March 16, 2015 - 13:15
I was interested in the section in Karp about the two teachers that had been teaching for many years and were stuck in their ways. The principal seems to have a hard time with these two teachers because they will not listen to her regarding improving their teaching methods or updating to new methods. I was struck by this because I think it's an issue not often talked about. When teachers have been teaching for years and years do they begin to rely too heavily on things they learned when they were just starting out? What's to stop them from doing this? Also, should they be penalized if their methods are effective? Do teachers like these just seem ineffective next to newer, flashier methods? Do we trust their wisdom or try to change them? All these questions came up for me when I read this section.
As Karp also mentions, teachers don't improve past their first 3-5 years. Instead, they go stagnant. In the short term, this might not be so bad. After 15 years a teacher might be an expert at teaching having mastered all the latest methods. But what happens when that same teacher reaches 30 years and no longer feels like there's more to learn. I think this is relevant to my placement as the teacher at my site has been teaching for 32 years now. I can see in her teaching style that some of her methods are a bit outdated or that more current practices aren't present in her teaching. However, I don't think this makes her a worse teacher. She fosters an incredible classroom environment and genuinely cares for each and every one of her students. Does she have room for improvment? Yes. But is that improvment really necessarily given the fact that she is an effective teacher without it?