Chris C,
The teacher had said that Poland started WW2 because Poland had not cooperated with Germany, which eventually made Germany invade Poland. The same teacher had also said a number of other things that were quite sympathetic towards Germany.

Regardless - it is not wise to question a teacher in a public school, as that teacher can easily give the student a low mark. There is basically no one to stop them.

Lack of trust in the teachers in public schools does appear to be a major problem for the teachers in public schools.

One would expect Keese, being part of the elitist Educational Establishment of public education, to applaud it. But in the penultimate paragraph of his article he exposes the frivolity of his argument. He asserts by a fabrication of the facts that “the majority of teachers and administrators in both educational systems choose lower pay and lower PERCEIVED status” (perceived is the operational word) for the sake of their students. He would have us believe that among all the professions, only teachers and administrators of schools are divinely blessed with that rare value of altruism.

However for those of us who are not fugitives from reality, we know of the fact that while teachers and administrators in government schools get lower pay because of their real, not perceived, lower educational status (no relation to altruism.), their counterparts in private schools get higher pay because of their higher educational standing.

No person in any profession who is proud of his vocation and his abilities would choose lower pay and lower status because of some sort of altruism toward those whom he serves. His goal is to EDUCATE his students not to flash his badge of altruism as a sign of being a good excellent teacher.

http://kotzabasis.wordpress.com

Public school teachers enjoy a fairly secure unionised job situation.The prevailing philosophy is one thus of a left wing socialist.Too many lack life's real experiences.They have gone from home,to school and more school.At least those in the private system have to perform to some standards or risk having to go back to the lower pay of the public system.
In the public system there are no real consequences for poor performance or slack behaviour.They have to break the law to lose their jobs.
The best way is to pay the dedicated teachers more money,then people will consider staying with the Public System.It can't be that hard to figure out.

Ajay,

Yes teachers all-to-often "life experiences". Perhaps, a year or two in industry should be a prerequisite to employment and also TER [AUI] over 80. My high school teachers were in the main real shockers. University was much better.

Ajay,

The high rate of unionisation in schools is a result of the poor working conditions and poor employment practices which occur in that field. I have been intrigued by the “school is not real” argument for years. Teachers have employers, they have duties to perform, they have long hours of work, they deal with poor leadership, they deal with difficult students, they deal with difficult parents, they suffer from poorly thought out government policies, they deal with children from abusive backgrounds, they put up with a constant stream of abuse from people who would not last one day in an actual classroom and they deal with refugee children who have seen members of their own families murdered. I think the life experiences in schools are real enough.

There are very few slack teachers. They are overwhelmingly hard-working and dedicated people, though they are not all highly able. More money will increase the number of more able and independent-minded people entering teaching and keep them there.

Oliver,

ENTER scores are a function of supply and demand. If more students seek places in teacher training, the ENTERs will rise. For that to happen, the profession has to be made more attractive; e.g., by reversing the substantial pay cuts of the last three decades, by reversing the substantial staffing cuts of the last two decades, by reversing the increase in short-term contract employment of the last fifteen years and by restoring professional judgement to the operations of schools

I think the life experiences in schools are real enough.
Chris C.
I have no doubt that the students expose teachers to the reality of outside the school. My question is , why don't so many teachers learn anything from that ? How many teachers actually teach ? Most just relay info. A good teacher leaves an impression on a student & instills a sense of wanting to know more. Far too many teachers are mere bureaucrats who worm their way out of real responsibility by claiming to be constrained because "it's not part of the curriculum". If teachers were indeed interested in improving the education standard then why not do what they do when they want better conditions. Strike ! Why not strike to improve education ? Why not strike to be able to discipline students ? If teachers are indeed as committed as they try us to believe then make a move to improve education. Don't be just bureaucrats who blame everyone else & use force only when wanting improvements for yourselves.