Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dogshed]

Kansas is discussing removing the grade point requirement for teachers.

I think this is good. The last time I went to school full time I got
almost all A's in some pretty hard courses, but it will never
make up for all the C's and D's
when you average them all together.

We need standards but grade point is a bad standard.

What I saw at K-state was a lot of stupid people taking the easiest possible classes
to get into the education department while smart people who got some
C's in higher level courses in another major could not switch over to education
because of a bad grade point. "This guy got C's in Organic Chemistry and Engineering
Physics. We better not let him be a grade school teacher."

http://www.kansas.com/209/story/94068.html#recent_comm

[freethought]

while i agree that the GPA system is a bit lacking, i don't think your conclusion that certain courses are 'harder' provides sufficient basis for admitting a person into the education program.

Moreover, this person with a C in organic chemistry isn't qualified to teach high school, and I'd even hesitate to have them teach middle school science.

Then there are the basic skill sets that are involved in teaching young children. Most of those aren't the focus of a university science program. Essentially what this amounts to is that there is more than sufficient grounds to deny a C science students entry into an early childhood education or elementary school education program.

All that said, some form of review should be available to exceptional applications, but I would think that should already exist.

Final note, the idea that science courses are harder isn't accurate. The basic skill set should be established before entering into any university science program. Once you start taking classes they don't tell that 2 X 4 isn't 8 anymore. They introduce new theories and methodologies; essentially new ideas. The sign of a person's intelligence is the ability to take their skills, understand the new theories and methodologies and combine the two into understanding and productivity. I can remember sitting down and trying to explain things to confused and distraught first year physics students, and in every case they're lack of understanding and ability to apply special and general relativity was due to lack of intelligence or deficient skill sets; these were you're C students, and I would not want them teaching children, because there are bound to be better suited people out there.

[andrew]

*****

[dogshed]