Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The So-called Brain-drain of Teacher Education Programs

Will Deyamport, III, Ed.D. Candidate




















The assault on teachers is never-ending. Aside from being called incompetent, there are politicians, journalists, and profiteers saying that teachers come from the least gifted pool of college applicants. If that is so, please explain how the so-called most gifted college applicants go on to become doctors, scientists, lawyers, etc? Weren't they educated by the so-called least gifted among us?

This jabbering about the lack of quality teachers has to stop. Not only do teachers earn less than any profession requiring a four-year college degree, teachers are expected to perform miracles like no other. It doesn't matter if the student is in ESL or in Special Ed or come from a home and community where violence and poverty are pervasive, teachers are expected to will those students to make an arbitrary score on a standardized test.

No one becomes anything without the assistance of a teacher. Bill Gates had them. Steve Jobs had them. President Barack Obama had them. Even Mark Zuckerberg had them. We've all had that teacher who lit our souls on fire. And if we're lucky, we'll have a series of them.

Teachers should be celebrated and commended for the work that they do. They do more in their classrooms than most do with a lifetime. Teachers are the standard-bearers and the dream whisperers. What they do has an impact on the world. Please remember that when you want to call out a teacher.

Will Deyamport, III, is an Ed.D. Candidate, an education thought-leader and online content creator. His blog, PEOPLEGOGY, focuses on life and career developments. In addition to his 11 years of experience in education, he has interned with the likes of Ingrid Stabb and J. T. O’Donnell. Currently, Will is working on his dissertation, which focuses on using social media to individualize professional development for teachers.

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