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32 sats \ 5 replies \ @Coinsreporter OP 10 Sep \ parent \ on: US high school students math and reading scores hit record new low Education
Lack of prestige for teachers/professors is definitely a very big reason then.
In case you are aware, Teachers a.k.a. Gurus are given a place even above God in India and there's one big festivals "Guru Purnima" every year when it's reminded to students and parents that "Noone is bigger than the Guru."
I think this cultural/religious association between students and teacher is really helpful in maintaining the prestige.
Does/did American culture have something like this?
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Oh, definitely nothing close. And even in American movies/television, high school teachers are often portrayed as boring, dumb, lazy, and incompetent.
College professors usually get better treatment by the media.
And it may actually be a reflection of reality. Since college professor is considered prestigious, it does attract some pretty good talent, even if the pay isn't the best. But primary school and secondary school teaching--definitely considered low prestige.
Another big factor I forgot to mention is teachers' unions, which have made it difficult to:
- Fire bad teachers
- Pay good teachers more than bad teachers
That in itself is a huuuuuuuuuuge problem. I think the reason I didn't bring up teachers unions at first was that I sometimes think people overemphasis the role of the unions. Because I'm not sure there's evidence that teachers in non-unionized states perform better than those in unionized states. And teaching may be even lower-paid, lower-prestige in the non-union states.
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that means that in Latin America we have a better concept of being a teacher or educator than the one they have in the United States. Since I was little, I was told that I had to respect my teacher and that each of the lessons he gave me would change my life, which was the case.
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For sure. I am not sure of any societies where teachers are disrespected more than in the US
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It's crazy, I didn't know that, well, in the movies it's something else. The United States has always been seen differently in all aspects, including education.
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wow it's really amazing I didn't know it was like that in India.
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