I have to admit, I'm a big fan of Matt Damon. Everything I've heard him say outside of acting makes me like him. This recent video I am happy to include among the evidence for "Matt Damon is awesome:"
Reason.tv is a libertarian organization. I've had some people suggest I might be libertarian, but this video is evidence to the contrary. Having (mostly) gone through the teacher program at my university, and having several good friends who are teachers, I wholeheartedly agree with Matt Damon's approach. The idea of taking away "job security" among teachers is silly. I don't know exactly where I stand on the pension issue, exactly, but it seems like the gut reaction most people have when there are education problems is to blame the teachers. Yes, there are bad teachers. Yes, we should try to figure out a way to encourage good teachers and teaching habits. The issue is minor compared to many other driving issues in education.
I remain hopeful for education, even if I'm going going into the career anymore.
Is me pointing out that a lot of your views happen to line up with libertarian views offensive to you? I get the impression you're trying to defend yourself.
ReplyDeleteI see what you're saying...I guess I don’t understand how 'teachers love to teach even if they suck at it' is a view that libertarians can’t hold… in fact if it weren’t a clip from reason.tv I wouldn’t have any evidence to suggest or assume that the dumb reporter and camera man were libertarians… There is something to be said about tenure being abused in the current system, it was never meant to be the monstrosity it is today. I think rewarding teachers for their performance would go a long way towards fixing the system.
Did you read about the teacher of the year in New Jersey that was fired this year because she was at the bottom of the seniority list and didn't have tenure...even though she was considered to be the best teacher last year... doesn't seem like the system is exactly set up to benefit the kids does it?
Beyond the video though, I agree, generally teachers are there because they want to teach not because of the job security. So I’m curious what you have to say on the matter David, because you were considering a teaching career (I’m assuming based on what you said) I feel like you would have an interesting perspective on the matter. What are the major driving issues in education reform? An approach I like is a voucher system but even it has its flaws that I feel like would be just be a whole new can of worms.
Relating to the subject, have you seen the documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’? I saw it when it came out last year and thought it was pretty good.