What Makes People Think They Are Qualified To Teach Their Own Kids?

[WinniSkipper]

216. It is a priority

Society did decide a long time ago that education was a priority. Nobody here, certainly not the parents who take the extra time, forego (potentially) extra income to stay home and teach, would likely disagree with you. You could probably take a vote of HS parents and ask them where education was on their priority list. They are walking the walk.

Does that mean that only teachers can teach? That seems to be the crux of the issue here. There seems to be a great concern on the part of people who are anti-homeschooling that the biggest issue is "people who are unqualified are teaching kids". Do I have that right? I think we all agree the fundie HS is a separate animal. The concern here does not seem to be for them. It seems to be for the dems on the board who have opted to HS.

Let me ask you this. I'm late 40s. When I went to college I saw my first ATM machine. When I got married in the late 90s I got my first cell phone. Very basic - cost a fortune to call or txt.

Then about 8 years ago for all practical purposes access to any piece of information, sharing of said information, and personally broadcasting every bit of my social experience growing up became free, and "the norm". Everything that was taught, memorized, etc, is now instantly available. How hard do you think it is to teach to that generation? They don't know what they don't know (as someone so aptly put it earlier in the thread about the parents) - but they think they do. And they walk out of class and check if the teacher said anything wrong during class. And if they did - credibility shot. Tough job. And unfair.

You think the same methods used to educate us, and more or less the same content, is still applicable as the best way to educate today? Because really, any teacher who got their degree pre-2005 has certainly not been trained in the current social and learning environment of the kids. They can't be - it didn't exist. So really - they are getting on the job training. That's not a teacher's fault - it's just the way it is.

This is where Gates and charters will kill public schools. They are adept enough and have the money to pump technology into the schools and design curriculum to adapt to technology. And it will look great, and appealing.

Administrators, who have neither the funds or really the knowledge to exploit technology properly (why would they - they are administrators), are handcuffed and can never catch up to the changes. Teachers forced by programs like NCLB to practice their craft in way it was not meant to be (teaching to a test vs. thinking critically). It's a no win situation for public education. By its design, it cannot adapt fast enough.

The one thing the antis keep forgetting - HS parents have a very small window where they have to make their decision. They won't sit around for a few years thinking "John's bullied - let's see how that works out next year". "There are 35 kids in my son's class, and maybe next year he'll have 20". They don't have a second chance for their kids. So while we can all discuss the merits of public education - these parents don't have the luxury to wait.