3 ms·

Or: why do so few people who understand math teach elementary school? Once someone learns math, what incentives do they have to choose teaching elementary scho

by spodek 7y ago

Or: why do so few people who understand math teach elementary school? Once someone learns math, what incentives do they have to choose teaching elementary school over alternatives? I could imagine that the skills to learn math don't overlap with the skills to teach elementary school and that time spent one detracts from the other. If mastery in each takes a decade or so and few people dedicate themselves to double time in school for a lifetime in communities that misunderstand them, I could see teaching k-12 math as a career and life disaster.

dannypgh 7y ago
I would love to teach math to elementary students but I make a base-10 order of magnitude more as a software engineer for a FAANG. I'd take a pay cut of a factor of 4 or 5 to do it in a heartbeat... but having to go back to school to get a teacher's certificate (and likely a master's degree) to get paid 1/10th as much is challenging. I may end up doing it in a couple of years when I'm even more solidly financially independent, but we as a society should probably just be paying teachers a lot more across the board. I guess there's more money in advertising than educating the next generation.
- galangalalgol 7y ago
  Also consider FAANG pay 2-3 times more than other software development jobs. When the next bust comes some of these problems will be alleviated.
6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
The fewer people who are capable at something, the more lucrative it is to know that thing. The more lucrative it is to know something, the more of a pay cut it takes to teach it, assuming teacher pay at this level isn't subject dependent. The more of a pay cut it takes to teach, the fewer the skilled people willing to take a pay cut, and the fewer teachers there are with those skills. The fewer teachers there are with this skill, the worse the students turn out at it, leading to fewer people who are capable at it. It's a vicious cycle. I'm a data scientist in SF and I'd make 5-10x less if I taught grade school.

by spodek 7y ago

dannypgh 7y ago

I would love to teach math to elementary students but I make a base-10 order of magnitude more as a software engineer for a FAANG. I'd take a pay cut of a factor of 4 or 5 to do it in a heartbeat... but having to go back to school to get a teacher's certificate (and likely a master's degree) to get paid 1/10th as much is challenging. I may end up doing it in a couple of years when I'm even more solidly financially independent, but we as a society should probably just be paying teachers a lot more across the board. I guess there's more money in advertising than educating the next generation.

galangalalgol 7y ago
Also consider FAANG pay 2-3 times more than other software development jobs. When the next bust comes some of these problems will be alleviated.

6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago

The fewer people who are capable at something, the more lucrative it is to know that thing. The more lucrative it is to know something, the more of a pay cut it takes to teach it, assuming teacher pay at this level isn't subject dependent. The more of a pay cut it takes to teach, the fewer the skilled people willing to take a pay cut, and the fewer teachers there are with those skills. The fewer teachers there are with this skill, the worse the students turn out at it, leading to fewer people who are capable at it. It's a vicious cycle. I'm a data scientist in SF and I'd make 5-10x less if I taught grade school.