Home > Teachers Group > Discussion Board

I have a debate about this topic and I cannot find any information. Please, I want to know why an untrained teacher should not be allowed to teach?

Please I want somebody to help me.

Are parents teachers to their children?  Should people not trained in parenting be allowed to parent?  In both cases, the questions imply some sort of authority who can grant or revoke  abilities that people already have.  Some teachers are better than others, and the better ones by definition would seek to find the best methods to instruct.  A key reason the public school system in the US is in shambles is because it is the purview of many teachers who have become licensed and "paid their dues" to secure a job, and the position is treated as such.  The process to become "trained" is such that it may benefit financially the institution claiming to instruct teachers to teach, but appears to be only a gateway to secure state recognition. Having endured that process, many teachers then treat teaching as a job, to the detriment of their students.  The best teachers, "untrained" or not, inspire students to want to learn, regardless of whatever outside agency proposes or insists upon.

For the purposes of your argument, you might also point out that most businesses and corporations provide specific training for their employees once they are hired, after they have completed college to master the knowledge in their particular field. The argument can be made that teachers really learn how to teach, not in education courses, but in the classroom. (That's why education majors spend a semester away from campus completing student teaching.)

Individuals whose education and experience have made them very knowledgable and more than competent in their fields of study can learn the art and science of teaching (learning strategies and classroom management) by being on the job in the classroom and by completing district-sponsored professional development classes and workshops. Continuing education classes, which are now required for most licensed teachers, would also develop teaching skills for these individuals. The desire to teach well and to help students, with the proper support, is more important than having jumped through all the university education department hoops.

thank you for you help

Yes, untrained teachers should not be allowed to teach. knowingly or un knowingly they are spoiling student's life n career by inputting half knowledge. I belive ITS(indian teacher service) should be ther just like IAS & IPS. then only our educaion system will get reformed childhood is the stage where in child know about the life n world.we have to guide them in such a way what our country requires from them. they are gonna learn every thing in school life only so. an untrained techer can spoil them we need teachers with passion un fortunatly they are teachng with fashion   

If by "allowed to teach" you mean allowed to practice teaching as the primary profession, it may make some sense to insist on training in methods and skill of teaching. But there are many people who are very knowledgeable in their field and may do some amount of teaching in addition to their main profession. To insist that such people also must take formal training in teaching will be counter productive. This will restrict the spread of the most advanced and the latest knowledge, as professional teacher are not very likely to possess such knowledge.

Thanx a lot 4 for your help and sorry for bothering

As a teacher, there are some observations that I would like to make. I spent 5 years of my life on an undergraduate degree to pursue my vocation. This education developed a very broad base of knowledge in the subject area in which I teach. Business professionals have been similarly trained in their field and have a broad base of knowledge that would translate well into the classroom.

Where the two groups diverge is the education and strategies that teachers who go through a teacher education program receive with regard to how students learn--their behavior, their psychology, their maturity, their gender, their SES, and etc. That is why you will find that many state institutions have developed programs that will enable people of other professions to become certified after they have taken and passed courses in those above mentioned areas. Our state (or some of our universities) offers a Masters in Teaching or a MAT degree. It certifies professionals as teachers after they have completed a program that offers courses essential to quality teaching. After all, let's face it, simply being good at doing something does not mean you will be successful at teaching someone else how to do it. 

With ACP (Alternative Teaching Programs) programs, anyone who has a degree in the U.S. can parlay that into a teaching job. From a Special Education stand point, I don't feel an unqualified person should be allowed teach. I work in a behavior class and when ,for example, a sub comes in there that has never been in that environment, they can do more damage that good.

Those classes are very difficult classes with the individual students personalities and most students in the class being coded with an "Emotional Disturbance" label. Any new situation is potientially cause for problems. Without any training someone could walk in and set-off a student and be completely unaware of what they have done. This prospect has caused me to be very careful about absences.  

Another simualr case can be seen in a autism unit. Autism is a very difficult disorder to deal with. Introducing a stranger to a student with autism and pica, and eating disorder where the person cannot physically stop eating, without training could possibly harm the student. Not knowing that the student has their problems this person could simply set a cup of tea down on their desk with a plastic spoon and straw and turn away for an instant and that drink, straw and spoon be eaten. This really happens - I know of a student that got to a pound of coffee and ate it all. The parent sent them to school and they were throwing up black stuff from the bus. Not knowing the student; how would you react.