Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
I have heard teachers criticize people from outside the profession sharing their thoughts. If you have never taught, what would you know? What about appointing someone who has never taught a class as our Secretary of Education?
One of the problems with this mindset comes down to the requirements to teach. Just to enter the profession, you must invest time, money, and effort into the status quo to acquire a piece of paper from the status quo that says the status quo approves of your views on the status quo. People who are aware of the problems and can make a difference are not going to acquire the credentials required to enter the profession.
Even if you acquire the required credentials, the people who can make a difference are still unlikely to become teachers. There are anti-educational job duties required for all teachers. I have long insisted that I could never be a teacher because I have a conscience.
When I served my time in our mental prison system, my teachers were consistently clueless when it came to education. Credentials absolutely do not prove competence. My teachers might have had a textbook understanding of their job duties, but they knew absolutely nothing about the learning process. I clearly knew more about education than my teachers when I was in high school.
Attempts to diminish the voices of those outside the educational profession have effectively hindered progress. You don't have to prove your loyalty to the status quo to have thoughts to contribute. You do not have to contribute to an anti-educational process to recognize the problems that plague the system.
We need to stop silencing critics of the teaching profession on the grounds that they are not an active part of what they are criticizing. We need more voices coming from outside the profession. Even when it comes to our Secretary of Education, I would much rather have an outsider than someone as incompetent as Miguel Cardona. When it comes to addressing our nation's educational crisis, we need to listen to more than just people who are part of the problem.
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