat work (Wheat, 1923, p. 223).

A major shift in pedagogical thinking was a move away from expressive oral reading to silent reading for “thought-getting.”   In The Teaching of Reading (1923), Wheat describes the various phases of reading instruction, with an emphasis upon silent reading for idea generation. Reading for meaning was the prevalent ideology of the 20s, and phonics was characterized as an instructional strategy of “no value” (Banton- Smith, 1965, p. 233).

Yet, a review of the scope and sequence of teacher manuals reveals that fluency, letter, and word identification activities were still integrated.  In general, however, phonics was taught more moderately, and subordinated to other “general reading skills” (p. 235).  These skills were: comprehension, retention, interpretation and appreciation, organization, and research.  In addition, “specialized skills” were developed that included: understanding the meaning and use of technical vocabulary; reading word problems; and knowing how to record and report observations and experiments (p. 237).

Writing Instruction

            It is apparent from archival records that writing instruction was traditional, with a continued emphasis upon composition, grammar, spelling, and penmanship (Wheat, 1923, p. 166).  The Palmer Method was the most popular approach for teaching cursive writing.  Children learned to print before learning cursive writing, and the latter was usually taught in a separate class.  However, the use of students’ own dictated stories based upon their personal experiences was an innovative approach to reading/writing instruction introduced in the 1920s.  It would later be known as the “language-experience” approach.

Remedial Reading                            

The Characterization of “Backward Pupils”

The shift in the concept of individualized instruction, generated by progressives, though ostensibly noble, resulted in the division of students within classes.  Individualization, combined with the increased advocacy for mental intelligence tests with Binet equivalents in public schools, led to the specific categorization of students.  Students were generally grouped as “poor, average, and superior” (Wheat, 1923, p. 243) in ability.  Dewey asserted that grouping based upon test scores was a threat to democracy

Wheat (1923) proposes “special help for backward pupils” or those with “degrees of backwardness.”  He characterizes one second grader as “backward” because of his “lack of familiarity with printed words and an utter lack of phonetic power.” Similarly, the degree of a fourth grader’s backwardness was related to the number of repetitions he makes while reading out loud.  He writes, “Getting no meaning from the sentence as he phrased it, he repeated in an attempt to get something from the sentence by the second reading (p. 315).”

Word study for recognition, pronunciation, and comprehension of difficult words was the recommended intervention for students with “various kinds of backwardness.”  Remedial work included “eye training and focus,” including “flash cards” and “flashing phrases,” “lessons in focus and accuracy,” reading “perfectly” until no errors are made; “breathing exercises,” since “practice in breath control is related to the problem of meaning and interpretation;” and “articulation exercises for “mumblers” or those with other bad speech habits” (Wheat, p. 316).  In the early 1920s terms such as “handicapped foreign” enter the discourse. Immigrant children were also characterized as “backward” because of their “meager vocabularies.”

Concluding Thoughts About the 1920s

Teachers in the 1920s did their best with what they had, and enriched language arts instruction through multiple approaches and varied materials.  It should be noted that they were given professional leeway to make these decisions.  Concurrently, the field of special education was emerging in response to calls for the differentiation of instruction for diverse populations of students.  Teachers began to consider new child descriptors, such as “backward” and “word blind,” (the first descriptor for dyslexia) and what it meant for the students in the classrooms.

In addition, these resilient teachers applied “modern classroom” research about silent reading for literacy instruction. Simultaneously, integrating traditional phonics approaches and word study when they felt they were necessary.  Not much was known about second language acquisition in the 1920s.  There were few research studies about the teaching of “handicapped foreign” students. The selection of the term “handicapped,” demonstrates a deficit perspective about immigrant children.  I tend to believe that if the classroom teacher was a child of immigrants herself, this classification would have been abhorrent.  Considering the number of students in teachers’ classes, it is incredible that they were able to nurture the literacy development of the readers and writers in their charge at all.

Not every student continued their education after eighth grade or high school, choosing to pursue apprenticeship pathways in varied fields. Social, economic, and political factors played a significant role in their decisions. However, students from the 1920s, would come to be described as “the greatest generation.”  The influence of their teachers can never be underestimated.

  Teaching Today

A vast and expanding number of landmark studies have greatly influenced language arts instruction since the 1920s.  Echoes of Dewey’s sentiments reverberate in today’s calls for student discovery, self-directed learning, and personalized approaches that address the whole child.  Personalized learning in the 21 st century has become highly computerized, and the teacher’s role is changing.  Chalk boards, overhead projectors, TV carts, and cursive writing worksheets have been discarded and replaced with instructional technology, such as Smart Boards, iPads, and eResources.

                       Preparation and Supervision of 21 st Century Teachers

Teacher preparation and supervision continues to receive scrutiny at the state and national level.  There is an increased focus upon “evidence-based” teacher educator programs.  The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), determines if teachers are “classroom ready” to meet the instructional needs of diverse student populations.  Issues related to equity, justice, educational technology, and culturally responsive teaching are scrutinized in their accreditation reviews.  These concepts are congruent with contemporary research in the field of literacy studies.

Today’s teachers are knowledgeable about content and pedagogy.  The ways they organize their classrooms display their beliefs about the role of conversation and collaboration in student learning. They have adopted a process approach to the teaching of reading and writing that involves teacher modeling, mentor texts, and student’s active involvement in lessons.  As in the 1920s, more traditional approaches sometimes supplement instruction.  Teachers remain resilient and creative in the ways they implement “evidenced based” and strategies instruction in their own literacy classes, and the ways in which they use standardized materials to promote learning for their students.

Teacher Manuals and Student Readers

Teachers from the 1920s might recognize the formatting, scope and sequence of today’s standardized literacy programs.  These mass-produced teacher manuals are pleasingly designed and integrate the latest “evidence” to support instructional approaches.  Educators from one hundred years ago would marvel at the comprehensive resources that integrate technology with literacy instruction.  The digital learning curve would be steep for them, but the teaching approaches would seem familiar.

Twenty-first century readers are appealing in appearance and abundant in supplementary materials. I’m not sure if teachers from the 1920s would think these readers are of quality, as they focused upon the classics.  After reviewing them, however, they could easily perceive how the readers increase in complexity for each grade level.  The practice of leveling books for guided reading would be a new concept for them.  Today’s teachers understand the progression and characteristics of each text level, and use them appropriately to promote students’ reading competencies.  Contemporary classroom libraries provide students with access to all levels of books throughout the school day.

In many urban and suburban school districts, computerized literacy programs (Raz Kids, Reading A-Z, Epic, or MyOn), have been adopted.  These digital reading programs permit teachers to assign the same passage, but at varied levels of difficulty, to their guided reading groups.  It should be noted that the depth, breadth, and quality of the writing at the lower levels passages is significantly inferior, which makes comprehension more difficult.  Meager texts do not allow students to use multiple strategies to understand what they are read.

Read alouds are still popular with teachers as an instructional strategy, as they promote student engagement, interest, and model fluent reading.  However, these shared readings now focus upon critical comprehension skills through open-ended student discussions.  Students are encouraged to share what they notice or wonder about a text, and to make connections to their own lives.  These classroom conversations create a necessary space for students to express their thinking and questions about literature, and give teachers the opportunity to “unpack” the layers of meaning students might not notice (2019).  Through think alouds, teachers model the multiple strategies proficient readers utilize, and ways to pay attention to an author’s cues,  These cues assist them summarize and determine a story’s theme.   Teachers utilize a the “gradual release of responsibility” (2009) model of instruction to support apprentice literacy learners.

Comprehension instruction has evolved.  Independent reading is now considered a meaning making process, in which the reader is actively involved in using graphophonic cues, predicting, inferring, connecting, summarizing, visualizing, self-monitoring, and questioning the text for understanding.  Each reader “transacts” (Rosenblatt, 1978), or responds to a text in unique ways. Student schema is as individual as a thumbprint.

The cognitive nature of the reading process is affirmed when tracking students’ miscues, or unexpected responses to a text, when reading aloud.  Students invariably substitute a noun for a noun, a verb for a verb, and an adjective for an adjective when they miscue.  Readers do not utter random responses, rather, they reread for confirmation, and self-correct miscues that don’t make sense (Goodman, 1996).  Therefore, the “backward readers” of the 1920s would not be characterized as such today.

Much of today’s writing instruction is geared to the genre that students will face on state standardized texts, so they are taught to write opinion or argument pieces that cite evidence from textual sources.  Teachers from one-hundred years ago would be surprised to see the role that standardized tests have played in classroom instruction, as assessments were just being introduced in their schools.

To teachers’ credit and resilience, they have also integrated a process or descriptive approach to teaching writers, and integrated personal narratives to provide students with a writing voice.  In similar fashion, students are encouraged to learn the “habits and processes” of a writer, how to analyze an author’s craft, or descriptive language and structural formats.  Teachers use think alouds with mentor texts, to model and highlight an author’s techniques, and to co-write with their students.  This is reminiscent of the “dictated stories” of the 1920s.

        Reading Intervention

The Characterization of “Struggling Readers”

Labels for students have not gone away.  Instead, they have changed from “backward” to “struggling” or “at risk.”.  Despite the fact that we know so much more about the ways the brain processes information, the nature of the reading and writing processes, and the social and emotional factors that impact upon achievement, the onus for failure continues to be placed upon the student who is performing below grade level expectations.  Educators need to examine the types of texts students are asked to read, the literacy tasks they are required to complete, and the presence or absence of teachers’ motivational mindsets when assessing and evaluating student achievement and progress.

English Language Learners (ELLs), English as a New Language (ENL) Learners, Bilingual and Multilingual Learners

Similar deficit perspectives about the limited vocabulary of bilingual, multilingual, and English Language Learners, and its correlation to reading and writing struggles are present in today’s research.  Over emphasis upon assessment through standardized tests, rather than classroom teachers’ assessments, have exacerbated the situation.  Consequently, ELL, ENL,  Bilingual or multilingual students are often referred to special education.  A teacher shared her frustrations with me, and the fact that her district has been “red-flagged” for this placement practice.  We are still striving to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate strategy instruction in reading and writing for children whose first language is not English (Hoover, J.; et al., 2019).  Additional historical overviews might focus upon special education “red flags,” and the populations of students who have been traditionally misplaced and disadvantaged through this classification system..

When the Unexpected Happens

The most striking similarity between the 20s and now, is the devastating impact of a pandemic upon families,’ students,’ and teachers’ lives.  Life could not continue “as usual.” During the Spanish Flu quarantine schools were briefly closed, and teachers sent home work packets to families.  Twentieth-century educators attempted to continue instruction and provide reinforcement activities electronically.  However, just as the people living in 1920 were totally unprepared for the Great Depression, teachers and administrators were totally untrained for virtual learning.  From March to June of 2020, students joined their classmates and teachers through Google, ZOOM, app-based learning, and other learning platforms.  This historic closing of schools, affected 50.8 million public school students. Teachers simultaneously designed digital units of study, while learning how to manipulate the “bells and whistles” of virtual platforms. They were often asked to use multiple platforms, as school systems realized some were better than others.

Children without access to Wi Fi or a computer were shortchanged in this process.  Districts reported a lack of Chrome books or iPads for all.  Students who were fortunate enough to get a device, might have had to share it with four other siblings.  Children who were transitory residents in a school district, or living in shelters had no chance.  One teacher shared her concerns that some of the children had just “disappeared,” and could not be contacted by phone or email.

Teaching has always been a vocation, and teachers have always been resilient.  We are compassionate and knowledgeable.  We understand the importance of creating safe and supportive learning environments for our students.  We do what needs to be done, with minimal resources.  So much of a teacher’s salary is directed towards purchases for the classroom.

In the summer of 2020, I spoke with an educator who was asked to begin a summer program aimed at helping her special education students “catch up.”  She stated, “Their desks will be six feet apart, and they asked me to wear a mask.  The students don’t have to wear them, just me!  I want to wear a transparent face shield so the kids can see my mouth when I talk.  The other masks will frighten them.” We talked for quite a while and agreed that is the most sensible option.  Her students, like all students, need that personal connection/relationship with the teacher.  So, teachers will make it happen like we’ve always done!

Bibliography

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: Free.

Rosenblatt, L.M. (1978). The reader, the text, the poem: The transactional theory of the literary work. Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.

Smith, N. B. (1965). American reading instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Wheat H. G. (1923) The teaching of reading: A textbook of principles and methods. New York: Ginn and Company.

The Coronavirus Spring: The Historic Closing of U.S. Schools (2020). Retrieved from

https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/the-coronavirus-spring-the-historic-closing-of.html?cmp=eml-enl-eunews1&M=59608873&U=1802968&UUID=1430735b73863a2cdac4c0c2037ae6c0

Joanne Robertson-Eletto

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‘teaching is the profession on which all other professions depend’: linda darling-hammond on transforming education.

What are the most powerful things we can do to transform education? Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute and the Charles E. Ducommun Emeritus Professor of Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, offers her top five recommendations in an interview with GSE Dean Dan Schwartz and Senior Lecturer Denise Pope.

Listen to the full episode at the link below and find more episodes at Stanford Radio . School’s In airs weekends on SiriusXM Insight channel 121.

Interview highlights

Taking care of children.

In the 1970s the U.S. was probably, hands down, the number one country in the world in terms of educational attainment … by every measure that was available. Now we rank anywhere between around 21 st and 39 th , depending on the subject area.

How do countries that have built an education system that is really strong do it? What's the difference between what they're doing and what we see in the United States right now? Number one, they take care of children. They have a child welfare system. They don't allow high rates of child poverty. In the United States, one out of four children lives in poverty. Homelessness has increased astronomically, children with food insecurity and so on. In [nations with a strong education system] – Canada is one, by the way, that's near the top – they take care of children, they have food and housing, and they have early learning opportunities that are high quality.

Teaching for the future

If what you've done is memorize information and spit it back on a test, you will be utterly unprepared for [our changing] world. In fact, our kids are going to have to work with knowledge that hasn't been discovered yet and technologies that haven't been invented yet, to solve big problems that we haven't been able to solve. They need work in school that allows them to take up a problem, figure out how to find the resources that will be needed to solve that problem, work with others to design a solution, test it, evaluate it, revise it, and be able to generate their own progress in learning.

That's a very different kind of teaching. It doesn't mean the facts disappear. It doesn't mean that teaching a structured curriculum disappears. But it does mean that the way you approach the curriculum has to be much more focused around that kind of inquiry than simply reading the chapter and answering the questions at the end of the book.

The “basket of knowledge”

There's a pretty wide and deep basket of knowledge that teachers need to have. They need to understand how people learn, and how people learn differently — not everyone learns exactly in the same way. They need to know how people develop in social and emotional and academic and moral and physical ways, and all those areas of child development interact with each other. They need to understand the relationship, for example, between emotion and learning. You only really learn when you are excited or interested. There's a set of positive emotions; it might just be that you like your teachers. If you're fearful, if you think somebody is going to criticize you or stereotype you, you're going to learn less. All of that has to be understood by teachers.

Teachers also need to know how to build a curriculum that gets kids from wherever they are to the curriculum goals we have for them. They need to understand assessment — how not only to give a test and give a grade … but also how to assess how kids are learning and then either reshape the teaching or help students revise their own work so that they can improve.

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A teacher named Ashley reflects: She looked around the classroom, enjoying a blessed moment of quiet after the students left at the end of the day. “Ashley, the teacher, that’s me”, she said proudly to the empty room. “But why am I doing this?” she asked herself quietly—and realized she wasn’t always sure of the answer. But then she remembered one reason: she was teaching for Nadia, who sat at the table to the left, always smiled so well and always (well, usually) tried hard. And another reason: she was teaching for Lincoln, tired old Lincoln, who needed her help more than he realized. She remembered twenty other reasons—twenty other students. And one last reason: she was also teaching for herself, challenging herself to see if she really could keep up with twenty-two young people at once, and really accomplish something worthwhile with them. She was teaching so she could keep growing as a person, keep connecting with others, keep learning new ideas. That’s why she was teaching.

The joys of teaching

Why be a teacher? The short answer is easy:

• to witness the diversity of growth in young people, and their joy in learning
• to encourage lifelong learning—both for yourself and for others
• to experience the challenge of devising and doing interesting, exciting activities for the young

There is, of course, more than this to be said about the value of teaching. Consider, for instance, the “young people” referred to above. In one class they could be six years old; in another they could be sixteen, or even older. They could be rich, poor, or somewhere in between. They could come from any ethnic background. Their first language could be English, or something else. There are all sorts of possibilities. But whoever the particular students are, they will have potential as human beings: talents and personal qualities—possibly not yet realized— that can contribute to society, whether as leaders, experts, or supporters of others. A teacher’s job—in fact a teacher’s privilege— is to help particular “young people” to realize their potential.

Another teacher reflects: Nathan paused for a deep breath before speaking to me. “It’s not like I expected it to be,” he said. “I’ve got five kids who speak English as a second language. I didn’t expect that. I’ve got two, maybe three, with reading disabilities, and one of them has a part-time aide. I’ve had to learn more about using computers than I ever expected—they’re a lot of curriculum materials online now, and the computers help the kids that need more practice or who finish activities early. I’m doing more screening and testing of kids than I expected, and it all takes time away from teaching. “But it’s not all surprises. I expected to be able to ‘light a fire’ under kids about learning to read. And that has actually happened, at least sometimes with some children!”

As a teacher, you will be able to do this by laying groundwork for lifelong learning. You will not teach any one student forever, of course, but you will often work with them long enough to convey a crucial message: that there is much in life to learn—more in fact than any one teacher or school can provide in a lifetime. The knowledge may be about science, math, or learning to read; the skills may be sports, music, or art—anything. Whatever you teach, its immensity can be a source of curiosity, wonder and excitement. It can be a reason to be optimistic about life in general and about your students in particular. Learning, when properly understood, is never-ending, even though it often focuses on short-term, immediate concerns. As a teacher, you will have an advantage not shared by every member of society, namely the excuse not only to teach valuable knowledge and skills, but to point students beyond what they will be able to learn from you. As an old limerick put it (before the days of gender-balanced language), “The world is full of such a plenty of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”

Jennifer Fuller, a third teacher reflects: “OK”, suddenly getting businesslike in her tone. “Here’s my typical day teaching tenth grade: I get up at 6:30, have a quick breakfast, get to school by 7:45 if the traffic’s not bad. Then I check my email—usually there’s a little stuff from the principal or some other administrator, maybe one or two from parents concerned because their child is doing poorly in one of my classes, maybe one or two from students—“I’m going to be sick today, Ms Fuller!”—that sort of thing. Now it’s 8:15 and I have two hours before my first class—this term I teach only biology, and I only teach periods 2, 3, and 5. Maybe I have marking to do before class, or maybe I have to get a lab demonstration ready. Or maybe we all have to troupe down to the library for a staff meeting (groan…). Whatever I don’t finish in the morning, I have to finish after school. But that’s also when I meet with the Ecology Club (I’m the faculty advisor), so I might have to finish stuff in the evening. I try not to do it then, but a lot of times I have to. But I always quit by 9:00—that’s always when I watch TV for an hour, or just “vegetate ” with a book.”

Whatever you teach, you will be able to feel the satisfaction of designing and orchestrating complex activities that communicate new ideas and skills effectively. The challenge is attractive to many teachers, because that is where they exercise judgment and “artistry” the most freely and frequently. Your students will depend on your skill at planning and managing, though sometimes without realizing how much they do so. Teachers will need you to know how to explain ideas clearly, to present new materials in a sensible sequence and at an appropriate pace, to point out connections between their new learning and their prior experiences. Although these skills really take a lifetime to master, they can be practiced successfully even by beginning teachers, and they do improve steadily with continued teaching over time. Right from the start, though, skill at design and communication of curriculum is one of the major “perks” of the job.

The very complexity of classroom life virtually guarantees that teaching never needs to get boring. Something new and exciting is bound to occur just when you least expect it. A student shows an insight that you never expected to see—or fails to show one that you were sure he had. An activity goes better than expected—or worse, or merely differently. You understand for the first time why a particular student behaves as she does, and begin thinking of how to respond to the student’s behavior more helpfully in the future. After teaching a particular learning objective several times, you realize that you understand it differently than the first time you taught it. And so on. The job never stays the same; it evolves continually. As long as you keep teaching, you will have a job with novelty.

Are there also challenges to teaching?

Here, too, the simple answer is “yes”. Every joy of teaching has a possible frustration related to it. You may wish to make a positive difference in students’ lives, but you may also have trouble reaching individuals. A student seems not to learn much, or to be unmotivated, or unfriendly, or whatever. And some teaching problems can be subtle: when you call attention to the wonderful immensity of an area of knowledge, you might accidentally discourage a student by implying that the student can never learn “enough”. The complexity of designing and implementing instruction can sometimes seem overwhelming, instead of satisfying. Unexpected events in your classroom can become chaos rather than an attractive novelty. To paraphrase a popular self-help book, sometimes “bad things happen to good teachers” (Kushner, 1983). But as in the rest of life, the “bad things” of teaching do not negate the value of the good. If anything, the undesired events make the good, desired ones even more satisfying, and render the work of teaching all the more valuable. As you will see throughout this book, there are resources for maximizing the good, the valuable, and the satisfying. You can bring these resources to your work, along with your growing professional knowledge and a healthy dose of common sense. In this sense you will not need to “go it alone” in learning to teach well. You will, however, be personally responsible for becoming and remaining the best teacher that you can possibly be; the only person who can make that happen will be you . Many of the resources for making this happen are described in this book in the chapters ahead.

Teaching is different from in the past

In the past decade or two teaching has changed significantly, so much in fact that schools may not be what some of us remember from our own childhood. Changes have affected both the opportunities and the challenges of teaching, as well as the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to prepare for a teaching career. The changes have influenced much of the content of this book.

To see what we mean, look briefly at four new trends in education, at how they have changed what teachers do, and at how you will therefore need to prepare to teach:

• Increased diversity : there are more differences among students than there used to be. Diversity has made teaching more fulfilling as a career, but also made more challenging in certain respects.
• * I ncreased instructional technology : classrooms, schools, and students use computers more often today than in the past for research, writing, communicating, and keeping records. Technology has created new ways for students to learn (for example, this textbook would not be possible without Internet technology!). It has also altered how teachers can teach most effectively, and even raised issues about what constitutes “true” teaching and learning.
• Greater accountability in education : both the public and educators themselves pay more attention than in the past to how to assess (or provide evidence for) learning and good quality teaching. The attention has increased the importance of education to the public (a good thing) and improved education for some students. But it has also created new constraints on what teachers teach and what students learn.
• Increased professionalism of teachers : Now more than ever, teachers are able to assess the quality of their own work as well as that of colleagues, and to take steps to improve it when necessary. Professionalism improves teaching, but by creating higher standards of practice it also creates greater worries about whether particular teachers and schools are “good enough”.

How do these changes show up in the daily life of classrooms? The answer depends partly on where you teach; circumstances differ among schools, cities, and even whole societies. Some clues about the effects of the trends on classroom life can be found, however, by considering one particular case—the changes happening in North America.

New trend #1: diversity in students

Students have, of course, always been diverse. Whether in the past or in the present day, students learn at unique paces, show unique personalities, and learn in their own ways. In recent decades, though, the forms and extent of diversity have increased. Now more than ever, teachers are likely to serve students from diverse language backgrounds, to serve more individuals with special educational needs, and to teach students either younger and older than in the past.

Language diversity

Take the case of language diversity. In the United States, about 40 million people, or 14 per cent of the population are Hispanic. About 20 per cent of these speak primarily Spanish, and approximately another 50 per cent speak only limited English (United States Census Bureau, 2005). The educators responsible for the children in this group need to accommodate instruction to these students somehow. Part of the solution, of course, is to arrange specialized second-language teachers and classes. But adjustment must also happen in “regular” classrooms of various grade levels and subjects. Classroom teachers must learn to communicate with students whose English language background is limited, at the same time that the students themselves are learning to use English more fluently (Pitt, 2005). Since relatively few teachers are Hispanic or speak fluent Spanish, the adjustments can sometimes be a challenge. Teachers must plan lessons and tasks that students actually understand. At the same time teachers must also keep track of the major learning goals of the curriculum. In Chapter 5 (“Student Diversity”) and Chapter 11 (“Planning Instruction”), some strategies for doing so are described. As you gain experience teaching, you will no doubt find additional strategies and resources (Gebhard, 2006), especially if second-language learners become an important part of your classes.

Diversity of special educational needs

Another factor making classroom increasingly diverse has been the inclusion of students with disabilities into classrooms with non-disabled peers. In the United States the trend began in the 1970s, but accelerated with the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, and again when the Act was amended in 2004 (United States Government Printing Office, 2005). In Canada similar legislation was passed in individual provinces during the same general time period. The laws guarantee free, appropriate education for children with disabilities of any kind—whether the impairment is physical, cognitive, emotional, or behavioral. The laws also recognize that such students need special supports in order to learn or function effectively in a classroom with non-disabled peers, so they provide for special services (for example, teaching assistants) and procedures for making individualized educational plans for students with disabilities.

As a result of these changes, most American and Canadian teachers are likely to have at least a few students with special educational needs, even if they are not trained as special education teachers or have had no prior personal experience with people with disabilities. Classroom teachers are also likely to work as part of a professional team focused on helping these students to learn as well as possible and to participate in the life of the school. The trend toward inclusion is definitely new compared to circumstances just a generation or two ago. It raises new challenges about planning instruction (such as how is a teacher to find time to plan for individuals?), and philosophical questions about the very nature of education (such as what in the curriculum is truly important to learn?). These questions will come up again in Chapter 6, where we discuss teaching students with special educational needs.

Lifelong learning

The diversity of modern classrooms is not limited to language or disabilities. Another recent change has been the broadening simply of the age range of individuals who count as “students”. In many nations of the world, half or most of all three- and four-year-olds attend some form of educational program, either part-time preschool or full- time child care (National Institute for Early Education Research, 2006). In North America some public school divisions have moved toward including nursery or preschool programs as a newer “grade level” preceding kindergarten. Others have expanded the hours of kindergarten (itself considered a “new” program early in the 20th century) to span a full-day program.

The obvious differences in maturity between preschoolers and older children lead most teachers of the very young to use flexible, open-ended plans and teaching strategies, and to develop more personal or family-like relationships with their young “students” than typical with older students (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). Just as important, though, are the educational and philosophical issues that early childhood education has brought to public attention. Some educational critics ask whether preschool and day care programs risk becoming in appropriate substitutes for families. Other educators suggest, in contrast, that teachers of older students can learn from the flexibility and open-ended approach common in early childhood education. For teachers of any grade level, it is a debate that cannot be avoided completely or permanently. In this book, it reappears in Chapter 4, where I discuss students’ development—their major long-term, changes in skills, knowledge, and attitudes.

The other end of the age spectrum has also expanded. Many individuals take courses well into adulthood even if they do not attend formal university or college. Adult education, as it is sometimes called, often takes place in workplaces, but it often also happens in public high schools or at local community colleges or universities. Some adult students may be completing high school credentials that they missed earlier in their lives, but often the students have other purposes that are even more focused, such as learning a trade-related skill. The teachers of adult students have to adjust their instructional strategies and relationships with students so as to challenge and respect their special strengths and constraints as adults (Bash, 2005). The students’ maturity often means that they have had life experiences that enhance and motivate their learning. But it may also mean that they have significant personal responsibilities—such as parenting or a full-time job—which compete for study time, and that make them impatient with teaching that is irrelevant to their personal goals or needs. These advantages and constraints also occur to a lesser extent among “regular” high school students. Even secondary school teachers must ask, how they can make sure that instruction does not waste students’ time, and how they can make it truly efficient, effective, and valuable. Elsewhere in this book (especially in Chapters 9 through 11, about assessment and instruction), we discuss these questions from a number of perspectives.

New trend #2: using technology to support learning

For most teachers, “technology” means using computers and the Internet as resources for teaching and learning. These tools have greatly increased the amount and range of information available to students, even if their benefits have sometimes been exaggerated in media reports (Cuban, 2001). With the Internet, it is now relatively easy to access up-to-date information on practically any subject imaginable, often with pictures, video clips, and audio to accompany them. It would seem not only that the Internet and its associated technologies have the potential to transform traditional school-based learning, but also that they have in fact begun to do so.

For a variety of reasons, however, technology has not always been integrated into teachers’ practices very thoroughly (Haertel & Means, 2003). One reason is practical: in many societies and regions, classrooms contain only one or two computers at most, and many schools have at best only limited access to the Internet. Waiting for a turn on the computer or arranging to visit a computer lab or school library limits how much students use the Internet, no matter how valuable the Internet may be. In such cases, furthermore, computers tend to function in relatively traditional ways that do not take full advantage of the Internet: as a word processor (a “fancy typewriter”), for example, or as a reference book similar to an encyclopedia.

Even so, single-computer classrooms create new possibilities and challenges for teachers. A single computer can be used, for example, to present upcoming assignments or supplementary material to students, either one at a time or small groups. In functioning in this way, the computer gives students more flexibility about when to finish old tasks or to begin new ones. A single computer can also enrich the learning of individual students with special interests or motivation. And it can provide additional review to students who need extra help. These changes are not dramatic, but they lead to important revisions in teachers’ roles: they move teachers away from simply delivering information to students, and toward facilitating students’ own constructions of knowledge.

A shift from “full-frontal teaching” to “guide on the side” becomes easier as the amount and use of computer and Internet technologies increases. If a school (or better yet, a classroom) has numerous computers with full Internet access, then students’ can in principle direct their own learning more independently than if computers are scarce commodities. With ample technology available, teachers can focus much more on helping individuals in developing and carrying out learning plans, as well as on assisting individuals with special learning problems. In these ways a strong shift to computers and the Internet can change a teacher’s role significantly, and make the teacher more effective.

But technology also brings some challenges, or even creates problems. It costs money to equip classrooms and schools fully: often that money is scarce, and may therefore mean depriving students of other valuable resources, like additional staff or additional books and supplies. Other challenges are less tangible. In using the Internet, for example, students need help in sorting out trustworthy information or websites from the “fluff”, websites that are unreliable or even damaging (Seiter, 2005). Providing this help can sometimes be challenging even for experienced teachers. And some educational activities simply do not lend themselves to computerized learning—sports, for example, driver education, or choral practice. As a new teacher, therefore, you will need not only to assess what technologies are possible in your particular classroom, but also what will actually be assisted by new technologies. Then be prepared for your decisions to affect how you teach—the ways you work with students.

New trend #3: accountability in education

In recent years, the public and its leaders have increasingly expected teachers and students to be accountable for their work, meaning that schools and teachers are held responsible for implementing particular curricula and goals, and that students are held responsible for learning particular knowledge. The trend toward accountability has increased the legal requirements for becoming and (sometimes) remaining certified as a teacher. In the United States in particular, preservice teachers need more subject-area and education-related courses than in the past. They must also spend more time practice teaching than in the past, and they must pass one or more examinations of knowledge of subject matter and teaching strategies. The specifics of these requirements vary among regions, but the general trend—toward more numerous and “higher” levels of requirements—has occurred broadly throughout the English-speaking world. The changes obviously affect individuals’ experiences of becoming a teacher— especially the speed and cost of doing so.

Public accountability has led to increased use of high-stakes testing, which are tests taken by all students in a district or region that have important consequences for students’ further education (Fuhrman & Elmore, 2004). High-stakes tests may influence grades that students receive in courses or determine whether students graduate or continue to the next level of schooling. The tests are often a mixture of essay and structured-response questions (such as multiple-choice items), and raise important issues about what teachers should teach, as well as how (and whether) teachers should help students to pass the examinations. It also raises issues about whether high-stakes testing is fair to all students and consistent with other ideals of public education, such as giving students the best possible start in life instead of disqualifying them from educational opportunities. Furthermore, since the results of high-stakes tests are sometimes also used to evaluate the performance of teachers, schools, or school districts, insuring students’ success on them becomes an obvious concern for teachers—one that affects instructional decisions on a daily basis. For this reason we discuss the purpose, nature, and effects of high-stakes tests in detail in Chapter 13.

New trend #4: increased professionalism of teachers

Whatever your reactions to the first three trends, it is important to realize that they have contributed to a fourth trend, an increase in professionalism of teachers. By most definitions, an occupation (like medicine or law—or in this case teaching) is a profession if its members take personal responsibility for the quality of their work, hold each other accountable for its quality, and recognize and require special training in order to practice it.

By this definition, teaching has definitely become more professional than in the past (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2005). Increased expectations of achievement by students mean that teachers have increased responsibility not only for their students’ academic success, but also for their own development as teachers. Becoming a new teacher now requires more specialized work than in the past, as reflected in the increased requirements for certification and licensing in many societies and regions. The increased requirements are partly a response to the complexities created by the increasing diversity of students and increasing use of technology in classrooms.

Greater professionalism has also been encouraged by initiatives from educators themselves to study and improve their own practice. One way to do so, for example, is through action research (sometimes also called teacher research ), a form of investigation carried out by teachers about their own students or their own teaching. Action research studies lead to concrete decisions that improve teaching and learning in particular educational contexts (Mertler, 2006; Stringer, 2004). The studies can take many forms, but here are a few brief examples:

• How precisely do individual children learn to read? In an action research study, the teacher might observeand track one child’s reading progress carefully for an extended time. From the observations she can get clues about how to help not only that particular child to read better, but also other children in her class or even in colleagues’ classes.
• Does it really matter if a high school social studies teacher uses more, rather than fewer, open-ended questions? As an action of research study, the teacher might videotape his own lessons, and systematically compare students’ responses to his open-ended questions compared to their responses to more closed questions (the ones with more fixed answers). The analysis might suggest when and how much it is indeed desirable to use open-ended questions.
• Can an art teacher actually entice students to take more creative risks with their drawings? As an action research study, the teacher might examine the students’ drawings carefully for signs of visual novelty and innovation, and then see if the signs increase if she encourages novelty and innovation explicitly.

Table 1: Examples of action research project

Two other, more complete examples of action research are summarized in Table 1 . Although these examples, like many action research studies, resemble “especially good teaching practice”, they are planned more thoughtfully than usual, carried out and recorded more systematically, and shared with fellow teachers more thoroughly and openly. As such, they yield special benefits to teachers as professionals, though they also take special time and effort. For now, the important point is that use of action research simultaneously reflects the increasing professionalism of teachers, but at the same time creates higher standards for teachers when they teach.

How educational psychology can help

All things considered, then, times have changed for teachers. But teaching remains an attractive, satisfying, and worthwhile profession. The recent trends mean simply that you need to prepare for teaching differently than you might have in the past, and perhaps differently than your own school teachers did a generation ago. Fortunately, there are ways to do this. Many current programs in teacher education provide a balance of experiences in tune with current and emerging needs of teachers. They offer more time for practice teaching in schools, for example, and teacher education instructors often make deliberate efforts to connect the concepts and ideas of education and psychology to current best practices of education. These and other features of contemporary teacher education will make it easier for you to become the kind of teacher that you not only want to be, but also will need to be.

This book—about educational psychology and its relation to teaching and learning—can be one of your supports as you get started. To make it as useful as possible, we have written about educational psychology while keeping in mind the current state of teaching, as well as your needs as a unique future teacher. The text draws heavily on concepts, research and fundamental theories from educational psychology. But these are selected and framed around the problems, challenges, and satisfactions faced by teachers daily, and especially as faced by teachers new to the profession. We have selected and emphasized topics in proportion to two factors: (1) their importance as reported by teachers and other educational experts, and (2) the ability of educational psychology to comment on particular problems, challenges, and satisfactions helpfully.

There is a lot to learn about teaching, and much of it comes from educational psychology. As a career, teaching has distinctive features now that it did not have a generation ago. The new features make it more exciting in some ways, as well as more challenging than in the past. The changes require learning teaching skills that were less important in earlier times. But the new skills are quite learnable. Educational psychology, and this text, will get you started at that task.

Chapter summary

Teaching in the twenty-first century offers a number of satisfactions—witnessing and assisting the growth of young people, lifelong learning, the challenge and excitement of designing effective instruction. Four trends have affected the way that these satisfactions are experienced by classroom teachers: (1) increased diversity of students, (2) the spread of instructional technology in schools and classrooms, (3) increased expectations for accountability in education, and (4) the development of increased professionalism among teachers. Each trend presents new opportunities to students and teachers, but also raises new issues for teachers. Educational psychology, and this textbook, can help teachers to make constructive use of the new trends as well as deal with the dilemmas that accompany them. It offers information, advice, and useful perspectives specifically in three areas of teaching: (1) students as learners, (2) instruction and assessment, and (3) the psychological and social awareness of teachers.

On the Internet

< www.ets.org/praxis > Try this website of the Educational Testing Service if you are curious to learn more about licensing examinations for teachers, including the PRAXIS II test that is prominent in the United States (see pp. xxx). As you will see, specific requirements vary somewhat by state and region.

< portal.unesco.org/education/en > This is the website for the education branch of UNESCO, which is the abbreviation for the “United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.” It has extensive information and news about all forms of diversity in education, viewed from an inter national perspective. The challenges of teaching diverse classrooms, it seems, are not restricted to the United States, though as the new items on the website show, the challenges take different forms in different countries.

< www.edchange.org > < www.cec.sped.org > These two websites have numerous resources about diversity for teachers from a North American (USA and Canada) perspective. They are both useful for planning instruction. The first one—maintained by a group of educators and calling itself EdChange—focuses on culturally related forms of diversity, and the second one—by the Council for Exceptional Children—focuses on children with special educational needs.

Accountability in education

Action research Assessment

High-stakes testing

Instructional technology

Professionalism

Teacher research

Bash, L. (Ed.). (2005). Best practices in adult learning. Boston: Anker Publications.

Bredekamp, S. & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice, Revised edition. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Cochran-Smith, M. (2003). Assessing assessment in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(3), 187-191.

Cochran-Smith, M. & Fries, K. (2005). Research teacher education in changing times: Politics and paradigms. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education, 69-110.

Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Educational Testing Service. (2004). Study guide for Principles of Learning and Teaching, 2nd edition.Princeton, NJ: Author.

Fuhrman, S. & Elmore, R. (2004). Redesigning accountability systems for education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gebhard, L. (2006). Teaching English as a second or foreign language: A teacher self-development and methodology guide, 2nd edition. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Glassford, L. (2005). Triumph of politics over pedagogy? The case of the Ontario Teacher Qualifying Test.

Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, Issue #45. Online at <www.umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/articles/glassford.html>.

Haertel, G. & Means, B. (2003). Evaluating educational technology: Effective research designs for improving learning. New York: Teachers College Press.

Harris, D. & Herrington, C. (2006). Accountability, standards, and the growing achievement gap: Lessons from the past half-century. American Journal of Education, 112(2), 163-208.

Harvard Educational Review. (2005). Interview: United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Harvard Educational Review, 75(4), 364-382.

Kushner, H. (1983). When bad things happen to good people. New York: Schocken Books.

Lubienski, C. (2005). Public schools in marketized environments: Shifting incentives and unintended consequences of competition-based educational reforms. American Journal of Education, 111(4), 464- 486.

Mertler, C. (2006). Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

National Institute for Early Education Research. (2006). Percent of population age 3 and 4 who are enrolled in school: Census 2000. Retrieved on March 21, 2006 from <www.nieer.org/resources/facts>.

Neil, M. (2003). The dangers of testing. Educational Leadership, 60(5), 43-46.

Pitt, K. (2005). Debates in ESL teaching and learning: Culture, communities, and classrooms. London, UK: Routledge.

Rudalevige, A. (2005, August). Reform or séance? Seeking the “spirit” of the No Child Left Behind. Teachers College Record. Online at <www.tcrecord.org>, ID# 12112.

Seiter, E. (2005). The INTERNET playground: Children’s access, entertainment, and miseducation. New York: Peter Lang.

Stringer, E. (2004). Action research in education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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Educational Psychology Copyright © 2019 by Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Professionalism in teaching and the role of teacher education

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• European Journal of Teacher Education 44(2):1-25

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The Teaching Profession in 2020 (in Charts)

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Teaching in 2020 can be largely summed up in a few words: Exhausting. Challenging. Unpredictable.

In the spring, teachers had to scramble to learn how to deliver their lessons and connect with students over the computer. Some have transitioned back into at least some in-person instruction, while others have stayed completely remote. In addition to the pandemic, teachers have had to contend with a historic and divisive presidential election that President Donald Trump has yet to concede. And as high-profile police killings of Black Americans sparked a nationwide movement against societal racism, teachers have had to both support their students of color and take a hard look at the practices in their schools and classrooms.

The research published this year paints a picture of a profession under pressure. In some ways, the work of teaching has never been tougher—or more critical, as students suffer major mental health stressors and pandemic-related learning loss.

Here are some of the most significant findings related to teachers. Much of this research is from EdWeek’s own in-house surveys, which went out to nationally representative samples of teachers, principals, and district leaders on a regular basis over the course of the pandemic to gauge their opinions on issues related to remote learning, the coronavirus pandemic, and other major events.

Chart #1: Teacher Morale Has Plummeted Since Prior to the Pandemic

Teachers say that teaching during the coronavirus pandemic—and adjusting to remote, hybrid, or socially distanced instruction—has been stressful. Teachers say they’re working more hours since before the pandemic, and they’re having more difficulties engaging and connecting with students.

The EdWeek Research Center has been tracking teacher morale for months and has found a near-steady decline.

Chart #2: Teachers Fear Getting COVID-19 at Work

One reason some school districts have yet to resume in-person instruction? Fierce opposition from teachers and their unions .

Teachers across the country have voiced concerns about going back to their classrooms, saying they feel like their health and safety would be put at risk. About a quarter of teachers are estimated to be at high-risk for serious illness due to COVID-19, and many other teachers live with a high-risk family member.

So far, some early data have shown that school reopenings have not led to many COVID-19 outbreaks, but many teachers say they can’t trust that the appropriate safety measures will be put in place before they’re asked to return to school buildings. And as coronavirus cases surge across the country, teachers are becoming even more concerned about their health and safety.

A Gallup survey taken at several points over the summer sheds some light on teachers’ fears about getting sick at work—showing they’re more apprehensive than other workers as a whole.

Chart #3: Teachers Say They Want to Quit—But So Far They Haven’t En Masse

Surveys published over the summer showed that 1 in 5 teachers said they were unlikely to return to in-person instruction in the fall , and that the same percentage said they were more likely to quit at the end of last school year than they were before the pandemic.

Yet an EdWeek analysis found that the predicted wave of leavers did not materialize across the nation . Teacher attrition this year was higher in some places, lower in others, and indeterminate in many more. Experts say workers—including teachers—are unlikely to quit their jobs or retire during an economic downturn.

EdWeek Research Center data found that most school and district leaders say the number of teacher retirements and resignations in 2020 is comparable to the number in 2019.

Chart #4: Many Students Feel Less Motivated in Class

One big challenge for teachers during this pandemic: Students tend to be less engaged and absent more often.

According to an EdWeek Research Center survey of a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students, 29 percent of students who say they are absent more often indicate that it’s because school has gotten more boring during the pandemic, and 31 percent say it’s because they have more trouble understanding what they’re learning.

The EdWeek Research Center also found that middle and high school teachers are more likely than their students to think student motivation levels have declined due to the pandemic.

Chart #5: The Pandemic Has Hurt Students’ Academic Growth, Especially in Math

Several studies have found evidence of a “COVID slide,” in which students have lost ground academically during school closures. Students have lost more ground in math than they have in reading , early data show. And students of color and those who are from low-income families have fallen even further behind than their white, affluent peers.

While there is still much left unknown about the most vulnerable students , since many of them were not tested this fall, the research so far has been grim. A December study from McKinsey & Co. estimates that students of color may have lost three to five months of learning in mathematics during the school closures in the spring, while white students lost one to three months.

Chart #6: Students Don’t Want to Turn Their Web Cameras On, But Most Schools Require It

For many teachers who are remote, the web cam has been a source of frustration and debate . Students often keep their cameras off for the whole class period, leaving teachers struggling to foster engagement and feeling like they’re speaking into an abyss. On the other hand, many educators say that requiring cameras can be an equity concern, making some students feel vulnerable or exposed with their homes on display.

An EdWeek Research Center survey found that more than three-quarters of teachers, principals, and district leaders whose schools or districts provide live remote instruction say that if students have working cameras, they must keep them on during class. Most of those educators say exceptions can be made based on the students’ age, preferences, and parental wishes. But 18 percent said cameras must be kept on, with no exceptions.

Teachers say even when they don’t require students to keep their cameras on, teaching to a screen full of black boxes can be disheartening. But their perceptions of why students keep their cameras off don’t always align with students’ own answers, according to EdWeek Research Center surveys of both middle and high school teachers and their students.

Chart #7: Many Teachers Are Not Prepared to Address Students’ Social-Emotional Needs

Students need more social-emotional support than ever before, experts say, given the stress and trauma of the pandemic. Many children have had family members lose work, become ill, or even die. Students are also missing their normal routines and social lives.

Yet EdWeek Research Center data from before the pandemic shows that only 29 percent of teachers said they have received ongoing training in social-emotional learning. And many new teachers are coming into classrooms without having learned how to support the social and emotional development of their students.

Chart #8: Teachers Avoided Discussing Trump’s Claims of Post-Election Voter Fraud

This fall, civics teachers said it had become difficult to teach a norm-breaking presidential election , especially when they couldn’t be face to face with their students. And the challenges continued after the last ballots were cast and Trump refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden.

An EdWeek Research Center survey found that 86 percent of all teachers—including half of social studies teachers—said they had not had discussions with their students about Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud. The nationally representative survey was administered Nov. 18 and 19, two weeks after Election Day.

Some of those teachers were worried that by having such conversations, they’d be subject to parent pushback or accusations of trying to “indoctrinate” students.

Chart #9: Teachers Say They Lack the Training and Resources to Implement an Anti-Racist Curriculum

This fall, many teachers wanted to address the Black Lives Matter movement with their students and work to make their classrooms anti-racist. But an EdWeek Research Center survey shows a big gap between the teachers who are willing to teach an anti-racist curriculum and those who have had the professional development and resources they need to do so.

But research shows that teachers have the same racial biases as everyone else , and experts say that teachers need continued professional development to run an anti-racist classroom.

“Teachers always have to ask themselves: Who is left out of the story? What are their perspectives?” LaGarrett King, an associate professor of social studies at the University of Missouri’s College of Education told Education Week . “Teachers have to understand that race is real and has influenced the lived realities of racialized people. And professional development cannot be just one time. It has to be constant throughout, and we have to allow teachers to grow.”

Chart #10: Teacher Pay Remains Low, and COVID-19 Has Thwarted Efforts to Raise It

Despite all the new burdens put on teachers this year, teachers are still paid less than similar professionals. And the coronavirus pandemic has halted legislative efforts to raise teacher salaries , after years of teacher activism over stagnant raises.

The Economic Policy Institute found that in 2019 , public school teachers earned 19.2 percent less in weekly wages relative to other college-educated workers, after accounting for factors such as education, experience, and state residence. The gap has grown substantially since the mid-1990s, although it did improve slightly from 2018 to 2019. EPI says the data are not yet sufficient to say if this improvement reflects the pay raises resulting from the teacher activism.

Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.

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Professionalism in teaching and the role of teacher education

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In this article, I discuss the status of teaching as a profession using Gardner and Shulman’s framework emerging from their empirical examination of the professions in America and use Bernstein’s sociology of knowledge to help explain how recontextualizing agents struggle to dominate the construction and interpretation of professionalism in teaching. I use data from a major cross-national study of university-based teacher education to illustrate efforts to define the professional knowledge needed for teaching and the wide degree of variability in the opportunities provided to teachers to learn such knowledge. The essential role of teacher education in sustaining the teaching profession emerges very clearly from these analyses. I conclude that the education field needs to develop the capacity to ensure teachers’ professional learning and that these efforts need to be informed by use-inspired research and an inquiry culture in university-based teacher education programmes.

• Comparative international studies
• evaluation research in teacher education
• mathematics education
• teachers as professionals
• teacher education

Acknowledgments

The TEDS-M Study was developed under the aegis of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The research reported in this article received support from the U.S. National Science Foundation under awards number REC 0514431 and DRL-0910001 (Tatto, PI for both grants). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Disclosure statement

I have not known conflict of interest to disclose.

1. No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a re-authorisation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, was the main law for K–12 general education in the United States from 2002–2015. The law held schools accountable for how kids learned and achieved. The law was controversial in part because it penalised schools that didn’t show improvement.

2. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) came to replace NCLB in 2016, and is the nation’s main education law for all public schools. The law holds schools accountable for how students learn and achieve.

3. Value-added models (VAMs) ‘are designed to measure how much value a teacher purportedly adds to (or detracts from) students’ growth as evidenced on large-scale standardised achievement tests over each school year’ ( https://kappanonline.org/value-added-models-what-the-experts-say/ ).

4. For an extensive description of the U.S. curriculum analysis see Tatto and Bankov ( Citation 2018 ).

• Tatto, M. T., and K. Bankov. 2018. “The Intended, Implemented, and Achieved Curriculum of Mathematics Teacher Education in the United States.” In Exploring the Mathematics Education of Teachers Using TEDS-M Data , edited by M. T. Tatto, M. Rodriguez, W. Smith, M. Reckase, and K. Bankov, 69–133, Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.   Google Scholar

Additional information

Notes on contributors, maria teresa tatto.

Maria Teresa Tatto is a Professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University, and the Southwest Borderlands Professor of Comparative Education at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Previously she was a professor at Michigan State University. She is a former president of the Comparative and International Education Society. She is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, England, and a Fellow in the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Tatto studies the effects of educational policy on school and teacher education systems.

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Becoming a Teacher: What I Learned about Myself During the Pandemic

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Introduction to the Article by Andrew Stremmel

Now, more than ever, we need to hear the voices of preservice teachers as well as in-service teachers during this pandemic. How has the pandemic affected them? In what ways has the pandemic enabled them to think about the need to really focus on what matters, what’s important? What were the gains and losses? These are very important questions for our time.  In this essay, Alyssa Smith, a senior studying early childhood education, attempts to address the lessons learned from her junior year, focusing on the positive aspects of her coursework and demonstrating an imaginative, growth mindset. This essay highlights the power of students’ reflection on their own learning. But I think it does so much more meaningful contemplation than we might expect of our students in “normal” times. Alyssa gains a new appreciation for this kind of active reflection—the opportunity to think more critically; to be more thoughtful; to stop, step back, catch her breath, and rethink things. As a teacher educator and her mentor, I believe this essay represents how the gift of time to stop and reflect can open space to digest what has been experienced, and how the gift of reflective writing can create a deeper level of thinking about how experiences integrate with one’s larger narrative as a person.

About the Author

Andrew Stremmel, PhD, is professor in early childhood education at South Dakota State University. His research is in teacher action research and Reggio Emilia-inspired, inquiry-based approaches to early childhood teacher education. He is an executive editor of  Voices of Practitioners .  

I’ve always known I was meant to be a teacher. I could feel my passion guide my work and lead my heart through my classes. So why did I still feel as if something was missing? During the fall of my junior year, the semester right before student teaching, I began to doubt my ability to be a great teacher, as I did not feel completely satisfied in my work. What I did not expect was a global pandemic that would shut down school and move all coursework online. I broke down. I wanted to do more than simply be a good student. I wanted to learn to be a great teacher. How was I supposed to discover my purpose and find what I was missing when I couldn’t even attend my classes? I began to fret that I would never become the capable and inspirational educator that I strived to be, when I was missing the firsthand experience of being in classrooms, interacting with children, and collaborating with peers.

It wasn’t until my first full semester being an online student that I realized the pandemic wasn’t entirely detrimental to my learning. Two of my early childhood education courses, Play and Inquiry and Pedagogy and Curriculum, allowed limited yet meaningful participation in a university lab school as well as engagement with problems of substance that require more intense thinking, discussion, analysis, and thoughtful action. These problems, which I briefly discuss below, presented challenges, provocations, possibilities, and dilemmas to be pondered, and not necessarily resolved. Specifically, they pushed me to realize that the educational question for our time is not, “What do I need to know about how to teach?” Rather, it is, “What do I need to know about myself in the context of this current pandemic?” I was therefore challenged to think more deeply about who I wanted to be as a teacher and who I was becoming, what I care about and value, and how I will conduct myself in the classroom with my students.

These three foundations of teaching practice (who I want to be, what I value, and how I will conduct myself) were illuminated by a question that was presented to us students in one of the very first classes of the fall 2020 semester: “What’s happening right now in your experience that will help you to learn more about yourself and who you are becoming?” This provocation led me to discover that, while the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light (and at times magnified) many fears and insecurities I had as a prospective teacher, it also provided me with unique opportunities, time to reflect, and surprising courage that I feel would not otherwise have been afforded and appreciated.

Although I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I had never deliberately pondered the idea of what kind of teacher I wanted to be. I held the core values of being an advocate for children and helping them grow as confident individuals, but I still had no idea what teaching style I was to present. Fortunately, the pandemic enabled me to view my courses on play and curriculum as a big “look into the mirror” to discern what matters and what was important about becoming a teacher.

As I worked through the rest of the course, I realized that this project pushed me to think about my identity as an educator in relation to my students rather than simply helping me understand my students, as I initially thought. Instead, a teacher’s identity is formed in relation to or in relationship with our students: We take what we know about our students and use it to shape ourselves and how we teach. I found that I had to take a step back and evaluate my own perceptions and beliefs about children and who I am in relation to them. Consequently, this motivated me to think about myself as a classroom teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic. What did I know about children that would influence the way I would teach them?

I thought about how children were resilient, strong, and adaptable, possessing an innate ability to learn in nearly any setting. While there were so many uncertainties and fear surrounding them, they adapted to mask-wearing, limited children in the classroom, and differentiated tasks to limit cross-contamination. Throughout, the children embodied being an engaged learner. They did not seem to focus on what they were missing; their limitless curiosity could not keep them from learning. Yet, because young children learn primarily through relationships, they need some place of learning that helps them to have a connection with someone who truly knows, understands, and cares about them. Thus, perhaps more than any lesson, I recognized my relationship with children as more crucial. By having more time to think about children from this critical perspective, I felt in my heart the deeper meaning children held to me.

My compassion for children grew, and a greater respect for them took shape, which overall is what pushed me to see my greater purpose for who I want to be as an educator. The pandemic provided time to develop this stronger vision of children, a clearer understanding of how they learn, and how my identity as a teacher is formed in relationship with children. I don’t think I would have been able to develop such a rich picture of how I view children without an in-depth exploration of my identity, beliefs, and values.

In my curriculum course, I was presented a different problem that helped me reflect on who I am becoming as an educator. This was presented as a case study where we as students were asked the question, “Should schools reopen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic?” This was a question that stumped school districts around the nation, making me doubt that I would be able to come up with anything that would be remotely practical. I now was experiencing another significant consequence of the pandemic: a need for new, innovative thinking on how to address state-wide academic issues. My lack of confidence, paired with the unknowns presented by the pandemic, made me feel inadequate to take on this problem of meaning.

To address this problem, I considered more intentionally and reflectively what I knew about how children learn; issues of equity and inequality that have led to a perceived achievement gap; the voices of both teachers and families; a broader notion of what school might look like in the “new normal”; and the role of the community in the education of young children. Suddenly, I was thinking in a more critical way about how to address this problem from the mindset of an actual and more experienced teacher, one who had never faced such a conundrum before. I knew that I had to design a way to allow children to come back into a classroom setting, and ultimately find inspiration for learning in this new normal. I created this graphic (above) to inform families and teachers why it is vital to have students return to school. As a result, I became an educator. I was now thinking, feeling, and acting as a teacher. This case study made me think about myself and who I am becoming as a teacher in a way that was incredibly real and relevant to what teachers were facing. I now found inspiration in the COVID-19 pandemic, as it unlocked elements of myself that I did not know existed.

John Dewey (1916) has been attributed to stating, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Learning may begin in the classroom, but it does not end there. Likewise, teaching is not a role, but a way of being. The ability to connect with children and to engage them meaningfully depends less on the methods we use than on the degree to which we know and trust ourselves and are willing to share that knowledge with them. That comes through continually reflecting on who we are in relation to children and their families, and what we do in the classroom to create more meaningful understanding of our experiences. By embodying the role of being an educator, I grew in ways that classroom curriculum couldn't prepare me for. Had it not been for the pandemic, this might not have been possible.

Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education . New York: MacMillan.

Alyssa Marie Smith  is currently an early childhood education student studying at South Dakota State University. She has been a student teacher in the preschool lab on campus, and now works as a kindergarten out of school time teacher in this same lab school. In the fall, she plans to student teach in an elementary setting, and then go on to teach in her own elementary classroom.

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New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching

The OECD’s expanding evidence base has highlighted the importance of high-quality teachers and teaching in education. Yet, challenging questions remain, and there is a need for space in the teacher debate to anticipate future developments, to strengthen professional identity and to support proactive teacher policy making.

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What could the teaching profession look like in the future ‌‌‌‌‌.

Current societal changes and sudden crises are having a profound impact on education and the teacher profession. In many countries the working population is ageing, its composition is changing and becoming ever more diverse due to migration.  Many countries also experience increasingly tight labour markets; several education systems are experiencing teacher shortages or need to anticipate preventing this is in the future. Young people entering the workplace are expecting different things from working life and might not want to stay in one profession their entire career.

What do current changes in society mean for the future of the teaching profession?

Society has grown more demanding in its needs and is changing fast, requiring schools to do more. Among OECD countries, many teachers themselves indicate that they experience high levels of stress, attrition, and constant pressure as they are one of societies’ cornerstones. What does this mean for the future of the teaching profession? What do school systems need to keep providing a quality education for their children?

The  multi-national stakeholder study  on New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching is aimed at education systems that are interested in anticipating the medium- and long-term in teacher professionalism and empowerment. Looking back on previous OECD data collection and publications, as well as two years of in-depth research on the topic, the project has devised a theoretical framework that allows stakeholders to construct a vision on what the teaching profession could look like in the future. The model focuses on collaboration and creating space for teacher autonomy, while at the same time allowing for the stakeholders involved to influence a future vision on teaching.

The research project has so far developed innovative tools that allow participating countries to test, discuss, and develop a future image by generating preferred scenarios. The goal is to co-create a clear picture of what the future teaching profession might look like that is evidence-informed by what we know today: previous research, OECD data and research collected during the study as well as input from all relevant stakeholders.  

• Co-constructing a shared vision on the future of teaching and teacher professionalism to guide policy development.
• Using tools to consider diverse profiles of existing and future teachers and their professional needs.
• Promoting well-functioning interprofessional and cross-sectoral collaborations.
• Collecting perspectives of multiple stakeholders to describe preferred futures for teaching and how they can support this

Since 2020, CERI has embarked on the New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching project. During the first phase, we ensured our work has continued coherence and relevance with the OECD’s work on teachers and teaching.

Currently, we are exploring new dimensions of teacher professionalism, and expanding the knowledge base on teachers and teaching. We are doing this in collaboration with the OECD member-countries.

Publications and working papers

Related Research

The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

More Information

• Fourth Strand II project meeting for Countries, 5 April 2023
• Third Strand II meeting for Countries, 1 December 2022
• Third Symposium on the Future of Teachers and Teaching, 7 October 2022
• Second Strand II meeting for Countries, 7 December 2021
• Second Symposium on the Future of Teachers and Teaching, 29 November 2021
• First Symposium on the Future of Teachers and Teaching, 23 June 2021
• Strand II launch meeting for Countries, 5 May 2021

More facts, key findings and policy recommendations

Create customised data profiles and compare countries

EDU.Teachers@oecd.org

Essay Curve

Essay on Teaching As A Profession – Short & Long Essay Examples

Essay on Teaching As A Profession: Teaching is often considered one of the noblest professions, as educators play a crucial role in shaping the minds and futures of young individuals. In this essay, we will explore the various aspects of teaching as a profession, including the responsibilities, challenges, and rewards that come with the job. From inspiring students to fostering a love of learning, teaching requires dedication, patience, and a genuine passion for helping others succeed. Join us as we delve into the world of teaching as a profession.

Table of Contents

Teaching As A Profession Essay Writing Tips

1. Start by introducing the topic of teaching as a profession and why it is important in society. You can mention the impact teachers have on shaping the future generation and the role they play in educating and inspiring students.

2. Provide a brief overview of the history of teaching as a profession, highlighting how it has evolved over the years and the increasing demands and challenges that teachers face in today’s world.

3. Discuss the qualities and skills required to be an effective teacher. This can include patience, empathy, communication skills, subject knowledge, and the ability to adapt teaching methods to meet the needs of diverse learners.

4. Explain the importance of ongoing professional development for teachers. This can include attending workshops, conferences, and pursuing advanced degrees to stay current with best practices in education.

5. Discuss the impact of technology on teaching as a profession. Highlight how teachers are incorporating technology into their lessons to enhance learning and engage students in new ways.

6. Address the challenges and rewards of being a teacher. This can include long hours, low pay, and dealing with difficult students, as well as the satisfaction of seeing students succeed and making a positive impact on their lives.

7. Provide examples of successful teachers who have made a difference in their students’ lives and in the education system. This can help illustrate the importance and value of teaching as a profession.

8. Discuss the future of teaching as a profession and how it may continue to evolve in response to changing educational trends and societal needs.

9. Conclude your essay by summarizing the key points you have discussed and reiterating the importance of teaching as a profession in shaping the future of society.

10. Remember to proofread your essay for grammar and spelling errors before submitting it. Make sure your ideas are well-organized and supported with evidence and examples to make a compelling argument for teaching as a profession.

Essay on Teaching As A Profession in 10 Lines – Examples

1. Teaching is a noble profession that involves shaping the minds of future generations. 2. Teachers play a crucial role in imparting knowledge, skills, and values to students. 3. The profession requires patience, dedication, and a passion for helping others learn. 4. Teachers must continuously adapt to new teaching methods and technologies to keep up with the changing educational landscape. 5. Effective communication and interpersonal skills are essential for building relationships with students and parents. 6. Teachers must have a deep understanding of their subject matter and be able to convey complex concepts in a way that is easily understood by students. 7. The profession offers opportunities for professional growth and development through ongoing training and education. 8. Teachers have the power to inspire and motivate students to reach their full potential. 9. The impact of a good teacher can last a lifetime, influencing students long after they have left the classroom. 10. Despite the challenges and demands of the profession, teaching can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling for those who are passionate about education.

Sample Essay on Teaching As A Profession in 100-180 Words

Teaching is a noble profession that requires dedication, passion, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Teachers play a crucial role in shaping the minds of future generations, imparting knowledge and skills that will help students succeed in their personal and professional lives.

As a profession, teaching requires continuous professional development to stay current with best practices and educational trends. Teachers must also possess strong communication skills, empathy, and the ability to connect with students on a personal level.

Despite the challenges and demands of the profession, teaching can be incredibly rewarding. The impact that teachers have on their students can be profound, shaping their beliefs, values, and aspirations for the future.

In conclusion, teaching is not just a job, but a calling that requires a deep sense of purpose and a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others.

Short Essay on Teaching As A Profession in 200-500 Words

Teaching is often considered one of the noblest professions in the world. It involves shaping the minds of young individuals and preparing them for the future. Teaching is not just a job, but a calling that requires dedication, passion, and a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of students.

One of the key aspects of teaching as a profession is the impact that teachers have on their students. Teachers play a crucial role in shaping the future of their students by imparting knowledge, instilling values, and fostering critical thinking skills. They serve as mentors, role models, and guides, helping students navigate through the challenges of academic life and beyond.

Teaching is a profession that requires continuous learning and growth. Teachers are constantly updating their knowledge and skills to keep up with the latest developments in their field. They attend workshops, conferences, and seminars to enhance their teaching techniques and strategies. They also collaborate with colleagues to share best practices and learn from each other.

Another important aspect of teaching as a profession is the sense of fulfillment that comes from seeing students succeed. Teachers take pride in the achievements of their students, whether it be academic success, personal growth, or overcoming challenges. The joy of witnessing a student’s “aha” moment or seeing them reach their full potential is a rewarding experience that keeps teachers motivated and inspired.

Teaching is also a profession that requires patience, empathy, and understanding. Teachers work with students from diverse backgrounds, abilities, and learning styles. They must be able to adapt their teaching methods to meet the needs of each individual student and create a supportive and inclusive learning environment. Teachers must also be able to handle difficult situations with grace and professionalism, such as dealing with challenging behavior or supporting students through personal struggles.

Despite the many rewards of teaching, it is also a profession that comes with its own set of challenges. Teachers often face long hours, heavy workloads, and limited resources. They must juggle multiple responsibilities, from lesson planning and grading to parent meetings and extracurricular activities. Teaching can be emotionally and physically demanding, requiring resilience, perseverance, and a strong support system.

In conclusion, teaching is a profession that requires a unique combination of skills, qualities, and dedication. It is a rewarding and fulfilling career that offers the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of students. While teaching may have its challenges, the joy of seeing students grow and succeed makes it all worth it. Teachers are not just educators, but mentors, advocates, and inspirations who shape the future generation.

Essay on Teaching As A Profession in 1000-1500 Words

Teaching is often regarded as one of the noblest professions in the world. It is a profession that plays a crucial role in shaping the future of individuals and society as a whole. Teachers are not just educators, but also mentors, role models, and guides who have the power to inspire and empower their students. In this essay, we will explore the various aspects of teaching as a profession and why it is considered so important.

First and foremost, teaching is a profession that requires a high level of dedication, passion, and commitment. Teachers are responsible for imparting knowledge and skills to their students, and they play a key role in helping them achieve their full potential. A good teacher is not just someone who imparts information, but also someone who inspires and motivates their students to learn and grow. Teaching requires patience, empathy, and the ability to connect with students on a personal level. It is a profession that demands constant learning and self-improvement, as teachers need to stay updated with the latest developments in their field and adapt their teaching methods to meet the needs of their students.

Teaching is also a profession that requires a high level of expertise and skill. Teachers need to have a deep understanding of their subject matter, as well as the ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear and engaging manner. They need to be able to create a positive and inclusive learning environment where all students feel valued and respected. Teachers also need to be able to assess the progress of their students and provide constructive feedback to help them improve. In addition, teachers need to be able to manage their classroom effectively, handle disciplinary issues, and work collaboratively with parents, colleagues, and other stakeholders to ensure the success of their students.

One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching is the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of students. Teachers have the power to inspire and empower their students, to help them discover their passions and talents, and to guide them towards a successful and fulfilling future. Teachers often form close relationships with their students, and they have the privilege of witnessing their growth and development over time. The impact of a good teacher can last a lifetime, as students carry the lessons they have learned and the values they have imbibed with them into adulthood.

Teaching is also a profession that offers a great deal of personal satisfaction and fulfillment. The joy of seeing a student grasp a difficult concept, the pride of watching them succeed in their endeavors, and the gratitude of knowing that you have made a difference in someone’s life are all rewards that come with being a teacher. Teaching is a profession that allows you to use your talents and skills to make a positive impact on the world, and it provides a sense of purpose and meaning that is hard to find in other professions.

Despite the many rewards of teaching, it is also a profession that comes with its own set of challenges and difficulties. Teachers often have to deal with large class sizes, limited resources, and diverse student populations with varying needs and abilities. They have to juggle multiple responsibilities, from lesson planning and grading to parent meetings and extracurricular activities. Teaching can be physically and emotionally demanding, and it requires a great deal of resilience and perseverance to succeed in this profession.

Another challenge that teachers face is the lack of recognition and support that they often receive. Teaching is a profession that is often undervalued and underpaid, especially in comparison to other professions that require similar levels of education and expertise. Teachers are often asked to do more with less, and they are frequently subjected to criticism and scrutiny from parents, administrators, and policymakers. Despite these challenges, however, teachers continue to do their best to provide a quality education to their students and to make a positive impact on their lives.

In conclusion, teaching is a profession that is both challenging and rewarding. It requires a high level of dedication, expertise, and skill, as well as a deep commitment to the well-being and success of students. Teachers have the power to inspire, empower, and guide their students towards a brighter future, and they play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and innovators. Despite the challenges that they face, teachers continue to work tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of their students and to create a better world for future generations. Teaching is not just a profession, but a calling, and those who choose to answer that call have the power to change the world for the better.

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Teaching Profession Essay

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Teaching profession as it has been described by some people is a noble career. I sometimes believe that it is more of a calling than a profession because it really involves transforming the lives of people. This is not an easy task but rather a feat that calls for commitment and willingness to offer the best so that the learners succeed. Often teachers are faced with many challenges that compel them to employ and portray a high degree of professionalism in handling. A successful handling of a problem that arises within the education system proves the capacity of a teacher handle situations effectively. This essay will describe a challenging experience that I had with students and how I dealt with it.

The most challenging experience that I had with students is when the students in a school I was teaching went on rampage. They vandalized school property and many attempts from teachers who tried to implore them to restrain from the damage they were causing did not succeed. The students eventually gave a condition that I was the only teacher they would listen to for them to air their grievances. This experience was one of the most challenging experiences in my teacher career since calm and normalcy of the school was squarely lying on my hands. The students were gathered outside in a field so I had to apply all my wit and appropriate strategies in talking to them. The strategy I used to handle the situation was first to calm the students down because they were ready to talk to me because of my affable nature. Once they were calm, I first started by explaining to them that there are better ways of solving problems rather than engaging in violence.

The strategy I used was to pick a few students who seemed very outspoken and who definitely looked very disappointed with whatever they were complaining about to air the grievances on behalf of the rest. The selected students raised their concerns and aired their grievances as I carefully noted them down in a notebook. The argued that these were issues they wanted to bring to the attention of the administration because they had been complaining for long with no appropriate action being taken. The irate students informed me that they wanted to be sure that their concerns should be addressed once and for all. Consequently they said that they would only go back to class after I took their concerns to the administration. I convincingly talked to the students and promised them that everything would be fine as I was committed towards ensuring that their concerns were addressed. The outcome of my efforts was that the students agreed to go back to class and calm returned in the school which had witnessed chaos for a whole day.

I had the greatest impact in the outcome of the student’s decision to go back to class because they had refused to talk to the rest of the teachers. Through my diligent talk with the students, they could see the sense of having problems solved amicably. I tried to change their line of thought by informing them that chaos were not the way to solve problems. I also impacted on the outcome of the solution by assuring the rowdy students that once they presented their grievances to me, I would ensure that the due attention they deserved would be given and that an immediate appropriate action will be taken to correct the situation.

After a few days of the situation calming down, I wanted to determine whether the outcome was successful or not. To do this, I secretly talked to the student leaders and asked them whether the rest of the students were satisfied with the corrective measures that the school administration took. They confirmed to me that the rest of the students were happy and contended with the solutions that were provided. This confirmed to me that the outcome of my strategy was a great success.

One thing I would do differently from what many teachers do I the approach teachers take when a crisis such like a strike emerges. Some teachers believe that students are always wrong and most of the issues they raise are not legitimate. This is always the case because while at times students may raise illegitimate concerns, most of the times their concerns are legitimate and attention should be paid to them. This is because if teachers only think that students cannot raise legitimate concerns, they will not treat them as they are supposed to and problems will continue escalating.

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Teaching As a Profession Essay

Teaching is a respected profession which demands consistency and patience. Educators are not only seen as knowledge distributors but also mentors and role models. This article “ Teaching as a Profession Essay” sheds light on the value of such teachers and what the world would be without them. Let’s get started with the importance of teaching profession.

Many teachers dedicate all their lives to empowering students and making them better and more successful human beings in their lives. Furthermore, they even help them financially so that they’re not left behind in life. These are those children who can never afford to be admitted to coaching classes for competitive exams. Anand Kumar teaches, guides, and motivates students to dream big and fulfil those dreams.

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Some Respected Teachers in History

The first Anand Kumar from Super 30 (played by Hrithik Roshan) made a record of selecting 18 students for IIT out of 30 students.

The next example in front of us is Siva Subramania Iyer. He was the teacher of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and he was responsible for giving India its Missile Man. He taught him to fly high and inspired him to make it big. Teaching as a profession can influence and shape future leaders.

Thus, not only teaching a profession a thing to pursue but also a passion that can take you to heights.

What is a Teaching Profession?

We all know what it is teaching profession. But still, we need to be aware of the importance of teaching profession. They mentor and motivate students to perform well in their studies and be passionate about their careers.

Let’s explain concept of profession and specifically discuss teaching as a profession. Teaching is a job made to make students more capable and teach important academic and life lessons even about values like respect, sharing, ethical values, and cultures. Teachers, through the teaching profession, not only teach academics but also influence the way students live their lives.

Teachers are the ones who teach students to live life with discipline and high value and also play a crucial role in shaping the minds and lives of students, allowing them to attain knowledge, skills, and values crucial for personal and intellectual growth.

Importance of Teaching Profession

Teaching is the most desirable Profession nowadays. The importance of the Teaching Profession incorporates tomfoolery and learning together. Being in the teaching profession doesn’t mean you have to share your knowledge.

Teachers play a vital role in student’s life by assisting them with achieving their goals. Therefore, choosing the Teaching Profession offers perpetual career opportunities. However, Teaching isn’t the only Profession; in fact, it is the activity to serve education.

This is highlighted in essay about teaching profession, which discuss the ways it helps shape individuals and society. Let’s check out the reasons explaining the importance of teaching profession in this “Teaching as a Profession Essay”.

Improves Communication Abilities

Teaching is a systematic strategy to communicate with more and more people. In this manner, being in the teaching profession will improve communication abilities. Therefore, one can interact more confidently with others.

Fun and learning together

Among all careers and professions, we found teaching much better. The Importance of the Teaching Profession is that one can have fun and learn together. Other than training students, teachers can be involved in other educational program activities, reinforcing that why teaching is a profession with a dynamic and exciting environment.

Experience To Handle Various Youngsters

In the teacher profession, teachers encounter students from various backgrounds and with different mindsets. School or college is a place where various students with various mentalities reach. The teacher should have the ability to handle all youngsters normal, savvy, or physically disabled.

Brilliant Organization Abilities

The teaching profession makes one multi-tasker; notwithstanding teaching academics to students, teachers, and Organizational abilities. Being organized means one can manage time and resources proficiently and really for improved productivity.

Ethical And Restrained

One characteristic of the teaching profession involves morals and discipline. Teachers teach ethical values which make students more focused. 

Setting up Role Models for Others

Being a teacher isn’t a lot of complex however being a favorite of all is what matters. Teachers should inspire students to find their secret talents and achieve their aims. An inspired teacher can make students motivated by setting up Role models.

Assemble Future Leaders

Teachers are the source of affecting tomorrow’s leaders. 

Inspire and Influence

Teachers have the added responsibility of shaping the future generation and also have an opportunity to make a distinction. They will have the exceptional opportunity to guide a mass in the correct direction.

Improvement and Learning

It will associate with young, curious, personalities all day, you would actually want to propel yourself and get better consistently. At the point when you are in an environment that asks a lot of questions and is curious, you grow and develop consistently.

Work Satisfaction

Teaching provides job satisfaction that resembles no other and the joy of making a distinction and making a change in the correct direction is like no other.

Teaching is a deferential job and look up to teachers for work. They guide and direct students and also they inspire and shape future generations.

Potential for Growth

It is a clear career path with a lot of opportunities and with online teaching apps and virtual classrooms on the rise you can teach from the comfort of your home and without any geographical restrictions.

Role of a Teacher

While writing an essay on teaching as a profession, the role of a teacher must be included. Teachers should find different ways to teach students and apply them in teaching so that the maximum information and knowledge reach the students.

Teaching as profession involves not just for teaching the syllabus but also for inspiring students by exchanging thoughts, sharing a bond, and being with them in every up and down.

Teaching profession essay often highlights how teachers impact students’ overall development through their skills, knowledge, personality, and teaching methods. It helps teachers to become successful teachers and mentors for their students.

Teaching essay topics often explore the complexity of the teacher’s role, covering everything from subject mastery to emotional guidance. Many discussions around what is teaching profession emphasize that it goes beyond academics—it is about shaping minds.

Academic Path For A Teacher

To pursue teaching as a profession, you can follow some of the below-mentioned ways:

Nursery Teacher

To become a teacher of pre-primary, you should complete your 12th and pursue a Nursery Teacher Training (NTT) course of 1-year duration. You can also go for a Kindergarten Training Program or a Montessori Teacher Training program for about 9 months to 1 year. Even after completing graduation, you can opt for these courses. With the right qualifications and skills, you can try your career in teaching.

Also, by pursuing the child development program of Anganwadi Workers (AWW) – Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), you can begin your career as a teacher in Anganwadi. Many essays about teaching profession emphasize the significance of early childhood educators.

Primary School Teacher

In the primary section of teaching, you can have the chance to teach students a variety of subjects and enhance the learning experience. If you want to make your career as a teacher for primary classes, then you have the following options:

The option of a Primary Teacher Training (PTT) program of a 2-year duration is also available for pursuing.

You can also take part in the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) to get recruited as Primary School Teachers in Government schools and Government primary schools.

Secondary and Higher Secondary School Teachers

If you want to be a teacher of higher secondary classes then you can do a Master’s degree after graduation and then pursue a B.Ed. degree.

If you want to qualify as a teacher for central government-run schools, then the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) will be the option for you. CTET is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for applicants to be eligible to be a teacher at the secondary and higher secondary levels.

You can also opt for the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) or a State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) for recruiting secondary-level and higher-secondary-level teachers. Essays like “Why I Chose Teaching as a Profession Essay” often explore the challenges and rewards of teaching at this level.

College and University Teacher

If you want to teach students in colleges or universities or want to be called a lecturer in government or private colleges and universities, then follow the available options:

How to Become a College or University Teacher?

If you want to choose teaching as a career in a college or university, you must get a degree in a Master’s program.

Once you complete a Master’s degree, you can apply for the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). NET requires a postgraduate degree and a certification of eligibility for entrance.

It is an essay on the teaching profession that can help you on your pathway to becoming a teacher. This is a common theme in essays discussing what is teaching profession in higher education.

Characteristics of Teaching

However, many teachers teach in schools/academies/Institutions or colleges, yet not all may prevail with regards to being great teachers for students. So, what are the characteristics of the Teaching Profession that make teachers more successful in the classroom?

Those who enjoy investing energy with youngsters and will make others educated with their abilities can choose Teaching as a Profession. Is Teaching a Profession that requires special qualities? Yes, it is! The Importance of Teaching Profession cannot be overstated, as it shapes the minds of future generations. Teaching as a profession essay often discusses how these traits are essential for a fulfilling teaching career. Moreover, 20 reasons why teaching is a profession often include factors like job satisfaction, career growth, and the opportunity to inspire future generations.

To become an exemplary teacher, one may possess relevant qualities like creating a dynamic environment, being adaptable, and kind, classroom management, a good comical inclination, an active personality, being Innovative, calm demeanor, experience, and so on.

Teachers’ unions and teachers’ associations

In most countries, there is one major teachers’ organization to which all or nearly all teachers belong and pay duty. Sometimes participation is obligatory, sometimes voluntary.

In the former Soviet Union, where a significant part of the political and social existence of the people had been organized around unions, there were three teachers’ unions — preschool teachers, primary and secondary school teachers, and teachers in advanced education. These unions provided pensions, vacation pay, and debilitated leave pay and in this way touched the welfare of teachers at many points.

England, for example, has two distinct associations for male and female secondary school teachers, two unique associations for male and female headmasters of secondary schools, and a separate Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions.

These associations are parallel to the National Union of Teachers, which is open to any qualified teacher from nursery school to college level. The National Union has no political affiliation except for being politically powerful by its own doing.

France, in contrast, has a wide variety of teachers’ organizations, with various political leanings, however, they do not manage everything well together and are politically less successful.

In this “Teaching as a Profession Essay”, we learn the importance of teaching profession and how to explain teaching as a profession. Teaching provides a way to give back to society and teachers have so much potential in the field, that they should be given every opportunity possible to use it.

Teaching is a profession of imparting knowledge and skills to students in a way that will help them achieve their full potential and such as teaching can be an incredibly rewarding career. Teaching is one of the few professions that allow you to work with children and then retire from the same occupation while still young.

• Important Principles of Teaching
• Basic Requirements Of Teaching
• Level of Teaching – Memory, Understanding & Reflective Level

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Teaching — Teaching as a Profession: The Strategies To Improve Efficiency

Teaching as a Profession: The Strategies to Improve Efficiency

• Categories: Teacher Teaching Teaching Philosophy

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10 min read

Published: May 17, 2022

Words: 1813 | Pages: 4 | 10 min read

• Dick, W., Carey, L., & Carey, J. O. (2005). The systematic design of instruction. Allyn & Bacon.
• Gagne, R. M. (2013). Instructional technology: Foundations. Routledge.
• Pollard, A., & Collins, J. (2005). Reflective teaching. A&C Black.
• Reflective practice. (2005, August 29). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved November 4, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practice#cite_ref-Shapiro_18-0
• https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf
• https://ncert.nic.in/pdf/nc-framework/nf2005-english.pdf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practice#cite_ref-Shapiro_18-0

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Teaching as a Profession, Essay Example

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Words: 353

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You are free to use it as an inspiration or a source for your own work.

A teacher is an influential person in the society because he or she contributes to imparting of knowledge to all members of the society who go to school. Therefore, teaching is a professional career that needs many skills and expertise for the process to be effective. Various factors define teaching as a professional career.

Teachings as a profession need adaptability. This is because teachers deal with a variety of abilities that students have. Teachers are required to have innovative lessons in order for their students to master their standards (McKenzie & Santiago, 2005). For example, teachers use various innovative techniques to make their lessons to be understood well by students. They employ the use of technology, music, art, physical activities and hands on activities to help students to have more understanding according to their unique learning styles. Teachers also modify their discipline plans because there are students who require extra behaviors support. Teachers also adapt to changes in teaching programs because the curriculum switches in different years. Therefore, teachers are always required to understand how to do things in new ways.

Teachers need to be motivated in order for them to be able to encounter negativity, not from students alone but, also from parents, frustrated colleagues or administration that is not supportive (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2007). Teachers demonstrate motivation by giving encouragement to students, giving students meaningful feedback, personalized attention to help them succeed. Teachers renew their commitments daily in order to act as positive role model to the students and the larger school community.

Teachers need to be good monitors and evaluators. Teachers need to be able to make an assessment on the progress of the students (McKenzie & Santiago, 2005)Teachers in their day to day duty assess their students in order to find out if they understand the concepts taught. If the students show misunderstanding of the concepts, then teachers employs alternative teaching strategy that makes students understand the concepts taught.

Lunenburg, F. & Ornstein, A. (2007). Educational administration: concepts and practices, 2 nd edition. Belmont: Cengage Learning.

McKenzie, P. & Santiago, P. (2005). Teachers matter: attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers, 1 st edition. Paris: OECD Publishing.

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Essay on Education Then And Now

Students are often asked to write an essay on Education Then And Now in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Education Then And Now

Introduction.

Education has changed a lot over time. In the past, it was simple and focused on basic skills. Now, it’s more complex and covers many subjects. Let’s compare education then and now.

Education Then

In the past, education was not for everyone. Only a few people could go to school. The focus was on reading, writing, and arithmetic. There were fewer subjects and less technology.

Education Now

Today, education is for everyone. Schools teach many subjects. They use technology like computers. Learning is more interactive and fun.

So, education has changed a lot. It’s now more inclusive and varied. It uses technology to make learning better.

250 Words Essay on Education Then And Now

Education in the past, the change in education.

As time passed, things started to change. The invention of paper and pen made it easier for people to write and share knowledge. Schools became more common, and more people started going to school. Teachers began using books to teach, and students had to memorize what they learned.

Modern Education

Today, education is quite different. It’s not just about learning skills, but also about understanding the world around us. Schools are everywhere, and almost every child goes to school. We have books, pens, computers, and the internet to help us learn. Teachers don’t just tell us to memorize things; they help us understand and think.

Comparison of Then and Now

When we compare education then and now, we see many differences. In the past, education was more about survival skills. Now, it’s about understanding the world and becoming a better person. We have more resources and better ways to learn. But, the goal remains the same: to gain knowledge and improve our lives.

In conclusion, education has changed a lot over the years. But, no matter how it changes, its importance remains the same. It helps us grow, understand the world, and become better people.

500 Words Essay on Education Then And Now

Education is like a seed. It grows and changes over time. In the past, education was different from what it is now. This essay will talk about how education has changed from the past to the present.

Today, education is different. It is not just about learning to read and write. It is about learning new ideas and skills. Schools are everywhere, and every child can go to school. Teachers use computers, projectors, and the internet to teach. Students do not just listen to the teacher. They ask questions and share their ideas. They learn by doing things, not just by listening.

Technology in Education

Technology has changed education a lot. In the past, students had to go to a library to find information. Now, they can find it on the internet. They can learn from videos, games, and online courses. They can talk to teachers and students from other countries. They can learn at their own pace and in their own way.

Education for All

Education has come a long way from the past to now. It has changed in many ways. It is more inclusive, interactive, and interesting. It uses technology to make learning fun and easy. Education is not just for a few, but for everyone. It is a powerful tool that can change the world. And as we move forward, it will continue to grow and change.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Happy studying!

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