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From: dam@uvacs.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Ph.D.'s and Teaching
Message-ID: <2186@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU>
Date: 23 Jan 88 17:51:31 GMT
References: <2144@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU> <115@mccc.UUCP> <3469@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu> <429@sdcc15.UUCP> <261@tmsoft.UUCP> <844@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> <2062@pdn.UUCP> <906@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>
Reply-To: #damont@wmmvs.BITNET (Dave Montuori)
Organization: U.Va. CS dept.  Charlottesville, VA
Lines: 37
Posted: Sat Jan 23 12:51:31 1988

Armed only with my near-Master's in CS and the need for employment, I have
accepted a job as a "teaching specialist" at a private school in Southside
Virginia. ("Teaching specialist" means I teach the same subject to all
grades, kindergarten through high school. In fact, I'm a "specialist" in
two areas, CS and music, but that's another story.)

The school does not require certification to teach; the accreditation board
(SACS) requires expertise (read degree) in the field most taught, plus two
education courses, which can be taken after you start, but must be completed
within two years. I am not certified; the state doesn't certify for CS anyway,
so the point is moot.

I give my first real classes Monday (the last 2 weeks have been semester review
and exams) and I am scared stiff. I haven't taken any ed courses, and it seems
to me that taking 2 or 3 might have helped to alleviate my current plight.

Virginia is moving to a system whereby prospective teachers major in their
subject fields, and then take a year of gradskool which includes the necessary
education courses. The pilot program for this system is here at UVa, but I'm
not sure how it works. I will be contacting the Dept of Ed in the near future
to check on actual certification requirements, because the 6 people I've asked
have given me 6 different and often conflicting answers about it. (The initial
certification would apparently be math for a CS teacher.)

I think this is the right direction: away from the undergrad education major.
However, I think 2-3 ed courses would be advisable for prospective teachers...
as would a course in Public Speaking. The purpose of these courses would be
to improve one's communication with the class, and to mollify those d@#=ed
stomach butterflies (to some extent).

Comments? I'll write again after I've got some real classroom experience
under my belt.
-- 
From the University of Virginia at Boar's Head, C.S. Department-in-Exile:
Dave Montuori (Dr. ZRFQ)
dam@uvacs.cs.virginia.EDU
I am usually at the College of William and Mary. Email: #damont@wmmvs.BITNET