TEXT

Well, there’s a dilemma tied to these questions. In elementary school in China, the teachers are subject specialists. The math teachers teach math, the reading and writing teachers teach reading and writing, the English teachers teach English, the drawing teachers teach drawing. You get the idea. They are specialists, not just in the subject, but in how to teach their subject. And, unlike their American counterparts, they are provided hundreds of hours to develop successful lessons. Hundreds. It turns out the Chinese elementary school teachers teach only three to four classes a day. The rest of the day they collaborate with each other, correct papers, and observe and critique each others’ teaching.

In contrast to the reality of the Chinese teaching profession, American elementary school teachers teach all subjects — reading, writing, math, social studies, health, science, art (if there is any) and often P.E. There is no way they can specialize in one subject; they are generalists.

Yet there is another issue to be considered before rushing toward a Chinese professional development model. The Chinese teachers do not know their students well, at all. They teach a group of students for 45 minutes and then move on to the next group. Similar to the schedules of U.S. high school teachers. In contrast, American elementary teachers are with the same class of children all day. They know the children’s strengths and needs, what interests them and what needs more encouragement. They know how their siblings are doing and whether they are hungry. Being a generalist means U.S. teachers know the whole child fairly well and can respond to that child in subtle ways that can be helpful...

Although it’s tempting to push for more specialization for individual teachers, there is something to be said for knowing the whole person in the elementary school setting.

 VIDEO