EducationNews.org pointed us towards a rich discussion about “What Teacher Attributes Are Necessary to Succeed in High-Poverty Schools?”
Researcher Martin Haberman’s “description of one group of teachers as quitter/failers (see Jenny D yesterday), which at first sounds rather offensive (but stay with him), forms the basis of his argument that careful, thorough selection of teachers for high poverty areas is imperative.”
“According to Haberman, ‘quitter/failers’ can be quite articulate in explaining ‘why they cannot continue to work with children who are physically and emotionally not ready to learn, in unsafe and nonconducive school climates, required to teach irrelevant curriculum unaligned to achievements tests, supervised by irrational principals, burdened by large classes, with inadequate materials and equipment, and buried in paper-work from chaotic central offices.'”
“However, he says, effective teachers working in the same district, in the same building and with the very same children, are willing to assume responsibility and be accountable for their children’s learning even though they have no control over their working conditions, or the parents, or the students’ out-of-school lives. “
“Effective teachers see ensuring success in school as a matter of life and death for children who may well be unaware and unappreciative of their services. Such teachers are internally motivated and persist in spite of few external rewards. These belief systems and the perceptions they shape cannot be taught in programs of teacher preparation.”
Somehow I suspect Haberman makes too much sense to be taught at many Ed Schools.
– Guest blogger GGW