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Thread: Is teaching a decent job in your country?

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[quote=GUEST10286,360016]I'm from the U.S. and I have alot of respect for my professors.  Most of my professors have been downright brilliant.  My only suggestion would be to leave the community college.  Of course, it could just be the fields as well.  Being in a scientific field, all of my professors are expected to do research, etc.   If they weren't capable they would fail to get grants and would quickly be let go.  Those that do research for decades can get tenure and stop research but they have to be extremely knowledgeable and experienced to get it.

It would be unfair to say they are stupid based upon fields that are not their own.  I don't go to college to learn how the world works, I don't take advanced mathematics courses to discuss Chaucer, I go to learn about my field and in that field I want my teachers to be as knowledgeable as possible.  So far, I'm extremely impressed with those that teach here.  Maybe it's different for the arts?  The "Those that can - do, those that can't - teach" definitely doesn't apply to the engineering research fields.  Those that can do, those that can't switch to business.

High school, and the community college, was a different matter.  Waste of time and money.  Some professors were teaching things they haven't even studied.  I was completely let down by their lack of enthusiasm and knowledge.  Some were good; my math and physics professors at the community college were particularly enthusiastic about the subjects and had alot of experience in the field.  In high school, my best teachers tended to be in literature, band, and science.  They were very enthusiastic.  The rest were pretty horrid, particularly history teachers and those that get roped into teaching exciting subjects like accounting and social science.  I think they hated teaching more than we hated going.  If I had to choose one word to describe my high school teachers it would be apathy.

Also, professors and teachers should be paid more.  Unfortunately, their wages are determined by supply and demand and state politics.  I can't think of a successful alternative.  Until then, make sure you (or your children) go to a university where the professors work in their field (not just teach).  That's the only advice I can give.

Spending for education has gone up every year.  It has doubled since 1990.

http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/expend.gif

Only Norway and Switzerland spend more, per student, than the U.S. does.  The problem is, they're spending it in the wrong places.  The schools are "cutting budgets", laying off teachers, cutting programs, but still spending more.  It's amazingly inefficient.  There are also cultural problems.  Countries that spend less have "smarter" students than the U.S.  99% of the time, problems can be fixed by throwing money at them... but not this one.[/quote]

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