The Teaching Profession
- Major public education issues today
Issues that have coupled the public education system are widening the scope of learning such that teachers have a bigger load of responsibilities hence they are overburdened and the quality of learning is compromised. These include emerging topics such as increased drug abuse among students, as well as, higher instances of sexually related problems like teenage pregnancies and elevated rates of sexually transmitted diseases among peers. These issues have been attributed to reduced supervision at home as parents have become busier due to increased duties like advancing careers and academic pursuits. This has led to a wider load of responsibilities for teachers who are expected to counsel the learners on non-academic matters and at the same time execute their teaching roles (Cohen and Spenciner, 2007).
Consequently, public schools are often at the receiving end of low financial allocations as some states are not well off. Therefore, the resources that are availed to the learners and their teachers are minimal such that they become overstretched, in addition to, subsequent breakdowns. Hence the hands-on skills are passed on minimally to learners in public schools (Johnson and Hallgarten, 2002).
A major public education policy issue today is the “No Child Left behind Act” which was enacted by President Bush administration such that children were presented with equal learning opportunities which comprised of the same assessment and grading system for all learners in the country. This policy was faced with plenty of criticism due to inefficiency in incorporation into the public education system as it had loopholes such as locking out various subjects. Similarly, teachers have been on the forefront of campaigning against the policy as it will lead to unhealthy competition as some states have more fund allocation than others hence a disparity created (Cohen, 2007).
2. Possible causes, effects and resolutions to overburdening teachers
Overburdening of teachers has been attributed to reduced parental contribution to the overall well-being of their children. This is because of increased professional and career demands such that the time which was initially dedicated for parent-children bonding is taken up by career advancements. The changing world has called for individuals to pursue higher levels of education hence any free time is spent on books and workshops which will contribute to the much eyed promotion. These instances reduce the contact between parents and their school going children who seek refuge in other vices such as drugs (Johnson, 2002).
The other cause of overburdening teachers is due to pressure by other government sectors regarding poor student performance in public schools which was attributed to laziness and incompetence. Hence teachers were assigned more lessons including counseling sessions in behavioral aspects as a way of establishing high levels of discipline which is significant in attaining better performance (Tripathi and Misra, 2006).
Consequently, the enrollment in public schools is high as compared to that of private institutions. This inequality in learner administration is attributed to low school fees for those in public schools hence more low income earners prefer to school their children there as the fees are exorbitant in profit-making private institutions. Thus the influx causes the ratio of teacher to learner to be biased and to meet the high turn out; teachers are allocated more classes and learners (Johnson, 2002).
The effect of overburdening is exhibited in low performance as teachers cannot avail personalized attention to the entire class which is usually large. Similarly, the teacher cannot figure out specific behavioral problems among students due to the overwhelming numbers. Thus spread of indiscipline and unwanted behaviors such as drug abuse and sharing explicit materials ends up unnoticed by the school administration, in addition to, the teachers who will be making efforts to prepare for subsequent lessons. This results in increased criticism of the system and parents often heap blames on teachers for their children’s academic and behavioral deterioration. Consequently, more pressure is added to teachers in terms policies aimed at effecting services alongside delivery of normal subject lessons (Tripathi, 2006).
The other effect of overburdening teachers is that bright learners or those with special talents are hardly recognized as the unexplored talents are concealed due to lack of adequate encouragement and motivation by the teacher. Learners are also exposed to fewer resources and equipment which could be helpful in the talent discovery process as peers are bound to develop common interest which is later on boosted by the teacher’s cooperation (Tripathi, 2006).
Among the most vital resolutions which can be employed in elimination of this problem is incorporating teachers and parents actively in their children’s progress. This however, is more inclined on parental contribution as research has shown that teachers have always done their part effectively. Hence parents should be asked to lay aside some to carry out developmental analysis with the teacher and learner. This is the first stage in establishing problems in the public schools education system (Cohen, 2007).
The other resolution involves delegating counseling roles to professionals rather than teachers who will not compromise the quality of learning conducted in class. Similarly, these counseling professionals will be in a better position to collaborate with the teacher and parents in determining the causative agents of academic failure in their children (Tripathi, 2006).
3. strengthening and improving the teaching profession
One significant way through which the teaching profession can be strengthened is by soliciting for more funds from the ministry which will be used in professional development of teachers to enhance their competency. In such a situation, teachers will be armed with vital professional skills such as behavioral counseling hence they are able to execute inevitable counseling without compromising their classroom activities. other skills include motivating students to be responsible for their own learning as a way of increasing their performance which will delude any visions of engaging in social crimes (Johnson, 2002).
The government through the ministry of education should ensure that any occurrences of biased delivery of learning facilities this includes critical review of polices such as the “No Child Left behind Act”. This act resulted into increased disparities of learning institutions as some of them performed poorly in the standardized tests as a result of inadequate learning materials. These disparities made parent’s loose trust in teachers who were working in these schools on the basis on laziness. Therefore, the profession can be improved by ensuring that learning institutions are availed with sufficient equipment and teaching materials to enhance delivery of content. This is because most teacher’s endeavors are dampened by poor facilities and teaching materials which should be availed by the government (Cohen, 2007).
4. the basis of accountability in the teaching profession
The basis of accountability in the teaching profession is based on the level of qualification such that teachers in certain career levels should be assigned specific teaching capacities. On this ground lowly qualified teachers or those who have not attained certain qualifications should not be given a wide scope of work as they may fail to execute it efficiently. Consequently, they may fail to account for certain problems which may arise in the course of their designated duties due to lack of skills to prove their competence. Thus it is crucial that adequate attention is paid when assigning responsibilities to teachers with different career qualifications (Tripathi, 2006).
Accountability is also dependent on nature and status of resources that are used by teachers in the course of delivering lessons. Insufficient equipment which is broken down may be quite challenging to teachers and learners such that sometimes accountability of poor results in connection to unrealistic practical sessions could be inevitable. However, teachers are accountable for failure in learners as community expects the best from teachers when they entrust their children to them. this is especially concrete when society, the government and colleagues have provided all necessary facilities, as well as, resources which make their work easier to execute. in such a situation the teacher is accountable as they had no obstacle laid in their way or else they were accorded all necessary support required (Johnson, 2002).
5. message to other professionals in education and the general public
Teachers regardless of their level of duty and education are great people who have instilled discipline, as well as, imparting knowledge in everyone who pass through their hands. Unlike other professions which have been faced by problems involving technology, the teaching profession has embraced technology is a more subtle way to enhance delivery of content. This way the various categories of illiteracy which are eliminated by teachers are continuing to grow by the day (Johnson, 2002).
Teachers open up our minds such that from the lower learning grades, our ability to comprehend information and ideas is elevated. The need to think critically regarding various issues in our lives was initially introduced by teachers who encouraged critical thought in establishing firm decisions. Similarly, teachers have been attributed to shaping learners into becoming reputable citizens as vices are discouraged while good deeds are rewarded and learned personality traits are imparted by this group of noble professionals (Tripathi, 2006).
A message of encouragement to professionals in the teaching field is that teaching is a multi-disciplinary field as managers and other leaders are teachers in their own way as they are involved in different levels of teaching. Teaching is therefore not restricted to classroom settings where learners are expected to listen to teachers but rather everyday challenges should be included as part of teaching thus even teachers should be open minded to be able to enhance their competency in the field, as wall as, allowing them to discover their own weakness which are worked on to increase efficiency (Johnson, 2002).
References
Cohen, L. G. and Spenciner, L. J. (2007). Assessment of children and youth with special needs. (3rd edition). Boston, MA: Pearson
Johnson, M. and Hallgarten, J. (2002), From victims of change to agents of change: the future of the teaching profession. Institute for Public Policy Research
Tripathi, L.B. and Misra, G. (2006), Psychological Theory and Teaching Profession.Concept Publishing Company.
Is this your assignment or some part of it?
We can do it for you! Click to Order!
