Why the shift?

Why are there so many people going into teaching from other professions?

Feistritzer's Best Teacher Prep. Tips Get into real-life classrooms early w/ mentor teachers Intern-Mentor collaboration is key Bone up on learning theory and the psychology of learning Review case studies of classroom situations. WWYD? Review & critique videos of effective & non-effective teachers. Then review tapes of yourself.

The old profile: high school students go to college, major in education and become teachers.

The new profile: mid-career or post-baccalaureate career switchers. This group includes more men (post-military), more minorities, and more older people. They call us "lateral entry" teachers—educated people leaving one white collar field to enter teaching. But this is a trend a decade in the making: According to C. Emily Feistritzer President, National Center for Education Information, "…3 out of 10 people who were prepared to teach in 1999 actually began their preparation to teach at the post-baccalaureate level." The notion that this trend has really grown is evidenced in the fact that 41 states and the District of Columbia have developed some type or types of alternative routes for certifying teachers.

You can read a great interview with her here. It also has her ideas for the best ways to prepare for teaching.

But WHY?!

There's a a german word zeitgeist, which literally means "the spirit of the times," and it refers to climate within a nation or even specific groups. Wikipedia it here. Though this trend did begin in 1999, I'm wondering if it grew legs so fast because of a decade of dangling chads, dot-com boom & bust, 9/11, war in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, etc. Don't know about you, but I've spent a lot of time reflecting on what's going on around me. Though there were no clear answers, our then-president galloped through full speed ahead, leaving us shaking our heads and wondering, "What the heck just happened?" Our national lives and personal lives will have hoof prints of his doing for decades to come. Is the result a national zeitgeist of reflection? Are we starved for nuance, thought, and self-reflection?

How does that relate to teaching? Please reflect on it and let me know.