Teacher training deemed woefully inadequate, with regard to classroom management and pedagogy.
By Eileen Griffin
Research shows significant lapses in teacher training, but plenty of ideological indoctrination.
Teachers are not trained properly to teach American students the academic skills they need to succeed, National Affairs reports. The teacher preparation system is broken, leaving inexperienced novice teachers to their own devices in the classroom.
In 2013, the National Council on Teacher Quality referred to the teacher preparation programs in the United States as “an industry of mediocrity.”
While studies have indicated a deficit in teacher preparedness, outcomes for children provide evidence of the failure. Regardless, teacher training programs have changed very little in the last several years.
Teachers are not given the tools they need to be successful, yet they are thrown into the deep end of the education system and expected to manage a classroom full of students with little or no management training.
“Veterans clap rookies on the back and assure them they’ll make it through, knowing that the first few years will be rough—for both the teacher and his students,” Daniel Buck writes for National Affairs.
The lack of competency has been compounded by the insertion of ideology. Although teachers enter the classrooms lacking training in the mechanics of teaching, they are well versed in woke ideology.
“Over the past few years, stories have surfaced about history-class materials celebrating communism, math lessons that focus on how we can use mathematics to advance activism, professional-development materials that teach educators about critical-race and whiteness theories, and a seemingly endless supply of similarly politically charged content for the K-12 classroom,” Buck writes.
“Our schools have been mediocre for decades; now they’re politicized, too.”
Parents have requested more transparency and involvement in reviewing curriculum as concerns about the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) and radical sexual standards have grown, as Heartland Daily News has reported extensively.
In some states, like Florida and Texas, conservatives have been elected to school board positions to represent parents and ensure that radical teaching is not allowed in the classroom.
Democrat-controlled states like California and Washington have pushed conservative school board members out of office.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) threatened to fine a school district for refusing to use state-mandated materials that they determined were sexually explicit and offensive.
Early in 2024, the Democrat-controlled legislature in Washington state passed two new laws mandating the teaching of LGBTQ+ curriculum and ensuring compliance by anointing the State Superintendent of Instruction as the sole authority over educational materials.
If parents and school boards have no control, teachers and education administrators are left to implement curricula and purchase or create their own teaching materials.
Many teacher training programs promote the fact that they are training teachers to be “change agents” rather than outstanding educators.
The University of Oregon promotes their teacher training program on their website.
“The Educational Foundations (EdF) program is for undergraduates who are committed to social change and are pursuing a future in elementary education or related fields,” the page states.
At Rutgers University, the teacher training program is recognized for its diversity.
“The Urban Secondary Education major is rooted in justice-oriented pedagogy and positions future teachers to address the needs of all students,” the website states. “This degree program provides students with significant support and mentorship to complete the certification requirements that disproportionately impact teacher candidates of color.”
Michigan State University requires 15 credits within their professional education courses and mandates that students take each course listed in this category without alternative. Students are required to take all the following classes:
Diverse Learners in Multicultural Perspectives – 3 credits
Social Foundations of Justice and Equity in Education – 3 credits
Pedagogy and Politics of Justice and Equity in Education – 3 credits
Teaching and Learning of (Bi)Multilingual Learners – 3 credits
Justice and Equity Seminar I – 1 credit
Justice and Equity Seminar III – 1 credit
Justice and Equity Seminar IV – 1 credit
While there is no shortage of social justice training, reading and math seem to be almost an afterthought.
“Only 28% of American teacher-preparation programs sufficiently address all components of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension),” Buck writes. “Twenty-two percent do not adequately cover any of them.”
While the focus remains on preparing teachers to radicalize and indoctrinate children, students will suffer with inadequate education paired with an outsized sense of outrage and angst.
“At best, these institutions advance a politically neutral, albeit largely ineffective, approach to the classroom,” Buck writes. “At worst, they’re radical institutions instilling our country’s teaching force with a neo-Marxist worldview.”
“In neither case do they advance a clear vision for an education that might stir the mind, form the character, or enliven the soul, nor do they provide the practical training necessary to advance such an education.”
For more great content from School Reform News.
For more from The Heartland Institute.
