Derrel;
I began my career in education as a 1:1 aid for a very difficult to work with
student who was diagnosed with autism. This student had very vocal parents
and as a result the teacher spent much of her time consulting with school
district experts and legal counsel. Along the way I was introduced to many
interventions designed by renowned behaviorists from the U of M and
discovered that thoery didn't always mesh well with practice {an idea I had
never read in literature until I read LSV's 'crisis in psychology' some 6
years after this experience}. During the time I spent as a classroom aid I
finished a degree in psychology. One of my contentions with formal education
is that even though I had devoted much time to studying psychology and had
worked hard to improve a poor grade point average I discovered that my job as
teaching aid was the position most college graduates with a BA in psychology
aspired to obtain!
Anyway, to make a long story short I spent large amounts of money for
graduate school entrance fees and was denied by many local universities.
Because on more then one ocassion I was told my GPA was too low I would need
to take undergraduate courses to show how serious I was about entering a
profession I was currently working in I have entrenched my opinion that
current licensing requirements for teachers are merely money making scams for
universitiies. I did take undergraduate credits for an elementary teaching
license and then because I did enjoy working with elementary age students I
decided to obtain a license for this. This resulted in my failed student
teaching stint.
End of my teaching career, no? The principal of the school I work at now told
me he wanted me to teach and I reapplied to a graduate school and completed
the coursework for getting a license to teach e/bd students in Minnesota. I
sidestepped the student teahcing requirement by talking to the chairman of
the state teaching board who talked directly with a college advisor to write
a letter to the licensing board reqesting that I be given credit for my time
spent working in MN classrooms.
eric
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