Blog Comment of the Week - Why Do "Bad Teachers" Go into Teaching?
Tuesday September 23, 2008
Interestingly, this week's Blog Comment of the Week came as a response to last week's highlighted comment. Your blog comments have been so passionate and insightful lately that maybe we'll just keep commenting on the comments and build on the discussion that way!
This week's comment brings up the issue of why teachers enter the profession:
The fact of the matter is, yes, there most definitely ARE ‘good’ teachers and ‘bad’ teachers. As with any other profession, some are in it for the money, or the holidays or the retirement or whatever and they are not doing it because it’s their passion. Then there are the few who would go overboard 24/7/365 for free and be glad of it. The saddest part is those who don’t know where they stand in the line up.Do you think you can be a good teacher without passion for the profession?
Comments
I do not feel that someone would make a good teacher without having the passion for teaching.
Here in my world, we do not take applicants that aren’t serious about the position and truly have the passion for teaching, it just doesn’t work out.
First, one must define “good teacher” – and there are as many definitions as there are teachers!! But at some level, yes, there MUST be a passion for teaching if you belong in the “good teacher” group. Without that feeling of passion on some level, there is just no conceivable way to reach the students and achieve success. It doesn’t have to be a 24/7/265 feeling, but you can’t just be in it for the vacations or benefits either. And we ALL know we don’t do it for the money!!
So, yes, I feel there has to be a passion for teaching and learning in order for ME to be a “good teacher”. The enthusiasm that is inherant in that passion is what makes learning contagious to my students.
Well you may be right that some are for this and that-as stated in other comments. All I know that “Good Teaching” or “Good Teacher” comes from deep desire, courage, commitment and passion to teach and be active learner. Make students (and academic institution) feel that the teacher really belongs to students – a sense of belonging for any work is important and I believe that teacher/teaching is no exception!!
No, teaching is not a profession where you can just “phone it in.” If you don’t have the passion for teaching, you are not going to try and get better at it, you will just do the minimum to get by. Some people just do it for the “prestige” or want to be school administrators (power trip). It took just one good teacher to get me hooked on math after 10+ years hating it, and now I teach it too. That’s the power of one good teacher.
You must want to communicate SOMETHING to your students to be in the “Good Teacher” category. It may not be what was in the lesson plan for that period/day, but you should be communicating with your students. Talking and listening with them, guiding them when appropriate, nudging them whenever it is necessary are all signs of a first-class classroom environment.
I’ve seen and worked with my share of good and bad teachers. Some moved from one category to the other, sadly. I now celebrate the good ones at EVERY opportunity, while continuing to try to influence the not-so-good.
Some of us teach because we can, many of us teach because we can’t imagine doing anything else.
Like any other profession, one can learn to be good at what one does without passion. This is the whole concept of learning. Teachers take what someone else had the passion to do, and then we teach it to others.
I do believe that when a teacher is passionate about teaching it is reflected in how a student learns. Passion is good, but not a requirement for being a good teacher.
I believe that teaching is a hard job. It is a good one as well. The unique equation is that ‘ A good teacher’ is the one who loves this job, succeeds thus feels happy while perform it, even if it too tiring and nerve cracking.
‘A bad teacher’ is the one who doesn’t really love this job. He will be permanently tormented and will never succeed thus, he will fell sad and has to quit.
Good teachers need to be able to connect with the students they are teaching. They need to be aware of special situations, special problems and TEACH. These days, sadly, most teachers are expecting to let the students learn. It is not the other way round! It is not as if the teacher wants the children to learn…
A good teacher needs to be well informed not only about their subject but also their students. This requires passion. It requires dedication. If a child is intelligent and unable to make the grade, it is not the child OR the parent who need to justify the situation to the teacher. It is the teacher who needs to figure out how to reach the child and enlist the help of the parent to do the same.
At the same time parents have to be equal partners in the process. Expecting the few good teachers to do the job for them may not be fair.
I may have ruffled a few feathers here. I, however, feel strongly that passionate individuals alone make good- teachers or parents!
I can’t image a teacher without having the passion for teaching, more than just passing knowledge is needed, what king of students are we building up sans the passion of learning? we influence them more than we can imagine, who doesn’t remember his/her teacher from school, was he/she a good example for you, did he/she inspire you to be a teacher? I agree with you when you say that we don’t do it just for money, and if someone does, he will discover that there are other ways to get it.
I do not think that a person could be a good teacher with out a passion for teaching. If someone does not love what they do they are not going to try as hard. If a teacher is not passionate about teaching then they will simply give up when they get frustrated. Teachers need a high level of faith, ambition, and determination to make a productive classroom. If the teacher is not passionate about teaching the material, then how are the students supposed to be passionate about learning the material? There are those who teach, and then there are teachers. It takes passion to be a teacher.
Students, now more than ever, deserve *great* teachers. Just good is no longer acceptable. In the world of high-stakes testing, great teachers must be in the classroom in order to counteract the mad-dash lemming surge of teaching “the test”. Great teachers teach students rather than a curriculum or a test. These professional educators know their subject matter and are able to make learning interesting and pertinent to their students. Not only do great educators have a passion for learning, they instill that passion in students, parents, peers, and administrators.
Passion is no substitute for skill in any profession. it is possible to master the varied skills of communicating ideas to learners in an interesting and enthusiastic way without personal passion getting in the way!
1. I think you are asking the wrong question. I think you should be asking why so many good teachers leave the profession. I think it is something like 50% over their first 5 years. After I retired form the classroom I mentored student teachers for a local college. Many of those students would have made great teachers and had a real passion to make a difference in children’s lives. But somewhere along the line that passion got throttled. Maybe it was too little support, or too much work, or low pay?
2. Who decided who is a bad teacher? In my experience it is a building level administrator. Again, in my experience, many of them only taught for a short time and then got as far away from the classroom as they could and never went back except to briefly observe new teachers. I’ve seen administrators who judge a teacher’s lesson by dropping in for 10 minutes, instead of staying for the whole lesson. I’ve seen administrators whose training is way out of date but who insist new teachers teach as the administrator did 30 years ago. We all know about the tyranny of the pencil and paper standardized test these days. Do they test good teaching or even good learning or mere test prep and short-term memorization?
3. If a teacher is judged to be deficient on some truly valid criteria shouldn’t they be offered remedial training? We are a profession that believes in offering children time and extra help to become proficient, why not offer it to our colleagues who are struggling?
4. I’d like to see teachers themselves, through their unions and a through a peer review process, take more responsibility for deciding what qualifications one needs to enter and to stay in the profession. Teachers (as opposed to administrators- who have an important but different job to do) know good teaching. If a truly bad teacher is allowed to remain in the professing after remedial efforts fail it detracts from and hinders both our students whom we care deeply about, and our colleagues who love teaching and are darn good at it.
I always wanted to be a teacher, however when I entered the profession I was a “bad” teacher. Mainly because of poor training/guidance once I was hired by the NYCBOE. Now I consider myself to be a “better” teacher because I have grown and matured as a teacher by choice. I do care about the needs of the children,especially special needs children
since the NCLB went into action.
Therefore, if you are a “bad” teacher; you can make the choice to get better.
To read more about the ‘bad’ teachers, check out http://detentionslip.org. It’s the leader for crazy education headlines.
My administrator had my job for twenty years, now I have it. She is doing everything possible to undermine my success. She fears that I will be better than her, and so she overwhelms me with one class on top of another giving me no time to plan, think. I have documented her, to her shock. It has become a battle ground which no one will win. I am going to do my best to expose her and insure that her attempts at my failure are shared by both of us. This she didn’t expect. Wish me luck. This is a pathetic situation and well devised prior to my coming on board. She is in an “acting” position and hopefully she will reap what she sows. This should not be happening!!!
I taught at a school for the past year after getting certified and after having a very successful career in another field. I hold an MA and BA and I am very passionate about my subject. I had great rapport with my students and they all did well on various standard tests and assessments. I never had a problem with any of my students. I am however leaving teaching.
The problem was not the classroom but rather the negativity surrounding the classroom. Other teachers who brought their misery to work every day. They shared it with everyone they came into contact with, like a poison. Instead asking at meetings “how can we teach this better” they would grumble, moan, and groan. The lack of advice and constructive criticism coupled with the general mood made the classroom feel more and more like an island. While I know I have a lot to give as a teacher, one year has destroyed teaching for me forever. I suppose there are good schools out there but life is to short to feel the way I did.
Very interesting comments from everyone, I’m glad I’m not alone.
I’m an IT teacher & coordinator. Some teachers think I’m hired help and expect me to serve them hand and foot regardless of my own workload. But what riles me is colleagues who, after discussing issues and concerns together, and after I explain my own situation, have to go & complain to supervisors and the principal again! Needless to say, a lot of bad mouthing goes into the “telling on me” as well, as I am not present to defend myself.
These are almost always the teachers who are “buddies” with the principal or who want to look like giants by saying everyone else is a dwarf. Problem solving at the source level is not enough, these people want and need to draw blood.
I don’t understand colleagues that would put down other teachers like this. Unfortunately at work, we have neither mediators nor procedures to deal with this.
I am a teacher and I hate my job and it’s killing me. There, I’ve said it.
I hate the fact that my students are always disrespectful and never do their work. I hate staying up marking work until 10 at night and waking up at 5:30 in the morning. I hate the fact that people talk about teaching as an “ideal” or “noble” profession.
I have given everything I could to give my students a good learning experience and still am, even though usually anything nice I try to do them blows up in my face. I used to be passionate about it, now I am just counting down the days until June ends and I am planning to go back to school and do something else with my life. I’m not going to kill myself over this.
My advice to those who want to enter teaching is THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING. You are entering a profession where, though you are able to do good things for others and at times it is tangible, people will take advantage of you and abuse you and you will spend your free time planning and marking and thinking about your job. It never leaves you alone.
R
As a newbie, I question myself daily as to whether I’m a “good teacher” or a “bad teacher”. I agree that it is impossible to make an accurate assessment of a teacher by observing for 10 minutes. What happened before? What will happen after?
I work in a state that is at the top for teacher accountability but is at the bottom of the national school ratings. Why is that?
I feel a lot of pressure. I don’t know if I’ll remain in a profession that differentiates and is patient for students but practices a double-standard for its professionals.
This is a depressing thread! I have been teaching 12 years at my current school and I do love it. I made a choice early on that I would do whatever I needed to help my students learn and to create a positive learning atmosphere.
There are several teachers in my school who just “get by” and don’t reach their teaching potential. Some are veterans and some are new teachers. This happens in any job. The students know it, and they would rather be in a class where they learn and where there are boundaries than a “blow off” class.
I abhor NCLB, but it is a reality, and I don’t let it dictate my teaching. My students are prepared for their state test because I changed my units to reflect the types of test questions, not because I teach to the test.
If you can’t enjoy your job, you do need to get out of that school, but think twice before abandoning your career. Sometimes you need a new place to find the perfect fit.
One last thing: I recently received a teaching honor through the nomination of a former student. When asked why she nominated me, she told the interviewer it was because I made learning fun and that she learned to believe in herself for the first time. That is success.
this former teacher took her children shoplifting twice-her only saving grace of ever possibly having another teaching job-is it was reduced(1st arrest-which is actually her 2nd arrest)-(she received “A.R” for the 1st arrest about 10-11 years ago)
her second arrest she actually went to Niantic womens prison to get it off her record-
Even so-what is the mentality of a 8th grade teacher that takes her 8 yr old shoplifting-hits a guard to escape the mall-PICKS HER 11YR OLD SON UP LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED 3 MINUTES BEFORE THAT-gets chased and pulled over by police.
Its not the worst thing a teacher could do-but i dont think she should be around ANYONE ELSES CHILDREN-AND I’M SHOCKED DCF DIDNT TAKE HER CHILDREN AWAY
Trumbull Times (CT)
May 10, 2007
Section: Police News
Disappearing dresses raise suspicion
FIRST-DEGREE larceny was the charge M
A LOCAL WOMAN was arrested May 4 on suspicion of stealing more than $700 worth of merchandise from Lord & Taylor.
Erika Bucci, 37, was charged with fourth-degree larceny, third-degree robbery, possession of a shoplifting device, risk of injury to a minor and breach of peace.
Bond was $1,000 for court May 14.
According to the report, Bucci had her 10-year-old child help her bring clothes into the store’s fitting room, where she allegedly removed the tags and put them into her shopping bag.
A store security officer witnessed Bucci’s movements and approached to stop her from leaving, but Bucci allegedly pushed the officer and got away with her child in a dark sports utility vehicle.
Police located the car on White Plains Road and apprehended Bucci.
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