My girls just got admitted to the School of Ed at WOU. They have been working in their mother's classroom for several years, so have a pretty good idea what they're up against. Personally, I couldn't imagine going into teaching today. I loved it when I did it, but the kids coming up today, at least up here, are so different. I'm tempted to blame TV and the lack of unstructured play -- everything seems to be dictated to them, their sports are run by adults, the after school activity centers are run by adults, they don't every seem to have a day just to go out and be kids in the woods or neighborhood lots like we did.
Maybe I'm just getting old and jaded, but P finds them far different from the kids of just five or ten years ago, and not in good ways. Less focussed, less disciplined, less understanding of the need to WORK at education -- they want it all to come and be wrapped up on 30 minutes. They expect the teacher to wave a magic wand and they know how to read.
The best teaching I've done in the past 20 years has been my adult classes for the local college. They know what they want to learn, they know that learning requires effort, they have respect for the teacher's knowledge, and they pay attention. That's truly fun teaching.
But for elementary and even high school, I admire those who are taking it on today, but I also have a sneaky suspicion that they have a screw loose somewhere. Present company excepted, of course! <g> |
