Lack of math, science teachers prompts U.S. alarm (USA Today)
Comments(2) With a certificate to teach several high school science subjects, recent University of Texas graduate Steve Sinski is getting the kind of attention usually reserved for the football players on campus.
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“You have to want to (teach). They’re not paying teachers like the glamorous research jobs,” said Sinski, who had thought he’d follow his parents’ footsteps and become a pharmacist. But “research science doesn’t appeal to me. It’s monotonous. Teaching exposes you to different faces and new and exciting things.”
[One thing I know is that nobody goes into teaching for the money (at any level), so if getting rich is part of a person’s grand scheme of things, then I would strongly urge them to reconsider education as a field. I find it interesting that there is a math and science teacher shortage because humanities fields are always in a crisis. I am aware of division among disciplines (humanities vs. sciences or history vs. english or english vs. communication), but I would rather see interdisciplinarity happen, especially since these areas are all able to co-exist happily. I know some of my longest-time friends are scientists, historians, or science enthusiasts converted to English. However, such a dream is much farther away. BK]
category: Pedagogy
Good article bob. I agree with the teaching doesn’t earn money. I’m teaching now at a post-secondary level with my master’s degree, and I could probably be earning twice what I’m getting now if I was in industry…but I wouldn’t be my own boss in industry. I do believe that an investment in science would be a good idea for america, because frankly, that’s all we have left. The ability to manufacture products as the main backbone of our economy is doing poorly, for many different reasons. However, our ability to innovate and invent new products has always kept us ahead. If we want to stay ahead, we’re goin to have to invest more into science and technology.
Ted, I agree that sciences need attention and provides many benefits for our society, but I believe part of that success must be shared with English. After all, one cannot conduct research without reading and composition skills, nor be daring enough to step outside of the box. None of us began life as our current specialized selves and we all learned how to read and write from a similar source: school. Therefore, I suggest being proponents of education, rather than supporting our own disciplines. Ideally, doing so may yield a stronger economy for everyone.