Purdue News

Teachers need more than strong content knowledge By Marilyn J. Haring The Education Trust, a nonprofit advocate for high-poverty schools, recently issued a study suggesting the licensing exams for K-12 teachers are not difficult enough. Education Trust director Kati Haycock asserted that passing scores should be raised to assure better teachers. While I agree that strong basic skills and knowledge of content are important, Ms. Haycock and many other education reformers are "fiddling while Rome burns." Since the publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983, well-intentioned reformers have insisted that many of the ills of K-12 education would be addressed by having teachers who were more carefully screened and had stronger content knowledge. This simplistic approach misses the point. The weaknesses in the arguments are twofold. They emphasize teachers' knowledge to the exclusion of skills in organizing and utilizing content specifically for teaching. It doesn't matter how much a teacher knows about a subject if he or she can't convey that knowledge to a student. The problems in our K-12 schools are far more complex than reformers commonly assume due to an overwhelming need for teachers to facilitate social as well as academic growth in students. Recent events in Conyers, Ga.; Littleton, Colo.; and Jonesboro, Ark., suggest that effective teaching and learning are no longer "a given" if teachers have strong basic skills and know their content. Rather, school is the one public social institution where each young person can be socialized into a responsible citizen. Teachers must have these socialization skills in addition to academic skills if they are to produce students who have outstanding test scores and also are outstanding citizens. The measures that must be a part of school reform go far beyond the tests of academic skills for teachers. In a recent article in Education Week, Maurice Elias and his associates suggested the need for students to learn ways to resolve conflicts without violence; to express their emotions appropriately and to recognize others' emotions; to have skills for interacting with others in the workplace, community and family; to engage in thoughtful decision-making; and to respect differences. We can no longer view education as learning the "three Rs" when a fourth R -- responsibility -- determines if a school environment is a safe one where all children can learn. The challenge in better preparing teachers is to combine their academic skills with those necessary to teach good citizenship. To the Purdue News and Photos Page