So Much To Learn, So Little Opportunity

So much to learn, so little opportunity

Vol. 24, No. 4

How strange and ironic it is that teachers, who disseminate knowledge, have so little time and opportunity to acquire it. Undergraduate teacher education is justifiably criticized — even by its recipients — for its lack of academic content and rigor. Many students exit colleges and universities insufficiently equipped to teach a specific subject. In a survey that asked teachers whether they felt prepared to teach basic mathematics, for example, the majority said no. Fewer than 20% of elementary school teachers and half of middle school teachers said they felt prepared. In fact, only three-fourths of high school math teachers said they know enough about the subject to teach it well — and, presumably, they majored, or at least minored, in it. This may be one

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Authors

Ronald A. Walk

Ronald A. Wolk is chairman of the board of Editorial Projects in Education (EPE), a nonprofit organization founded in 1958. He is also the founding editor and publisher of Education Week (founded in 1981), Teacher Magazine (founded in 1989), and Quality Counts, all published by EPE.

Excerpted from an article that first appeared in Teacher Magazine, November 2002. Reprinted with permission from the author. Online at www.teachermagazine.org/tmstory.cfm?slug=03persp.h14.