Are You Qualified?

I read an article this morning about "unqualified" teachers.  Summary: people are concerned about teachers who are instructing on subjects they are not certified in.

Here are the problems I have with this issue:

1.  As a home educator, I do not have a teaching degree.  The only thing I am certified in is accounting.  That doesn't make me qualified to only  teach my children accounting.

2.  An example was given in the article about teachers who were unable to answer students' questions and had to send them to the internet.  There is nothing wrong with not having the answer.  In this situation, there is still an opportunity to teach: by example.  Find the answer with the child.  This shows that you don't pretend to have all the answers, and that learning is a lifelong concept.

3.  Many subjects overlap and therefore can be taught in combination with each other.  Weaving subjects together is a more reality-based style of teaching, and we cover more material at one time.

4.  In all the educational uproar, the teachers are getting a bad wrap as a whole.  Just like any other field, there are "bad apples," but all teachers should not be slammed. I think this article was presented in the spirit of degradation.  Home educators are teachers too, and we know what it's like to be unfairly judged.

5.  From the information given in the article, it sounds like these teachers are being assigned positions teaching courses they are not certified in, not choosing to do so.  If teachers are expected by administration to teach subjects they are not certified in, then the administration needs to provide training and support.

Thanks for reading!
Mrs. Redd