Would You Want Your Child Taught by Your Colleagues?

[reisgio]

This is a question I asked myself in my first job, and I've asked it again and again as I've advanced in my career. I thought of it again this weekend when watching House Hunters International and the teacher was moving to a city in Europe to teach at that city's international school. This teacher was, to put it diplomatically, less than impressive.

Sadly, I can think of only one position I've held where I would be okay (not thrilled) with my colleagues teaching my child. At all of the others I would be terrified. The fact that the above-mentioned teacher got a cushy job in a European city furthered my perception that many a school are more interested in filling a position as cheaply as possible than they are in filling a position with a high quality educator/individual. This is of course true in all regions, not just Europe, but my point is that there are a lot of bad apples in education and when I first got into international education I assumed the best of the best would work the best locations because these schools could be picky. Now, I see that schools in great locations all around the world often don't take the effort to be picky - they want what the lowest of the low in China or Kuwait would want - someone who can do the job but not necessarily in a manner that is anything special. This speaks very poorly of primary and secondary education as a field if those in positions to fill roles are so much more interested in the short-term bottom line over the long-term value proposition they are responsible for providing to their students/parents. We need better educators and people going into education at all levels and in all regions. Sadly, the longer I stay in the field the more I see that education is not only not attracting the best, in many cases it's attracting some of the worst.

I realize most of you will say I am too picky or elitist, but that just proves my point: we should be getting elite people to teach the next generation. If we aren't then what we leave behind will be a lot worse than what we were given when we started out.I always saw education as a calling, but so many of my colleagues see it like a job at a factory - they put in their time and they leave. How uninspiring for the students, and it's no wonder that in the last fifteen years alone I've seen the quality of the students plummet the longer they stay in school.

[Thames Pirate]

With perhaps one or two exceptions, yes.

But then, while some of my colleagues leave something to be desired as colleagues, they are, on the whole, great teachers.

[falconeer]

Sturgeon's Law states that 90 percent of everything is crap. In the world at large, this might be an overstatement, but I think in the realm of education, this is about correct. The majority of schools are not places we would send our children, nor would we want to work there if given the option to get to a better place. The remaining ten percent of schools, however, are magical places, staffed by remarkable, inspiring people who do this for the right reasons.

[chilagringa]

Well, I'm not much of a breeder, but I would be happy with, say, 1/2 of my colleagues teaching my hypothetical children. About 1/2 I would be a bit unhappy, because they are lazy and do not give very engaging. (None are so awful I would be terrified or angry, just a bit disappointed). My school is a decently tier-one-ish, at least tier one for the region (Latin America). A lot of the best teachers in the school have gone on to tier one schools in Europe or Asia or Africa, so surely some of the best schools in the world have great teachers?

[Thames Pirate]

Just going to add that House Hunters International is insanely fake and doesn't do the people in it justice most of the time. Unless we're talking about a drama teacher, assume the acting is not representative of the person's content knowledge or ability to deliver quality instruction.

[expatscot]

I have to say that, if I didn't want my child to be taught by my colleagues, then that would not be a school I would want to work in.

[shadowjack]

I second what expatscot said. My kids were taught by my colleagues at the international schools I have been in, and overall I ranged from happy to ecstatic. Some of the teachers they had were AMAZING!

[sid]

I would be happy to have my children taught by (most of) my colleagues. And it has happened, and it worked out well. Every school, even the best, has a dud or two in the wings, but mostly it's been good pickings!

[thebeard]

Have any of you ever requested a certain teacher or requested not to have your child in a certain class? I always imagined I would not want my kids taught by a first year teacher.

[chilagringa]

I think it's pretty common that teacher-parents request certain teachers. Not to toot my own horn, but every single teacher's kid goes through my class, and never goes through certain other teachers' classes. That surely can't be a coincidence.

[Helen Back]

Nearly every class in my school has staff kids. Our school loves to hire families. I am currently teaching two teacher's kids and they are each teaching one of mine.
I would be happy for any of the teachers in my school to teach my kids, however, we do have some sway in where they end up. But that choice often comes down to child friendships, not the ability of the teacher. Often but not always.

[mamava]

I have had 3 kids go through teacher colleague classes. I suppose I could have asked for a certain teacher, but in the schools I've been at, it would not have necessarily reflected well on me. One of my student was in learning support, so I was able to have conversations about the best schedule in terms of balance and pacing and I know that child was placed (when possible) with teachers that were a good "fit" but it wasn't something that I could have easily asked for. I think the response would have been that the school hires good teachers, and teachers are responsive to student needs, etc., etc., Not always true, but that would have been the . line.

[rudolph]

This post led to some reflection on our experiences in 6 international schools at various times in our children's lives and education. For the most part, the answer would be a resounding YES. Memories of an incredibly joyous atmosphere that existed at the elementary division of our school when our oldest son was learning to read; respect for highly professional colleagues and friends who challenged our bright and admittedly difficult adolescent daughter; a colleague within my own dept. who I could not imagine finding a better teacher and mentor for our youngest as he reluctantly moved through the IBD; the teacher who lived down the road and phoned our home one evening to ask our son, "Did you understand what we were doing in Physics today? No? Then get your butt down here and let's go through it again."
Thanks for this question - it has made me happily reflect on how lucky we've been. Yes, they had some bad experiences as well, but in both the international schools they attended and the stateside ones, our children have had far more 'good' teachers than poor ones.

[PsyGuy]

Short Answer: No, but I wouldnt want my own children (dont have any) taught by myself either.

Long Answer:

You are picky and elitist but you are in strong company as most ITs are picky and elitist, especially when it comes to their own spawn. I have seen sane ITs who jekyle/hyde into the very same crazy parents they were bashing when its an issue with their own children.

Its not that there arent some Mr. Hollands Opus ITs out there, or even that the majority of the rest arent bad, its that it takes so little in the form of a poor classroom experience to really damage a student. The reason so many western students have an utter hatred of maths is very likely because of a bad maths DT/IT in that students past. Turning off a student to learning is much easier to do than turning them on to learning. You cant pick and choose for the most parts what portions of the IS you are going to avail your child of, and it only takes one bad IT to spoil the day for a student.

@falconeer

Sure 90% of everything is crap, but that just means we should be accustomed to expecting crap then? Its the worst there is, except for everything else.

@Thames Pirate

Utter bunk. House Hunters International is not fake. Its expats buying a home in a foreign country. The houses are not CGI creations, nor are the locations a sound stage, nor the expats actors. The homes are real, the locations are real, the buyers are real, there is nothing fake about it. Its television and entertainment, and in that regard there is nothing fake about it.

@chilagringa

Why cant it be a coincidence?

[Thames Pirate]

It's fake because the people already have chosen their home most of the time. The filming isn't them actually debating, it's them pretending to debate. The conflicts between them (I really don't like X, I had to have Y) are often staged, and they are seeking things to nitpick about a home they are shown, for example. So yes, it is very fake--especially as it pertains to the people's reactions and conversations on camera. If the people are not actors (they generally aren't), they come across as wooden, phony, picky, demanding, or any number of negative things that would make someone seem like a bad teacher simply because the person is a bad actor/actress.

But I suspect you knew what I meant and we're just trolling with the "homes are not CGI" comment.