Quality Teachers Journal.....

After watching the movie by Dr. St. Arnauld I was excited to see the changes occurring in education. There is a great need for not just teachers, but quality teachers. Dr. St. Arnauld says, "There is an emerging role for community colleges in preparing new teachers that must go beyond the traditional approach and model effective pedagogy and instructional practice." The community college can sift serious teachers from those who just think teaching would be fun. By offering education courses at the community level it allows the student who thinks he/she would like to be a teacher a chance to really see what teaching is like. Thereby making a commitment to being a quality teacher instead of just "a teacher." Problems Dr. St. Arnauld confronts in her video include diversity in the teaching force, poor working conditions, job dissatisfaction, low salaries, and lack of administration support. Some of her solutions include, relocation benefits, signing bonuses, student loan forgiveness, and incentive programs given by the state. I think there is some merit in these solutions, but until we as a society value education these ideas are just a band-aid on the real problem. If parents and society in general want quality teachers, they are going to have to pay for them. Sure, we might have a few quality teachers because they love students and want to better society, but how are they supposed to live on an average salary of $35,000 dollars? The teaching profession may attract female students who want to provide additional income to their families, with the added benefit of having summers off. What about attracting quality male students who want to be able to support their family? In our capitalistic society until this issue is addressed, I don't see any real changes coming in the educational system.