Encyclopedia
In
education,
teachers are those who help
students or pupils learn, often in a
school. The objective is typically a course of study, lesson plan, or a practical skill, including
learning and
thinking skills. The different ways to teach are often referred to as the teacher's pedagogy. When deciding what teaching method to use, a teacher will need to consider students' background knowledge, environment, and their learning goals as well as standardized curriculum as determined by their school district.
Related positions
A teacher who registers a student, or who is positioned to help the student in a particular subject, is called a "tutor". A teacher or trainer from whom a student learns a great deal may be called a "mentor". An "educationalist" is an educational theorist, writer or researcher. In traditional
China, the model teacher,
Confucius, is greatly revered. A Chinese term for teacher is
shifu, or
laoshi. Other terms are rabbi,
guru, etc.
Primary school teachers
Perhaps the most significant difference between primary and secondary teaching in the UK is the relationship between teachers and children. In primary schools each class has a teacher who stays with them for most of the week and will teach them the whole curriculum. In secondary schools they will be taught by different subject specialists each session during the week and may have up to 10 or more different teachers. The relationship between children and their teachers tends to be closer in the primary school where they act as form tutor, specialist teacher and surrogate parent during the course of the day.
This is true throughout most of the United States as well. However, alternative approaches for primary education do exist. One of these, sometimes referred to as a "platoon" system, involves placing a group of students together in one class that moves from one specialist to another for every subject. The advantage here is that students learn from teachers who specialize in one subject and who tend to be more knowledgeable in that one area than a teacher who teaches many subjects. Students still derive a strong sense of security by staying with the same group of peers for all classes.
University teachers
Teachers in
college are called instructors or lecturers. In the
United States, the term "
professor" is usually applied to college or
University teachers who have received tenure; although, there are rankings from Assistant Professor through Full Professor that may be defined differently at various institutions. The rank of American university instructors depends in part on the amount of relevant and publishable research completed over time.
An "assistant professor" is typically required to have completed extensive research seminars at the post-graduate level and have written and defended the dissertation. The Ph.D. is almost always required. Assistant professors are similar to lecturers or readers in the United Kingdom. Their initial preparation for the profession takes between eight and twelve years.
An "associate professor" must typically have completed five or more years of additional research, published articles in national and international journals, developed syllabi for the teaching of various courses, provided services to the University , and in most cases have published refereed books.
The "full professor" in the United States would be the equivalent of the "Professor" in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. It is not typical to achieve the title of "full professor" within the first fifteen to twenty years as an educator and researcher at a university in the United States. It requires dedication to the discipline and eminent, original scholarship, as shown through published works and a diverse curriculum vitae.
In the United Kingdom the title 'Professor' is restricted to teachers who have been granted a 'chair'. Others are known as lecturers or readers.
Senior teachers
Teachers who look after the whole school are called head teachers, school principals, headmasters or headmistresses. The equivalent in colleges and universities is called the dean, principal or vice-chancellor. Teachers of this status rarely teach students. A teacher in a grammar or
public school in
Britain may also be a Head of
House. Houses were also used in secondary and comprehensive schools.
As with most large organisations a school needs a hierarchical structure of command, allowing matters to be delegated to a specific department or section of the school. In many cases there are deputy headteachers, heads of department and heads of year. A head of year is in charge of the pastoral care of one year group.
Every school has a disciplinary procedure which dictates how punishments should be given to misbehaving students. One common method of coping with problems is the idea of escalation whereby the classroom teacher attempts to deal with the student themselves before passing it on to a more senior teacher. Eventually, should the situation not be resolved, the headmaster becomes involved.
Emergency teachers
A teacher may be replaced by another teacher if they are absent due to an illness, death, or planned absence. In the United States and some parts of Canada, notably
Alberta, replacement teachers are known as
substitute teachers and more recently "guest teachers". In Australia and New Zealand they are known as "casual" or "relief" teachers; in the UK and in other parts of Canada, notably
Ontario, they are known as
supply teachers. In
British Columbia, Canada, they are called
TOCs . Temporary, substitute teachers in universities are usually in forms of multiple
guest lecturers.
These teachers often find it difficult to acclimatise to the new environment, often moving from one school to another week after week or day after day. They are often viewed badly by the students they are looking after with a "you're not my real teacher" attitude making behaviour management very difficult. Meanwhile, especially in subjects like second languages, they may actually know less than their students. In long term replacements, however, this quickly subsides.
Teacher
trade union groups have expressed resentment towards the continuous use of supply teachers to satisfy long-term shortages when school administrations have resisted creating a permanent teaching position.
The United States observes a
Substitute Educator's Day, which was instituted by the
National Education Association . The purpose of this day is to highlight the role and importance of the substitute teacher by providing information about, advocating for, and helping to increase appreciation and respect for this unique professional. This day also focuses on the needs of substitutes, which include better wages and health benefits and continual professional development. Substitute Educator's Day is observed on the Friday during
American Education Week. Other countries and jurisdictions have similar observances.
Qualification and registration
Teachers are usually educated in a
university or
college. Often they must be certified by a government body before they can teach in a
school.
Australia
Certification in Australia differs from state to state; however as a general rule all teachers must possess a tertiary certification - either a Bachelor of Education , Bachelor of Teaching or a graduate program after an appropriate Bachelor such as the Diploma of Education or Master of Teaching - awarded by an Australian certified University or an equivalent award from overseas plus experience in the classroom. Many states now have
Teacher Registration Boards or are soon to institute them. These organisations are charged with certifying potential teacher's qualification and ensure constant Professional Development.
It is important to note that an Australian bachelor's degree is typically not seen as equivalent to a bachelor's degree in some countries, including North America and parts of Europe, as it is a three-year degree vs. a four or five-year degree. An honours degree is usually required for equivalency to be assured. North American models, for example, require a broad and rigorous liberal arts and sciences general education component and therefore take longer to complete. This is not the case in the British, Australian, and New Zealand models. Students take far less course work in the field of the major and this course work is less in-depth at higher levels of the course. Australians who would like to work outside of Australia, New Zealand, the UK and so on, should have their qualifications evaluated before attempting application in a foreign institution of education.
Canada
Canadian teachers must receive certification from a provincial College of Teachers or the provincial department responsible for teacher certification in order to be able to teach in elementary and secondary schools. In Manitoba, for example, the responsibility for teacher certification lies with the . Teachers need a Bachelor's degree in Education , often on top of another recognized Bachelor's degree. This adds one or two more years to a university education. To earn a degree in secondary education, teachers must have a certain number of university credits in their subject field. This number varies from province to province, and in some provinces it varies from school to school. Most employers of teachers require that successful applicants complete criminal record checks, as well as verification that an employee is not listed in the Child Abuse Registry. These same requirements are, in addition to being a sound part of the hiring practice, a requirement of most provincial education legislation. Other requirements such as a
tuberculosis test, and level of experience criteria may also be required.
The process for certification is somewhat different in all provinces, but there is no process for obtaining "inter-provincial" certification. Any teacher must obtain certification from the specific province they wish to teach in. In extreme circumstances, such as a lack of any suitable certifiable candidates for a specific teaching position, an employer may apply for temporary certification of a non-certified person. This temporary certification is usually valid for one calendar year after ministry approval, but must be requested by the school, not by a non-certified applicant for a teaching position.
England and Wales
In
England and Wales teachers in the maintained sector must have gained Qualified Teacher Status . There are many paths in which a person can work towards gaining their QTS, the most popular of which is to have completed a first degree program and then a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education . Other methods include a specific teaching degree or on-the-job
training at a school. All qualified teachers in
England must serve, after training, a statutory one year induction period that must be passed in order to remain a registered teacher. In
Wales this period lasts for two years. During this period a teacher is known as an NQT . Schools are obliged to provide guidance, support and training to facilitate the NQT's success during this year. Local education authorities are also obliged to provide professional development opportunities.
Teachers in independent schools are not statutorily required to hold QTS, although independent schools increasingly prefer teachers to hold this qualification unless they have already gained significant teaching experience. The post-experience PGCE at the
University of Buckingham is designed for independent school teachers. Some specialist independent schools, such as those following Montessori principles, require teachers trained in that specific educational philosophy.
The Teach First scheme, aimed at recent graduates, was introduced in 2003 in London and more recently in Manchester and it allows trainees to teach in schools without the Post-Graduate Certificate of Education . After an intense period of training in the summer following graduation, trainees are placed in secondary schools. Following the successful completion of the first year, trainee teachers gain QTS status and may then continue teaching for a minimum of one year.
Scotland
In
Scotland teachers must hold a valid teaching qualification and be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland. Following initial teacher education and gaining a teaching qualification a Scottish teacher is deemed to be
provisionaly registered with the GTCS and must undergo a year of probation supported through the
Scottish Executive's induction programme.
There are several possible to routes to a TQ, including a Bachelor of Education in
Music,
Physical Education or Technological Education for
secondary school or a general BEd for
primary school, a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education or a concurrent undergraduate degree combining a Bachelor of Science or Scottish Master of Arts with the initial teacher education elements of a PGDE. Concurrent degrees are only avaible from the
University of Stirling.
A Scottish teacher may only qualify in a subject directly related to their undergraduate or graduate studies.
For teachers qualified outside of
Scotland an application must be made to the GTCS for exceptional registration.
United States
In the United States, each state determines the requirements for getting a license to teach. Normally, a bachelor's degree with a major in a certifiable area is a minimum requirement, along with rigorous pedagogical methods course work and practical field experiences as "
student teachers." It is also required by all states that teachers pass standardised exams at the national and/or state levels both in the subjects they teach and the methods of teaching those subjects, and that they undergo constant evaluation by local, state, and sometimes even private organizations during their first years of teaching. Most states use graduated licensing programs . A license to teach in one state will usually facilitate the obtainment of a license in another state.
Until the 1960's, a person could not teach unless he or she had completed a year or more of specific teaching training at a normal school. In the past two decades, normal school courses have been made optional through the promotion of Alternate Route teacher certification. New Jersey was the first state to establish an Alternate Route program, doing so in 1984. Since then, most states have established their own programs.
Teachers in almost all states must have a Bachelor's degree with the appropriate teacher preparation course and complete a Master's degree within five years. Additionally, to be permanently certified, teachers must pass three state exams on pedagogy, general knowledge and knowledge of a content area. In order to work in a public school a candidate must be fingerprinted.
The
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are 1.4 million , 600,000 , and 1 million employed in the U.S.
US News has ranked graduate programs in teacher education in the following order:
Harvard University,
Columbia University,
UCLA,
Stanford University,
Vanderbilt University,
University of California, Berkeley,
University of Pennsylvania,
University of Wisconsin,
University of Michigan,
Northwestern University and the
University of Minnesota.
Teach for America and the Mississippi Teacher Corps are two highly competitive, alternate-route teaching programs, for college graduates who are not education majors.
World Teachers’ Day
UNESCO inaugurated World Teachers’ Day on 5 October 1994 to celebrate and commemorate the signing of the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers on 5 October 1966. World Teachers’ Day also highlighted the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel adopted in 1997. Some countries such as
Taiwan also celebrate Teacher's Day as a national holiday. In Brazil, it is celebrated on October 15, while in
India it is celebrated on the 5th of September. In Brunei, it is celebrated on September 23.
Salaries
The teachers' salaries always depend on the country they are working for: US-teachers are paid on a graduated scale, starting at the low end and moving up on the pay scale with experience. According to the National Education Association , the average starting teacher's salary in the US is just over $31,000, while the average teacher makes just over $42,000. The amount a US-American teacher earns depends on education level, experience, and the school/district/state--the cost of living in certain areas heavily influences the amount of a teacher's salary.
Britain and a lot of other Commonwealth States pay their teachers an approx. $30 000.
However, the countries where teachers get the most are Germany, Switzerland and South Korea.
South Korea
Salaries go from $25 000 up to $60 000 . Korean teachers are supposed to be the best-paid ones in the world with regard to the Real Income.
Switzerland
Salaries go from $65 000 up to $80 000
Germany
German teachers are usually Beamte . The term "Beamtentum" is quite well-known even in the English-speaking world. In Germany, state employees are permanent workers, i.e. they can never be fired, are paid all the necessary social insurances and usually get more money than others.
Teachers are Beamte of the Länder.
There are 3 different types of secondary schools:
a) Hauptschule -
teachers are, as Beamte, paid according to the BBesO ; Hauptschul-teachers start with A 12 and usually "climb" one step.
b) Realschule -
same as Hauptschule
c) Gymnasium -
Gymnasien prepare the students for the Abitur, after which they can go to university.
Gymnasium-teachers are the best paid. They usually have a degree called "Staatsexamen", which can be compared to a MA in two subjects .
After the First Staatsexamen, the trainee teachers have to do some practical training for two years, which they are going to finish with their Second Staatsexamen.
Then, they are "Beamte zur Anstellung", i.e. they are not permanently employed yet. Until their real Verbeamtung, they have to wait another three years.
Then, they become Beamte.
Gymnasium-teachers are not called Lehrer in Germany.
The first step is Studienrat or Studienrätin .
The second step is Oberstudienrat or Oberstudienrätin
The third step is Studiendirektor or Studiendirektorin
The fourth and last step is Oberstudiendirektor or Oberstudiendirektorin , i.e. headmaster or -mistress.
Higher posts are at the ministry, where the Beamte are paid according to Salary Class B .
[A translation for Oberstudienrat would be: Higher/Superior Educational Council ; all officials of the Higher Service have these titles, e.g. Verwaltungsrat
Salary: example
Oberstudienrat, married, three children, has been teaching for 20 years.
A 14 family benefit Step 10
Basic salary : 4020,61 €
family benefit 1138,56 €
wife
child 1
child 2
child 3
Studienzuschlag 184,53 €
Pauschale 245,91 €
--> 5589,61 € per month
Mind: German officials get 13.5 salaries each year .
Therefore, our OStR gets c. 76 000 € .
After taxes*: 60 000 € --> 5 000 € per month
- Compared to other employees, civil servants only have to pay taxes and part of their health insurance. The other benefits are paid by the state. "Normal" employees, workers etc. also have to pay money for the retirement office, the full health insurance, out-of-work insurance schemes etc.
The Bundesbesoldungsgesetz can be viewed .
Readings
- Ms. Moffett's First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America by Abby Goodnough .
- Burks, M.P., Requirements for Certification, Fifty-first Edition, 1986-87. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
- Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, Task Force on Teaching as a Profession. A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century. 1986. ED 268 120.
- Feistritzer, C.E. The Condition of Teaching, A State by State Analysis. Laurenceville, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985.
- Holmes Group. Tomorrow's Teachers: A Report of the Holmes Group. 1986. ED 270 454.
- Roth, R.R. and R. Mastain . Manual on Certification and Preparation of Educational Personnel in the United States. Sacramento: National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, 1984.
Teachers in Film
There have been many films that focus on teachers. One common theme is a new teacher or principal comes into a poorly performing school or class and turns things around. Some are based on a true story.
Films focusing on teachers:
...
portraying real life teacher
Jaime Escalante.
- Dead Poets Society is a 1989 [i] film which tells the story of an English teacher at a 1950s [i] boy ...
- Dangerous Minds
- Mr. Holland's Opus
See also
...
- National Teachers Hall of Fame
- Teacher award
- Teaching in popular culture
- School and university in literature
- Substitute teacher
External links
- based in Shropshire, UK A typical experience of a teacher, as seen in comprehensive school classrooms across Britain from about 1979 onwards.
- British educational TV
