by Dave Walker » Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:16 pm
At my graduate institution this topic came up often. As mentioned, teaching in private schools is a fine transition step, though one can argue this is not where those 100,000 new STEM teachers are needed most. Unfortunately, the clear-cut notion of transitioning postdocs to science teachers is murky at best.
Some things I remember:
- Systemic disdain for PhD-holders becoming teachers instead of rsearchers. We have talked often about how PIs frown at their pupils moving away from academic research into the industry/consulting/patent law/etc. I would argue it is far worse for those becoming teachers, and a major psychological hurdle for the field. If every PhD who becomes a teacher is subconsciously thought of as "a failure," there's no way this will ever work.
- Friction between new PhD-holding STEM teachers and senior teachers with less education. There is also a contempt on the other side of someone with a PhD thinking they're smarter than everyone else.
- Over-eager postdocs and graduate students do not inherently make good teachers. I don't mean to be crass, but I think this is one of the biggest deterrents. Most trainees do not get training in education theory or classroom experience, while this is mandatory for a BS-level Education major. I feel this is similar to how some PIs are good leaders but none are trained as such -- it happens outside of whatever skills they are trained in.
For what it's worth, programs like Teach For America can help with these issues. But even so, it's a long road for someone who has spent 5-15 years on the grad student/postdoc treadmill.
"The single factor that differentiates Nobel laureates from other scientists is training with another Nobel laureate." -- Sol Snyder