Re " 'What Is Good Teaching?,' " by Joe Nocera (column, Dec. 17):
Those who prepare teachers cannot know where prospective teachers will work, and cannot ready them for every setting, or every grade level. This time-consuming work must be done in the workplace, at the school.
It seems that even the experienced teacher in the film that Mr. Nocera describes, "The New Public," took some time to find a way "in" and begin to reach his new student population.
The teacher in the film does much more than change classroom management styles. He learns to offer accessible, relevant material and instruction to his students. Yet we unrealistically expect fledgling teachers to do this, based on what they learned in a quick teacher education program.
In any field that is important to our citizenry, on-the-job training involves close supervision coupled with a gradual increase in workload and expectations. But it is expensive. So far we are unwilling to spend the money to do this right in education.
MARY ELLEN LEVIN
New York, Dec. 17, 2013
The writer is a retired principal who has taught in teacher education programs.
To the Editor:
I am humbled to be mentioned in Joe Nocera's column. By no coincidence am I quoted twice uttering the phrase, "I had to learn." I am still learning.
Teaching in the "inner city" — teaching anywhere for that matter — requires skills that are difficult to master. Indeed, teachers need training and continuing systemwide support to meet the challenges of the profession.
Education reform, however, will continue to have limited success to the extent that inequality persists. Economic and social insecurity all too often lead to emotional and cognitive difficulties that no classroom can fully rectify. Yet that's the hand we're dealt, students and teachers alike, and we soldier on, ever determined to make a difference.
And we do so despite the fact that our students graduate into an economy of insecure, low-wage, no-benefit, part-time jobs. While a new tide of progressivism offers a glimmer of hope, punishing programs of fiscal austerity and standardized testing portend a dim future.
KEVIN GREER
Brooklyn, Dec. 18, 2013
The writer teaches at Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School and appears in the film "The New Public."
To the Editor:
Kevin Greer, the teacher profiled in Joe Nocera's column, demonstrates the characteristics of effective teachers: flexibility, responsiveness to a range of student abilities and willingness to break down complex ideas into manageable chunks. He also demonstrates that good classroom management skills go hand in hand with a curriculum that engages students.
The new National Council on Teacher Quality report that Mr. Nocera cites faults schools of education for dropping the ball on classroom management, but perhaps equally at fault is today's canned curriculum dominated by state mandates and batteries of standardized tests that leave little room for teacher or student initiative in the classroom.
JONATHAN SILIN
Toronto, Dec. 17, 2013
The writer is the editor of Occasional Papers, a forum of the Bank Street College of Education.
To the Editor:
Joe Nocera cites a report by the National Council on Teacher Quality that advocates teaching classroom management techniques in stand-alone classes. But in our teacher training programs, we have determined that classroom management in inner-city schools can best be taught by putting teaching interns into those schools for an extended period of time, rather than having the future teachers sitting only in our college classrooms. Our interns spend a full academic year side by side with an experienced teacher, understanding these challenges in a real-world setting.
While college classroom instruction is important, and videos can convey some of the challenges of working in inner-city schools, nothing can substitute for the real-world experience of putting teacher candidates into these schools.
DONALD E. HELLER
Dean, College of Education
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Mich., Dec. 17, 2013
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