3 ms·

No point comparing ourselves to the third world. The American middle-class has different expectations (of pay, of lifestyle, of cultural occupational conditions

No point comparing ourselves to the third world. The American middle-class has different expectations (of pay, of lifestyle, of cultural occupational conditions) than the third world, we just have to accept that. And FWIW, having had gone to a "third world" school, those teachers are great at teaching people to do well on tests, not to think critically. Paying english teachers less also means you get bad english teachers that are bad at teaching critical reading (which..yikes!), so I don't really see the point of that pay discrimination. I would absolutely advocate for removing administrative bloat, but we should be recruiting teachers like tech workers.

chongli 4y ago
Paying english teachers less also means you get bad english teachers that are bad at teaching critical reading (which..yikes!), so I don't really see the point of that pay discrimination. I haven't seen any evidence that any particular teaching method delivers tangible improvements in critical thinking skills over the school term. Do you know of any? It's important to measure skills at the beginning and end of a term (and a followup years later) in order to show improvements at the individual level. Otherwise you risk selecting for students' prior ability.
- pj_mukh 4y ago
  It maybe worth it to talk about universally superior teaching methods but as far as I can tell no teaching method can survive a teacher not caring. I understand this is not true for all professions. In manufacturing you can write a handbook (Just follow steps 1 thru n) and any min-wage worker will give good results as long as they follow those steps. As far as I know, professions like teaching, nursing etc. don't work that way. I personally know about 3 teachers who genuinely cared about their students but could not survive on teacher salaries (2 are now real estate agents and miss their kids :/).

chongli 4y ago

Paying english teachers less also means you get bad english teachers that are bad at teaching critical reading (which..yikes!), so I don't really see the point of that pay discrimination. I haven't seen any evidence that any particular teaching method delivers tangible improvements in critical thinking skills over the school term. Do you know of any? It's important to measure skills at the beginning and end of a term (and a followup years later) in order to show improvements at the individual level. Otherwise you risk selecting for students' prior ability.

pj_mukh 4y ago
It maybe worth it to talk about universally superior teaching methods but as far as I can tell no teaching method can survive a teacher not caring. I understand this is not true for all professions. In manufacturing you can write a handbook (Just follow steps 1 thru n) and any min-wage worker will give good results as long as they follow those steps. As far as I know, professions like teaching, nursing etc. don't work that way. I personally know about 3 teachers who genuinely cared about their students but could not survive on teacher salaries (2 are now real estate agents and miss their kids :/).