Kind of a hard poll for me as well. Part of post-postgrad specialty training in psychiatry (and pretty much all med specialties) is learning to teach others. But we don't teach English - we teach Doctorese, and tell them to practice it on other doctors and health professionals, especially ones who write exam papers. As I'm a bit of a rebel I regularly taught baby quacks the ordinary English translation of all the Doctorese, and told them to practice that on their patients. I'll be a wee bit controversial here and say I prefer armour to armor, and centre to center.
The University's pretty good, all things considered.
So the General was right... Oxford's obviously the dump... :P Well, glaze my nipples and call me winter. *cough* I need to stop watching Blackadder.
On topic note, it would be nice if poll's could be edited, there are a lot of people that educate others for a job but are not necessarily of the academic variety. Job trainers, military personal, driving instructors that sort of thing. A lot of these roles involve a lot of teaching
The University's pretty good, all things considered.
So the General was right... Oxford's obviously the dump... :P Well, glaze my nipples and call me winter. *cough* I need to stop watching Blackadder.
On topic note, it would be nice if poll's could be edited, there are a lot of people that educate others for a job but are not necessarily of the academic variety. Job trainers, military personal, driving instructors that sort of thing. A lot of these roles involve a lot of teaching
I think that fits under the third options pretty well.
Hahaha I know right... I read the first three words then trail off and just make it up in my head. :P We have wonderful attributes to be on a text based forum! hahahahah
My profession largely consists of creating environments that give children of 1-6 years a healthy development, wherein language is very important - my field is pedagogy. But the language is Norwegian, not english.
@CaloNord glad to hear you found it interesting It is interesting that pedagogy is a pretty well-known term in Scandinavia and other German-influenced places, but it is very seldom used in English. I often just say education, though that isnt totally precise. Im even unsure how you pronounce it in English.
For anyone curious: Pedagogy is the academic field on teaching, learning and development. It is most commonly concerned with, but not limited to, children's development. Often aligned academic disciplines are philosophy, psychology and, to a certain extent, sociology. In Norway, and many other countries, all teachers and other educators study pedagogy in addition to subject didactics (math, religion and so on).
@Aristillius I agree, except "most commonly concerned with [...] children's development" isn't really true. The science of teaching is generally called pedagogy, and even university teachers (should) take courses (which they do).
@Aristillius I agree, except "most commonly concerned with [...] children's development" isn't really true. The science of teaching is generally called pedagogy, and even university teachers (should) take courses (which they do).
Well, "true" is a subjective term Children's development is at least what the term i generally attributed with in Norway and much foundational litterature within the subject. But you are right, and as I said, it is not limited to children at all.
I do not specialize in English. In fact I have no specialism to my name, although I did geography and history at university (I wanted to be a weatherman... That dream died, and I was left without an umbrella outside the meteorological office...)
...
My actual specialty, and why I am a popular teacher, is that I am very good at building confidence. It is a great trick... A 'can do' child will always achieve more than a 'can't do it' child.
...
Basically it is a great excuse to build volcanoes, measure the classroom in coins, build big ben out of newspaper and yes, mummifying children in toilet paper... You'd be surprised how much more children will learn from this than just sitting and listen to one drone...
@Anduin I have a couple of friends from high school who are now teachers here in Australia, one for P.E. and the other for Science. (We're desperately short of teachers, mostly in the Maths discipline) He shared this on Facebook a few months ago, I found it quite good.
Teachers’ hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year. It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do – babysit. We can get that for less than minimum wage.
That’s right. Let’s give them $3 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan– that equals 6 1/2 hours).
Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day…maybe 30? So that’s $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.
However, remember they only work 180 days a year. I am not going to pay them for any vacations.
LET’S SEE…That’s $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on. My calculator needs new batteries.)
What about those special education teachers and the ones with master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year.
Wait a minute — there’s something wrong here. There sure is.
The average teacher’s salary (nationwide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student– a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!)
WHAT A DEAL!
As another kick in the teeth, class sizes are going up, budget is going down, pay is going down. They do an amazing job under pretty crap conditions at the moment. If it wasn't for teachers like you in Primary and High school I wouldn't have done ANYTHING I have done, especially since I was an extremely shy kid, I wouldn't even ask where things were at shops. Now, largely thanks to my art teacher who got me into warhammer and taught me how to paint in his own time and at his own expense and my science/modern history/Ancient History teachers with whom I used to have rather loud debates... it did wonders.
@CaloNord@Anduin a starting teacher with a(I think) bachelors degree at my school make $30,000USD/year, and it rises a little every years for something like 10 years. Teacher pay maxes out at just shy of 100k after ten years and a PhD. Im sure i could look this stuff up for good, but right now I'm just remembering what I was shown at school. A lot of these people have kids, and it think 30k/years is just over minimum wage, one that most people think is to low. The pay per year increase really doesn't make sense though. Usually the best teaches are the ones who have been at it for a few years-they have some XP, but they're not worn out yet. And really, managing any age of kids is a hard job. We're all little pricks.
Thank you for the support! @CaloNord and @meagloth . Teachers make the greatest contribution to civilising society today. I know teachers who have given their all to the children in their care, to be then treated most awfully by those who are respected by thier wage packet or inheritance. It almost makes me cringe to think "Wow, you have done well. How did you get to the successful position you are today? " Most will name a teacher. ...
Here in Canada wages for teachers seem to be a lot higher. A teacher with the minimum required education (3 year bachelor degree + 2 year education degree), working in the school division that I attended, would start at $55711 gross salary (as of Fall 2013). Based on PPP conversion values from this site, that's equivalent to 46426 USD. If Fall 2013 had been their 10th year of teaching, they would be making 84189 CAD (70158 USD).
I studied to become a teacher at college. Along the way I realized it wasn't for me. If I was going to be a teacher I wanted to be a good one. Not like all those who hated every second of their job; who took their own frustration out on the pupils; who cared less about instilling children with a sense of wonder for learning and more about a pay check (in Ireland teachers are paid quite well) and a long vacation.
I wonder sometimes if I made the wrong choice. I've been told many times that I would make an excellent teacher, by those I help at work (I'm in tech support) or when fixing a problem with a friend or family member's computer.
Still, better to have regrets than repeat the mistake of the teachers I've had. I would not want to convince another child that the mysteries of science or mathematics are not work pursuing.
@TJ_Hooker That's a nice change. Personally, I think they should be paid according to their contribution to society. Teachers are going to be some of the most important people in children's lives for their 12~15 formative years. They deserve a lot more support then they get. Far to many people use them as glorified day care. It also annoys me when sports people get paid millions while the people that educate your children and look after you in hospital, (as well as defend your country) get so little by comparison.
@TJ_Hooker That's a nice change. Personally, I think they should be paid according to their contribution to society. Teachers are going to be some of the most important people in children's lives for their 12~15 formative years. They deserve a lot more support then they get. Far to many people use them as glorified day care.
Oh yeah, I totally agree that the good teachers out there are invaluable to society. The unfortunate part about the collective bargaining that teachers have in my province (from being part of a "teacher's association") is that they get paid the same regardless of whether they're good or bad. And even if you're a not a good teacher, the teacher's associaton ensures that you're more likely to get shuffled around than outright fired*.
@TJ_Hooker That's a good point! Maybe we need a "Vote for quality" type thing..? Sadly votes tend to get abused. There isn't really a clean and fair way is there...?
@TJ_Hooker That's a nice change. Personally, I think they should be paid according to their contribution to society. Teachers are going to be some of the most important people in children's lives for their 12~15 formative years. They deserve a lot more support then they get. Far to many people use them as glorified day care.
Oh yeah, I totally agree that the good teachers out there are invaluable to society. The unfortunate part about the collective bargaining that teachers have in my province (from being part of a "teacher's association") is that they get paid the same regardless of whether they're good or bad. And even if you're a not a good teacher, the teacher's associaton ensures that you're more likely to get shuffled around than outright fired*.
@TJ_Hooker That's a good point! Maybe we need a "Vote for quality" type thing..? Sadly votes tend to get abused. There isn't really a clean and fair way is there...?
Yes. This is the problem. It would be great of we could measure teachers quality and adjust pay. But how do you do that? Grades? Then that's just an incentive for the teacher to make the class easy(I've had this happen before. If you're getting 145% on a science test and you didn't even answer all the questions correctly, something's wrong.) Standardized testing? That's just a pain, and it really only measures testing skills. We have to many of this in the u.s. Anyway(we take 3-4 every year) Student votes? I think the problem with this is pretty obvious. I don't really need to say anytging here. Having a little crew of 'evaluators' come in on certain days and judge the teachers?(I think we so this but I don't know anything about it.) that just stresses the teachers. Whenever these mysterious figures do thier lurking at the back of the room the teacher is either a completely different person or visibly stresses and flustered. So now what? I guess you could have a whole process with hidden cameras, student interviews, lots of tests, and in-depth reviews of the classroom environment, but that would be costly, invasive, and completely ridiculous.
Averybody in America keeps say "the school system is broken" but know one ever finishes that sentence with how it's *broken* let alone how to fix it. I think Obama is trying to get better preschools for everyone, which is good. Studies have shown the the simple number of words a child hears in thier first few years of life is a pretty reliable predictor of intelligence and success later on.
Comments
I'll be a wee bit controversial here and say I prefer armour to armor, and centre to center.
On topic note, it would be nice if poll's could be edited, there are a lot of people that educate others for a job but are not necessarily of the academic variety.
It's a really handy skill to have!
My humble apologies... don't undead meeee! :P
For anyone curious: Pedagogy is the academic field on teaching, learning and development. It is most commonly concerned with, but not limited to, children's development. Often aligned academic disciplines are philosophy, psychology and, to a certain extent, sociology. In Norway, and many other countries, all teachers and other educators study pedagogy in addition to subject didactics (math, religion and so on).
Children's development is at least what the term i generally attributed with in Norway and much foundational litterature within the subject. But you are right, and as I said, it is not limited to children at all.
I teach primary age children.
I do not specialize in English. In fact I have no specialism to my name, although I did geography and history at university (I wanted to be a weatherman... That dream died, and I was left without an umbrella outside the meteorological office...)
...
My actual specialty, and why I am a popular teacher, is that I am very good at building confidence. It is a great trick... A 'can do' child will always achieve more than a 'can't do it' child.
...
Basically it is a great excuse to build volcanoes, measure the classroom in coins, build big ben out of newspaper and yes, mummifying children in toilet paper... You'd be surprised how much more children will learn from this than just sitting and listen to one drone...
Teachers’ hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year. It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do – babysit. We can get that for less than minimum wage.
That’s right. Let’s give them $3 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan– that equals 6 1/2 hours).
Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day…maybe 30? So that’s $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.
However, remember they only work 180 days a year. I am not going to pay them for any vacations.
LET’S SEE…That’s $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on. My calculator needs new batteries.)
What about those special education teachers and the ones with master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year.
Wait a minute — there’s something wrong here. There sure is.
The average teacher’s salary (nationwide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student– a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!)
WHAT A DEAL!
As another kick in the teeth, class sizes are going up, budget is going down, pay is going down.
They do an amazing job under pretty crap conditions at the moment. If it wasn't for teachers like you in Primary and High school I wouldn't have done ANYTHING I have done, especially since I was an extremely shy kid, I wouldn't even ask where things were at shops. Now, largely thanks to my art teacher who got me into warhammer and taught me how to paint in his own time and at his own expense and my science/modern history/Ancient History teachers with whom I used to have rather loud debates... it did wonders.
The pay per year increase really doesn't make sense though. Usually the best teaches are the ones who have been at it for a few years-they have some XP, but they're not worn out yet. And really, managing any age of kids is a hard job. We're all little pricks.
...
Apart from that 1% raised by wolves...
I wonder sometimes if I made the wrong choice. I've been told many times that I would make an excellent teacher, by those I help at work (I'm in tech support) or when fixing a problem with a friend or family member's computer.
Still, better to have regrets than repeat the mistake of the teachers I've had. I would not want to convince another child that the mysteries of science or mathematics are not work pursuing.
It also annoys me when sports people get paid millions while the people that educate your children and look after you in hospital, (as well as defend your country) get so little by comparison. Wait... I hope you've seen 'The IT Crowd'...
*According to my mom, who's a teacher.
*starts packing....*
Standardized testing? That's just a pain, and it really only measures testing skills. We have to many of this in the u.s. Anyway(we take 3-4 every year)
Student votes? I think the problem with this is pretty obvious. I don't really need to say anytging here.
Having a little crew of 'evaluators' come in on certain days and judge the teachers?(I think we so this but I don't know anything about it.) that just stresses the teachers. Whenever these mysterious figures do thier lurking at the back of the room the teacher is either a completely different person or visibly stresses and flustered.
So now what? I guess you could have a whole process with hidden cameras, student interviews, lots of tests, and in-depth reviews of the classroom environment, but that would be costly, invasive, and completely ridiculous.
Averybody in America keeps say "the school system is broken" but know one ever finishes that sentence with how it's *broken* let alone how to fix it. I think Obama is trying to get better preschools for everyone, which is good. Studies have shown the the simple number of words a child hears in thier first few years of life is a pretty reliable predictor of intelligence and success later on.
That was only half true though.