Teachers’ training

I take issue with Alwyn Poole’s rather scathing criticism of teachers, teacher unions and the the current training requirements. Mr Poole’s belief that teaching is not a technical skill that requires a professional qualification pathway is both wrong and an affront to teachers.

To further state that 17 years as a student is sufficient to become a teacher is akin to saying that a someone can teach a language just because it is their native language, or that they can teach maths because they have a degree in maths.

It is foolish to place an untrained teacher straight into a job and to expect them to learn on the job. Parents want to know that their children’s teacher has at least basic classroom management and teaching skills. Chris Bangs, Hillsborough. I entered teaching in exactly the way Alwyn Poole is proposing, 1965 was another time of acute shortage and my MA degree was welcome at the country high school where I began my career, before teacher training was mandatory.

I did a really good job of teaching students of similar background to myself. But I know that although I was conscientious and tried hard, I did not get through to many of the 40 per cent of young Maori in that school, who needed a teacher with the cultural fluency I had not yet developed.

Today’s world of “success for all” requires a considerably higher skill level than I was able to offer, aged 21.

Ann Dunphy, Parnell.