In article , " wrote:
On Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:31:20 -0400, Bill wrote:

wrote:

Again, you assume that only a "professional teacher" can teach. That is a
*very* bad assumption. One which is partly responsible for our ****-poor
education system.

Bill wrote:
I am Not saying that only a professional teacher can teach. I am saying
that my department is not willing to take the chance on someone that has
never taught a class before. It's just a matter of "prudence".
Plenty of things go astray every semester even without taking such risks.

krw: replied
That is not what you said. YOu were making a general statement. The argument
is nuts anyway. There is no magic to teaching. ...well, other than having a
good grasp of the subject matter (something "professional teachers" *very*
often don't have).

"There is no magic to teaching. ...well, other than having a
good grasp of the subject matter"

If you took that attitude into the classroom you'd disappoint
everyone except yourself (seriously)!

Wrong. THat's the only "magic". Everything else is natural.

You may get away with it in a
class of graduate students, but at the other end of the spectrum you'll
encounter real issues if you are concerned about student success.

Try teaching HS kids math without understanding math. Ditto physics....

Try teaching *anything* if you can't communicate it clearly. Let me know how
well that works for you.

Let's do a thought experiment. For the purposes of the experiment, we will
stipulate that you have expert knowledge of chemistry, and that you speak,
understand, read, and write only Polish, and no other language. Your
assignment is to teach high school chemistry in Birmingham, Alabama.

How helpful is that expert knowledge of chemistry in teaching a classroom full
of students who can't understand anything you say?