October 2, 2006
AN EASY WAY TO BREAK THE UNIONS:
New staff teach best (William Stewart, 29 September 2006, TES)
Pupils are more likely to get better results if their teacher is new to the profession. Research reveals that 80 per cent of staff in their first seven years in the classroom produced value-added results at or above the expected level. But this fell to 68 per cent for those with between eight and 23 years’ experience and to 59 per cent for those with 24 years or more.
In fact, teaching should just be a component of a national service obligation. Cycle youngsters through before they have a chance to burn out. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 2, 2006 12:13 PM
I'd prefer a senior service requirement, say at age 60. Nice way to get some wisdom, maturity and tradition into the system, without the burnout.
Posted by: Jorge Curioso at October 2, 2006 12:49 PMI believe the phenomenon is called "burnout."
Posted by: Mike Morley at October 2, 2006 1:12 PM"...teaching should just be a component of a national service obligation."
Now who's been reading Starship Troopers too much? Service guarantees citizenship!
I wonder how long it's going to take for erp to box your ears on this one.
Posted by: Bryan at October 2, 2006 1:30 PMerp's generation served without much problem.
Posted by: oj at October 2, 2006 1:35 PMI should like to remind everyone that a "national service obligation"--a corvee'--is directly violative of the 13th Amendment, which protects us from involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime.
Posted by: Lou Gots at October 2, 2006 2:09 PMToo bad Orrin hates all of the amendments. Yes, even the second.
Posted by: Bryan at October 2, 2006 2:12 PMInvoluntary servitude has nothing to do with national service.
Posted by: oj at October 2, 2006 2:26 PMI think it's the "obligation" part, not the "national service" part. How will people be obligated to do it?
Posted by: Bryan at October 2, 2006 2:37 PMBy law. It should be universal, but you can get the same result by making it a condition of government assistance.
Posted by: oj at October 2, 2006 2:41 PMWell, good luck with that. I'm betting it will be about as popular as your plan to ban all cars, pets and guns. I sure would like to see some of the letters you write to your Congressman. Or, better yet, the look on his face when he reads them.
Posted by: Bryan at October 2, 2006 2:53 PMBan guns? Not until all the cats and dogs are shot.
Posted by: oj at October 2, 2006 4:50 PMI advocate doing away with teacher's certificates and forced attendance at courses in overhead projecting, so that people of whatever age with real expertise in a subject can teach kids about what they know and love. These folks are far less likely to kowtow to the union, but the chances of that happening are zip minus one.
My generation did it, but to be fair, girls had many fewer choices then, so a lot of very smart and talented women opted to teach rather than become a nurse or beautician. Shorter hours, summer vacations, etc., so they could be home for their own kids.
Now the teachers' programs get the bottom of the barrel student many of whom see teaching as a cushy job with a lot of holidays.
OJ:
What's your problem with dogs, incidentally? Disliking cats is understandable, but dogs at least enjoy our company.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at October 2, 2006 7:30 PMthey're loud, they smell, and they don't work anymore. It cuts too close to home....
Posted by: oj at October 2, 2006 8:28 PMMatt. Say it ain't so. oj. said in a post above that aliens couldn't be Darwinists because they'd never believe we were the top of ladder. He's right because cats are the top of evolutionary chain. Dogs are great too. But in the words of the immortal, Sassy, in "Homeward Bound," Cats rule; dogs drool. Can't argue with that.
Posted by: erp at October 2, 2006 8:37 PMSo that's why Assistant Professors bear more of a teaching load than full professors!
Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at October 2, 2006 9:18 PM