University of Waikato Teacher Supplementary Form

The importance of sociology of education to student teacher cannot be overemphasized. It exposes teachers to the fact that the school is a microcosm of the larger society.Furthermore， it teaches that all activities of the school are dictated by the societal needs at a point a time. The course also makes it known to teachers that the learning process does not end within the four walls of the school but extends to the child`s home and his or her interaction with the larger society.The importance of the course is endless and the knowledge of it is what a teacher needs to properly manage the interactive effects of the society on a child`s education.

Great question! To break down the etymology of philosophy, philo means ‘the love of’ and sophia means ‘wisdom’. So the most basic definition of philosophy is, the love of wisdom. But what exactly is philosophy?Philosophy can be divided into 5 groups.Epistemology: The study of what is knowledge, how we get it, and how we know we get it.Logic: The section of philosophy that deals with what is rational, or the study of reason and argumentation.Aesthetics: The study of what is beautiful and abstract, such as art.Metaphysics: The study of the existence of things. How and why there are things, and the general existence of our being.Ethics: Possibly the most popular field of philosophy, studies the general distinction between what is good or bad. Divided into three groups there are Normative ethics, Applied ethics, and Meta ethics.So that is what philosophy is and what it concerns, but why is it important for teachers? Well, philosophy is the essential backbone for nearly every field of study. Meaning, without philosophy, we wouldn’t have science, psychology, math, or theology. So other than being important for everyone on earth, philosophy is even more important for teachers. It is an essential part of knowledge, you need philosophy to think clearly, to create sound arguements and ideas. Philosophy is teaching, and teaching is philosophy.Thank you, and please leave any comments.

There are great answers so far. Before you start reading please note that I am a French Canadian and I am a high school teacher. I mostly teach mathematics, computer science and business courses. I have been a teacher for close to twenty years. Also, English is not my first language and I welcome edits. The issue is very complex. I will only concentrate on three key issues that I have noticed throughout my career. I will as much as I can provide sources for some of the affirmations that I will bring forward.1 -The burnout syndrome within the first five years is something to take into consideration. In my area, it is true that many young teachers, after a few years of teaching, consciously or unconsciously, do not wish to stay in the teaching profession until their retirement. I would like to address the white elephant in my post. Upon having mentored a few of them and having invested effort and time with them I have experienced the following.Some students that graduate from a university, ( In my province, you need to have a university degree and then take a year of teacher's college.), end up with degrees that are ... well... useless. Before you all start to tar and feather me, please read my whole post. For example, those that graduate with general art degrees, social studies degrees, history degrees or any of what is considered to be 'soft subjects' will most likely struggle when comes the time to seek decent paying jobs. They try out their luck in the real world and realize that one of the ways to earn a decent living is to become a teacher. They naively believe that it is the easy way to go and have excellent vacation time and have a great life. Those young teachers did not choose their profession out of vocation but out of necessity to survive in this materialistic world. They basically had no idea what they were getting into. Also, I am speaking for myself but those are the ones that burn out very very fast. In essence, if you decide to become a teacher just for the money or the vacation time, you will not make it past the five year mark.Below is an interesting article that concentrates on the young teachers quitting their jobs withing the first five years.Source: Montreal Teachers 4 Change.org2- The burnout syndrom from 5 years to 15 years. ( This is a random number I took to make my point. )The causes are as varied from one person to an other. In my years of teaching, I have noticed the following causes. Without any particular order, I will list them. Please note that after a leave, those teachers do come back and even though I have no proof, they are never quite the same but I find that they are much more solid at their core. OK, here we go. Divorce, Too many young children at home,( I have seen this with female teachers. Some need to take a sick leave because they simply cannot cope after coming back from maternity leave. Perhaps, a female teacher who had more than two children in a short lapse of time can add to this since I have no children myself.)Serious illness ( cancer, heart, etc.)Drug or alcohol problem Taking care of aging parents and inevitably their death,Unforseen events that can cause a deep emotional trigger, ( For me, one year it was the four consecutive suicides and accidental deaths of my students in the span of six weeks. For the record, I did not take long term sick leave but I took a leave of absence to go to each and everyone's funeral. Part of my soul got calcinated that winter.)  If interested, click on the link below where I wrote about that life changing event. Anna Demers's answer to What does a bad day at your workplace look like?Hence, I have noticed that those that take any type of sick leave are usually related to outside factors that end up affecting the overall performance of their teaching profession. 3- The camouflaged burnout syndrome or retirement phaseI have noticed that many, if not most, teachers that are near the retirement phase are as dedicated as they were when they began. They have so much experience and they are genuinely sad to leave. In all of the teachers that I saw with my own eyes signNow retirement 'counting their days' were those that in some way simply gave up somewhere along the way. They are good teachers but somehow for all kinds of reasons or triggers, became detached and kept an emotional barrier ( It is difficult to explain.) Hence, they stop participating at extra curricular activities, they simply wind down and slowly and discreetly step aside. What I found particularly interesting is that many of them will come to the school to help out after taking a break from their retirement. Many of them get involved with all kinds of activities on a voluntary basis and many are called to also work as substitute teachers. Some simply never look back and go on to other adventures.In any case, their choice of activities always involves being around people in some way. There are probably a whole lot of other variables but those are the ones that I wished to concentrate on.

The current state of American teacher status and development can be traced to a decision made in the late 1800s. At the time, public schools were increasing in numbers with the number of students growing exponentially. This was also the time high schools were developed, being modernized to what we see today in the 1900s. Historically, teachers were not trained in college/university settings. For the most part, they were yourng men with a classical education, men or women in rural areas who were only slightly ahead academically, or were young women you taught until they were married. In other words, little to no formal training to be a teacher. But with the increase in schools and students, a decision had to be made. Do teachers get trained as professionals with rigorous credentials and education (think lawyers, doctors), but in small numbers? Or, are teachers mass-produced in quick fashion with less rigorous demands and entry requirements? With an ever-increasing shortage of teachers, the decision was made to focus on mass production and a “de-professionalization” before teaching was ever seen as a profession. This decision has had long standing impacts. Whereas teachers in many other countries are highly respected, well-paid, supported, and viewed as top professionals; teachers in the US are sometimes seen as glorified babysitters (they are not), and are severely underpaid for the actual work and expertise they do; but you also see the impact of the historical decision in the area of admissions into teacher education. They tend to have lower SATs, GPAs, GREs (at graduate level); but this is to be expected for a job that demands 40+ hours a week (the reality is 50+ for many) with salary on the lower end of what professionals make and that will never really increase that much, when someone who might make a good teacher sees the state of the profession and figured they can make much more in a more respected field. All because of a decision over 100 years ago as to whether we mass produce teachers or focus on a professionalization or the field.

The Internet alone does not suffice for training a person as a teacher from scratch. Some might argue that video tutorials can make up for a lack of a teacher, but I disagree. Teachers who train teachers have a lot oc experience in all the aspects of teaching, both official and unofficial. The ineraction between one of these teachers and his/her would-be teachers is very important. Trhoughout this interaction, a teacher can perceive the need of bringing up certain subjects or pieces of information that would-be teachers wouold never find in books or over the Internet.Saying that the Internet can prepare a teacher from scratch is like saying that the Internet could have trained Luke Skywalker as well as Yoda did.

I imagine there are plenty of things you can do with your knowledge. Discover what your talents are and take it from there. Go into a field that you would enjoy best. You might want to try working for the state you live in, in the Dept of Special Services for example, as someone who works for the state ensuring schools are meeting requirements they need for the special ed population. You may also go into social work to work for agencies that protect children, such as DYFS (in NJ that is the Division of Youth and Family Services). I have teacher friends who became real estate agents.I tutor children with dyslexia using a specialized reading approach (Orton Gillingham) and have been using it for a number of years while teaching, and into my retirement. I find it very rewarding to teach these students and see them become much better readers (and spellers—the philosophy is if they can spell it they can read it). See what you may find rewarding and do it as well, the choices are out there.