Maggie's Farm

Why Einstein Was Not Qualified To Teach High-School Physics.

Not that simple. Yes, the education bureaucrats' requirements can be stifling. At the same time, a lot of states have short-term training programs for prospective teachers who already have a bachelor's degree and work experience.

But those who can walk in cold into a classroom and succeed without any previous instruction in pedagogy are few and far between. At least that is my experience. Coincidentally, high school physics would likely be the field in which a newby teacher who knows the subject matter would have the greatest chance of success, as you are dealing with students who are more mature and more committed.

I spent two years as a second-career math teacher. Pedagogy is important, as it is NOT intuitively obvious how to present different teaching materials to different age and ability levels. Unfortunately, the ed schools are totally inept at pedagogy, as they emphasize politically correct nonsense and the unproven teaching theory fad of the year instead of WHAT HAS BEEN PROVEN TO WORK in the classroom. Very little of what ed schools present to prospective teachers is actually useful- which is my guess why the linked article stated that there was little difference in performance between certified and uncertified teachers. There is useful material that ed schools could present to teachers- they just don't do it.

My guess is that some sort of apprenticeship would be a good way to train prospective teachers. I would also suggest a part time load with heavy mentoring for beginning teachers.