"Stop trying to make schools great schools and take up the task of trying to make teachers great teachers. Never in my life have I heard a friend or colleague say, 'That school changed my life.' Hundreds of times I have heard people I respect say, 'That teacher changed my life.' And it goes
without saying that great teachers are doubly precious in lousy schools. So let us work at .. helping teachers teach better, and let us succeed at that task before we take up the next one."
"The End of School Reform" by Peter Temes, Education Week, April 4, 2001
(as seen in NSDC's Journal of Staff Development, Summer 2001)
This quote affirms so many of my thoughts about middle level education. I've often wondered why most teacher prep programs don't include specific classes focusing on the middle level. In order for us to improve student achievement, our students need to have prepared educators who take the time to build healthy relationships with them. What exactly could be done to better prepare those interested in teaching early adolescents?
And it isn't as if we don't know about the type of background that exemplary middle level teachers need. Cycle back to the syllabus for this course to see the NCATE guidelines for middle level teachers. I bet it won't surprise you at all...but you found your way to ml teaching and have prepared yourself at this level. Lots of others have not...and have no understanding of young adolescents or ml education. Essential point!!
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