Teacher Education's Bermuda Triangle: Dichotomy, Mythology, and Amnesia
Journal article by Marilyn Cochran-Smith; Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 54, 2003
Journal Article Excerpt
Teacher education's Bermuda Triangle: dichotomy, mythology, and amnesia. by Marilyn Cochran-Smith Legend has it that there is a triangular area in the Atlantic Ocean, defined at its points by Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Miami, into which countless people and more than 70 sea and air crafts have disappeared without a trace during the last half century. Dozens of theories have been offered to explain the so-called mysterious disappearances, some pure science fiction, others more scientific, and some focused on human error and bad luck. Interestingly, neither the Coast Guard nor reputable scientists are persuaded by supernatural explanations for events in the area, nor do they even acknowledge that the number of disasters is unusual given the area's heavy traffic and its size and location (Rosenberg, 1974). Thus, at least officially, there are no inexplicable disappearances, no Bermuda Triangle, and no mystery to solve. As it turns out, the "mystery" of the Bermuda Triangle, which got its start as the lead story in a fiction magazine, has been popularized in articles, best-sellers, and television documentaries through what Robert Todd Carroll, author of "the skeptics' dictionary," calls "communal reinforcement among uncritical authors and a willing mass media to uncritically pass on speculation" (Carroll, 2002). Teacher education may not have TV shows promoting speculation about it, but it does have its share of unfounded assumptions, assertions, and explanations that are circulated more or less uncritically by the media, by critics of teacher education, and sometimes by the profession itself. The defining points of "teacher education's Bermuda Triangle" are not the geography of Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Miami but the intellectual landscape of dichotomy, mythology, and amnesia. COLLEGE GRADS VERSUS ED SCHOOL GRADS: THE DANGER OF DICHOTOMIES Many dichotomies are based on the mistaken assumption that the only alternative to a particular idea, concept, or position is its opposite or its absence. Although dichotomies are often rhetorically effective, they are rarely useful for sorting out complex issues. Instead they tend to reduce important differences to mere caricatures while obscuring equally important similarities and nuances. The dichotomy most plaguing teacher education right now is the one between "college grads," on one hand, and "ed school grads," on the other. When this dichotomy is invoked, college grads--who are assumed to possess subject matter knowledge and verbal ability--are regarded as the most desirable teaching recruits. At the same time, ed school grads--who are assumed to be deficient in both of these areas--are regarded as least desirable. Although this dichotomy is reductionist, false in certain ways, and dangerous, it is being widely promoted by influential individuals and groups, including conservative foundations that advocate deregulation of teacher education and other market-based reforms; the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) (2002), which has proclaimed that subject matter knowledge and verbal ability are the only empirically-certified attributes of highly-effective teachers; and the American Board for the Certification of Teacher Excellence (2003), whose mission is to develop a new, low cost, and transportable teaching credential based on paper-and-pencil tests of subject matter and professional knowledge. The main thing wrong with the dichotomy between college grads and ed school grads is that it's wrong. It suggests that people entering teaching have either learned subject matter knowledge or they have been prepared to teach in programs sponsored by schools, colleges, and departments of education and thus not learned subject matter. The implication, of course, is that collegiate-based teacher preparation has nothing to do with subject matter and, to the contrary, it wastes precious time on inanities such as pedagogy, educational foundations, or supervised fieldwork and community experiences. This false dichotomy ignores completely the fact that currently most of those who are prepared in collegiate programs have earned both full subject matter majors (e.g., English or mathematics, if they are planning to teach at the secondary level, or psychology or child development, if they are planning to teach at the elementary level) as well as education majors or minors. In fact, since the 1980s, almost all states have increased the academic requirements for teachers, including requirements in many states that they complete subject area majors as well as or instead of education majors.Another part of what is wrong with the college grad versus ed school grad dichotomy is that it is misleading about the verbal ability (shorthand for academic ability or intelligence) of prospective teachers. The dichotomy insinuates that college grads are "the best and the brightest" while ed school grads are the dregs of the college population. This is not only insulting to the ... |
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