Re: job

From: Jay Lemke (jllbc@cunyvm.cuny.edu)
Date: Sun Aug 05 2001 - 08:50:26 PDT


So, Eva, does Mike's forwarding a job announcement count in his posting
totals? especially if I now make it a thread by replying to it on list? :)

I get an easy point for doing so, no doubt ... but I'll redeem myself by
wondering aloud if these people aren't aren't just spitting into the
galeforce winds of scale by trying to leverage institutional prestige (none
of these organizations have much real power) to bring some uniformity
(regulation? coherence?) to the largest, most decentralized (and chaotic)
education system in the world? I do admire the efforts of Linda
Darling-Hammond to catalyze education policy shifts that can help benefit
underserved urban students; I've invited her to speak at the inaugural of
our new program in New York.

Teacher education is a weak link in the US education system. We have a lot
of underqualified teachers (in part simply because at the scale of the
system we need so many); in the higher grades they are most seriously
underqualified in content knowledge, in the lower grades in everything. We
also have a lot of well-qualified teachers working under conditions where
they can't use their knowledge effectively. New York State has recently
mandated a fairly detailed teacher education curriculum. It was no better
than what was in place before it at good institutions, maybe better than
what went before at weaker institutions. It certainly tends to stifle
creativity and innovation in higher education. It is part of the current
'one size fits all' approach that disguises itself under the name of 'best
practice'. In the name of minimum standards to bring up the bottom, it
over-regulates the top. Standardization leads to predictable outcomes; the
pervasive social technology of modernism I have been indicting.

None of this reformist endeavor directly points to resource issues. You can
train better teachers relatively quickly if you spend the money to have the
teacher educators work with them one-on-one as they practice teaching in
real classrooms, and if you reduce the workload of both first-year teachers
and senior teachers to act as mentors to them. This is all well-known and
documented. It is probably done in progressive European countries. It costs
a significant amount of money. Beneath this layer (at a larger economic
scale) is the more obvious cost of attracting academically superior
students into teaching by making salaries (and working conditions)
competitive, particularly in urban areas. In the present US situation there
are plenty of good teachers, but they teach in affluent school districts.
There are not enough teachers now and a severe shortage is projected. The
districts that pay less will wind up with even less qualified teachers on
average.

So the cheap solution is to insure that even the least qualified teacher
meets some minimal standards. You substitute the power of coercion (control
the teachers and teacher educators) for the power of resource allocation.
This is the basic strategy of slave economies. It has the same weaknesses.

Chto dyelat' ?

JAY.

At 06:36 AM 8/5/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>_____________________________________________________________________________
>
>July 2, 2001
>
>National Academy of Education Seeks Project Manager at Stanford University
>for
>Committee on Teacher Education
>
>The National Academy of Education's Committee on Teacher Education seeks a
>Project Manager to coordinate all aspects of the committee's work
>beginning September 1, 2001. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's
>Fund for the Improvement of Education, the Committee on Teacher Education
>has begun work to develop recommendations about the central concepts
>regarding learning, development, curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy that
>should guide the core curriculum of teacher education programs.
>
>The project, currently scheduled for two years, has convened a group of 28
>distinguished education researchers, successful teacher educators, and
>experienced practitioners. The group will meet five additional times
>before December 2002 to develop recommendations about teacher education
>content and strategies. The committee will also coordinate its efforts
>with seven partner universities that will inform and evaluate the
>recommendations, consider questions of implementation, and advise the
>committee on the appropriateness and feasibility of its recommendations.
>
>The project manager / senior researcher will be responsible for
>coordinating all aspects of the committee meetings, drafting and compiling
>recommendations and reports, overseeing contracted research, monitoring
>budget, seeking future funding, and providing support to the co-chairs of
>the committee John Bransford and Linda Darling-Hammond. The project
>manager will report to the committee co-chairs, and will work with the
>executive director of the National Academy of Education who serves as
>liaison to the Academy board and U.S. Department of Education and oversees
>the financial management of the grant. A part-time research associate to
>support this project is currently on staff at Stanford University.
>
>Qualifications: Candidates for the project manager should have excellent
>writing and communication skills, experience conducting and coordinating
>research, and the ability to work collaboratively with a diverse group of
>educators. Research experience and interest in fields related to teaching,
>learning, teacher education, and the teaching profession required. Ed.D.,
>Ph.D., teacher certification or equivalent experience required.
>Candidates must be willing to travel. Salary range dependent on
>background and experience. The National Academy of Education, Stanford
>University and Vanderbilt University are equal opportunity employers, and
>encourage applications from all qualified individuals. Position will
>remain open until filled.
>
>To Apply: Please fax or send resume, cover letter, and the names of three
>references to:
>
>Ms. Kerith Gardner, Executive Director, National Academy of Education,
>NYU, School of Education, 726 Broadway, Room 509, NY, NY 10003-9580 fax:
>212-995-4435.

---------------------------
JAY L. LEMKE
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
JLLBC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
<http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/education/jlemke/index.htm>
---------------------------



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 01 2001 - 01:01:58 PDT