Re: CHAT: Maths schooling.

On Sat, 24 Mar 2001, Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:

> > Date:         Sat, 24 Mar 2001 11:57:15 -0500
> > From: Yoon Ha Lee <yl112@...>
>
> > On Sat, 24 Mar 2001, Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
> >
> > <wry g>  The impression I had was that there are more female math(s) and
> > science teachers--at least the places I've been--because we're the
> > "washouts" who don't go on for the doctorate.  But the truth is I would
> > rather share what I know about math with other people and show them the
> > interesting, relevant and likable parts of it, than be doing original
> > math research.  (Or...sorry for the American usage "math"...)  I've met
> > close to a hundred female math majors (at a Nebraska conference), many of
> > whom *do* plan to go for the doctorate--and they're bright people and
> > love the subject and want to do research and it *is* what they ought to
> > do for themselves.  It just isn't for me.
>
> Well, perhaps it's different in the US, but in Denmark maths or
> science tend to be people's minor subjects at teachers' college. It
> seems that for young women, 'wants to work with children' and an
> interest in 'hard' subjects rarely coincide.
Hmm.  I am interested in hard subjects *and* soft subjects; my second
choice woudl be to teach history, though any public school would probably
kick me out for not toeing the patriotic line.  (After years of *not*
having to recite the retarded Pledge of Allegiance at school, I was
flabbergasted to see it at Shenendahoah--but then, it's a public school,
so I shouldn't've been surprised.)  I guess I could see that, though;
there don't seem to be a whole lot of women interested in sciences/maths,
period.  <sigh>

> Are all middle school teachers in the US really BA's or BSc's in their
> subjects? In Denmark, and I suspect most of Europe, it's only at High
> School age (grades 10-12: gymnasium, Abitur, baccalaureat, A-levels)
> that students are exposed to teachers with basically no pedagogical
> skills.
In NY state, according to my boyfriend's mom (who's been teaching for
over 20 years...!), these days you *have* to have a bachelor's in your
subject and a master's in education (subfield X), or something like
that.  I don't know how the requirements vary by state.  (All the
different state laws seem feudal and confusing to me sometimes, but I
supposed that's because I'm not used to it.)  Oh, and certifications *do*
vary by state, and seem to require stuff beyond the master's.

To be a *substitute* teacher you only need a bachelor's, and to teach at
private school requires no certification whatsoever.  I thought about
just going directly to teaching but since I have no classroom experience,
only one-on-one tutoring experience, I thought it'd be useful to learn
educational theory and pedagogical methods and how to design a curriculum
and things like that.

YHL

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