Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand. “Chinese proverb”
Education is one of the most important factors in life. If the basic necessities of life come first in the pyramid of life, education would definitely come right after it. In fact, we have come to a day and age where education might be one of the only ways to be able to seek those basic necessities of life. But, better than that, the whole realm of education since elementary level means making a difference in the lives of each child. The educator that every student faces is inspiring them and impacting a great deal. Yet, it is a sad story of this country that the K-12 educators take teaching as a Peace-Corps experience, or as a line to add in their resume.
There was a special coverage in the Time magazine about recruiting better teachers. There are some programs like TFA and TNTP that are preparing individuals to start with the right foot in the profession of teaching. These programs are drastically reforming the publics schools in Memphis and other places. Schools that are willing to adopt their reforms are also receiving huge grants through Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others. There are steps being taken to improve, but they have not spread out in the entire country yet. While these programs look promising, I believe that they will eventually end up just competing against the traditional method of recruiting teachers. The TFA or the TNTP projects do not require that the educators have a degree in education. And, they only need to commit for a year or two years term. But, they do go through a six weeks long boot camp training.
I again am concerned that projects like TNT and TNTP will only be another PEACE-CORP program that college graduates will just try it out before getting a real job. These program will probably help a city or two, for the real change to come the change really has to be applied on a national level. Teaching has to be presented in such a away that it is a lucrative profession. A smart individual who could make big bucks would rather go get a degree in law and medicine than in education. So, what are the ways that they would get attracted to teaching. Would short terms programs like TNT and TNTP entice them? They smart men probably would not even consider it unless the changes are made on a national level.