<p>I read with interest the thread about a nursing career getting no respect (my degree is in nursing, but I don’t work in the field) because my daughter aspires to a career as a biology teacher here in NYC. She is a good student, 3.7 UW GPA, nice leadership and ECS, has done excellent and award winning biochemistry research and will intern at our local college this summer, but she has mediocre testing. Anyway, we have visited some colleges that have both biology and secondary education programs and have been very surprised at how little encouragement she has received and how many professors either make it a mission to help her decide to do something they consider more worthwhile, or lose interest in her completely when they find out her career plans. How would you all advise as the best way to handle that with colleges, with her current teachers and GC, and with the public at large who don’t respect these goals?</p>
<p>I suggest that you tell your daughter to follow her heart and her own values.</p>
<p>My son has experienced similar. Add to this, he’s African American with sky high scores, including in math. Due to the lack of African Americans in the hard sciences, he’s a very attractive candidate.</p>
<p>However, it looks like he wants to be either a psychologist or secondary school teacher. He likes making a difference by personally working with people. He isn’t excited about the thought of prestige or making a lot of money.</p>
<p>So, what I do is encourage him to do things that will let him see if the fields he’s considering are a good fit. I don’t try to change other people. It’s actually a compliment to him that others are trying to attract him into fields that are perceived as more demanding. He has the option, however, of choosing his own path.</p>
<p>You are visiting the wrong schools or the wrong faculty or both. There are many, many schools where there is a serious dedication to teacher education.</p>
<p>The image of teaching has been steadily improving. Let’s face it, at one time the schoolmarm was a glorified babysitter who had no man to take care of her. Now at least society talks a good story about supporting education.</p>
<p>In our area teaching is now regarded as the best thing going. Salaries are relatively high, you can retire with full lifetime medical benefits after 25 years, and finally the amazing notion of having SUMMERS OFF is getting its due. Some pretty smart kids are going into education and they seem to love it.</p>
<p>I posted in the other thread as well. I was highly discouraged from going into education by my high school teachers. I think it’s a backlash from when women only had a few choices. Now when women choose stereotypical female careers, people tend to discourage it and say “they can do more.” </p>
<p>I would encourage her to a) find a school that values training good, well educated teachers and b) to encourage her to ignore all of the pessimists. I never changed my major in school once and if I had it to do all over again I’d still go into teaching. She will never be wealthy, but if she loves it she will be happy.</p>
<p>I have any number of friends who make a lot more money than I do, but they dread waking up and going to their job every morning. I love the children I work with, my environment, and the challenges my job provides on a daily basis. To me, happiness and fulfillment should count a lot more than what other people want her to do.</p>
<p>all for the good tips. My daughter has explained carefully how she came to make her choice, in terms of the big picture of her life, and I completely respect and admire her choice. I think she will make a difference to her students and I do think she will be happy. We’ve found lots of places that do elementary education and are very proud of it, but the combo of a truly excellent bio department AND teaching are not as easy to find as I would have thought. Thankfully, she is just now finishing her junior year, so we can look a little bit more.</p>
<p>The demand for good high school science teachers is huge, at least in our part of the country. I agree with the poster who said you are either visiting the wrong schools or faculty. But if you think it’s a problem for admissions, she should just talk about her love of biology when visiting biology profs. Doing research while in college will only enhance the experiences she can bring into the classroom as a teacher. I can’t imagine it would be a problem with an admissions office, as I believe the people reading her applications would be closer to the type of person who goes into teaching, as opposed to the type who goes into research.</p>
<p>As for lack of respect for teachers, the main problem remains the salary. My daughter, who graduated UCLA, and has been working for several years, is just about to enter a one year program which will give her a masters and a credential in elementary school education. Then, she will get a job that will not pay as much as the office and sales job she got right out of college. She is passionate about her choice of profession, as well as about the social justice aspects of it, and we’re proud of her. I just worry how she’ll buy a house or ultimately raise a family in our very expensive part of the country. I imagine NYC would be even more of a challenge.</p>
<p>I cross posted with several others, but in terms of college search, she might look first for good biology programs and then consider going on for teacher training. In California, at least, you now need to have an undergrad science major to get a high school credential in a single science subject like biology. Also, the trend is towards masters degrees, which also add some to the salary.Especially if she is willing to work in an undersevered school, she is likely to get graduate education paid for.</p>
<p>is for her to get her degree in biology with a double major-type situation in education, get certified and then get hired to teach in NYC while working on her master’s at night, unless she can find a five-year master’s program that is affordable-ish. And she definitely wants to work in the NYC public school system. Is looking at the teachers academy at Hunter but really does want to go away, and Hunter is not that great anyway. She had started with a very long list and certain expectations, but is now whittling away at the list and revising her expectations. Which is, I guess, what the search process is about.</p>
<p>zoosermom,</p>
<p>there is such a shortage of math and science teachers in NYC, that she will most likely be able to get her masters paid for by the board of ED.</p>
<p>have her look into the Teaching Opportunity program</p>
<p>The Teaching Opportunity Program represents
a collaborative initiative between The City University of New York and the New York City Department of Education. The program provides stipends, education awards and special training to highly qualified baccalaureate program graduates seeking to pursue a career in teaching. It recruits undergraduate students, recent graduates and career changers with academic majors that have been identified as current and future areas of teacher shortage. During the year 2006, the program will focus on recruiting candidates with degrees or concentrations in the areas of Spanish, mathematics, and science, including biology, chemistry, physics, the earth sciences and related analytical fields. In addition, candidates who already hold a teaching certificate and are interested in pursuing a career as a literacy teacher may apply.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.top.cuny.edu/[/url]”>http://www.top.cuny.edu/</a></p>
<p>New York City Department of Educations Graduate Scholarship Program.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nycboe.net/NR/rdonlyres/EA57B4E9-6191-4306-A44B-921EC9517E89/9517/ScholarshipCohortApplicationSummer200632906revised.doc[/url]”>http://www.nycboe.net/NR/rdonlyres/EA57B4E9-6191-4306-A44B-921EC9517E89/9517/ScholarshipCohortApplicationSummer200632906revised.doc</a></p>
<p>salaries effective latest UFT Contract</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.uft.org/member/rights/contracts/tentative/agreement/index3.html[/url]”>http://www.uft.org/member/rights/contracts/tentative/agreement/index3.html</a></p>
<p>There is a special place in heaven for good nurses and teachers. However, I don’t think that if a person complains about an inadequate one, that it is somehow “disrespectful” to all nurses and teachers. </p>
<p>With both of my C-sections, I had complications and had to stay in the hospital for a week. During that time I had loving, caring nurses that I ADORED (I still send XMAS card to two of them). However, I had ONE that I had to have removed from my care. She had absolutely no bed side manner at all!!! I was in excruciating pain (from the complications) but she was incredibly cruel to me. Even tho it happened 17 years ago, I still remember how awful she was. However, I am totally grateful for the other nurses who were a blessing throughout the whole ordeal.</p>
<p>My husband recently had hip replacement surgery and all his nurses were top notch!!! Not a complaint about a one!!! Truly professional and compassionate – and they were all working 12 hour days.</p>
<p>It was incredibly kind of you to take the time to find and post those links for me and I appreciate it very much. I’m going to check out that info and pass them along to my daughter. Thank you!!!</p>