[lbo-talk] School Debate: Central Focus

[// ravi]

On Feb 15, 2012, at 10:23 AM, Wojtek S wrote:
>> Doug: "American teachers, I'm sorry to say, mostly come from the
>> bottom third of their college classes"
>> 
> [WS:] What makes you believe that an advanced college degree is
> essential for successful teaching at the grade level?  Some of the
> worst teachers I had had advanced degrees but could not teach to save
> their lives.  What makes successful teaching is the ability to break
> down knowledge to manageable chunks and effectively communicate them
> to students.  One does not need a degree in physical therapy to teach
> children how to walk, but one needs a lot of patience.
> 
> This whole college credential business for teachers feeds into the
> American concept of teaching as "technical management of discipline"
> instead of communicating ideas, which requires personal interaction.
> 

Just the thing I was going to write in response to Doug, except better.

	—ravi