Here's another limb that I'll tiptoe out on (that others have climbed) ...
My mother was a music teacher in the '60s, and '70s. She, and many of her colleagues were depression kids who also had lived through and survived WWII. Not an easy road to travel. They were tough and independent. They came of age before the Pill, so their options for professions (other than homemaker) were largely limited to the traditional female roles of nursing and teaching.
I remember Mom's dinner table conversations about the uselessness of the required teacher certification courses and the 'supervisors' who would occasionally 'observe' her classes. In general, the feedback from the supervisor visits was largely ignored. One close friend taught first grade, and was well known to be a very effective teacher of reading. She would not pay any attention to 'supervisors', and would simply say 'come back at the end of the year', at which point all of the kids would be reading at grade level.
My conclusion: Many strong, talented teachers were available during the early post-WWII era, but after the Pill and 'Women's Lib', the available talent pool of excellent teachers began to evaporate as talent migrated to higher-paying or more interesting professions. In the mean time, the less talented teachers became dependent on the supervivors, who followed the Peter Principal and were not able to discern the balony being taught by the educational 'elite'. Rinse and repeat for several years... At which point, we arrive at your limb, where the really talented teachers are vastly outnumbered. Many quit the field.
As the downward spiral continues, parental options include private school or homeschool. We realized we didn't have the time or energy to fix the system, so we opted out and homeschooled our two sons through high school.
In the debris, there do appear to be some glimmers of hope (you being one).
Here's another limb that I'll tiptoe out on (that others have climbed) ...
My mother was a music teacher in the '60s, and '70s. She, and many of her colleagues were depression kids who also had lived through and survived WWII. Not an easy road to travel. They were tough and independent. They came of age before the Pill, so their options for professions (other than homemaker) were largely limited to the traditional female roles of nursing and teaching.
I remember Mom's dinner table conversations about the uselessness of the required teacher certification courses and the 'supervisors' who would occasionally 'observe' her classes. In general, the feedback from the supervisor visits was largely ignored. One close friend taught first grade, and was well known to be a very effective teacher of reading. She would not pay any attention to 'supervisors', and would simply say 'come back at the end of the year', at which point all of the kids would be reading at grade level.
My conclusion: Many strong, talented teachers were available during the early post-WWII era, but after the Pill and 'Women's Lib', the available talent pool of excellent teachers began to evaporate as talent migrated to higher-paying or more interesting professions. In the mean time, the less talented teachers became dependent on the supervivors, who followed the Peter Principal and were not able to discern the balony being taught by the educational 'elite'. Rinse and repeat for several years... At which point, we arrive at your limb, where the really talented teachers are vastly outnumbered. Many quit the field.
As the downward spiral continues, parental options include private school or homeschool. We realized we didn't have the time or energy to fix the system, so we opted out and homeschooled our two sons through high school.
In the debris, there do appear to be some glimmers of hope (you being one).