Future of Education: A BAR Exam For Teachers? (VIDEO)
What would you say to a BAR exam for teachers? That is just one of the ideas that Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, has for the future of education. Watch Weingarten discuss her other ideas for better preparing teachers to educate:
Randi Weingarten (right) with genConnect's Paula Silver (left) at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival.
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“Why don’t we do in this country what we do for lawyers and doctors?” Weingarten said. “Why don’t we have not only a set of professional standards but why don’t we also make sure that every teacher has to meet them before he or she enters the classroom? That would be good for teachers to feel more prepared and good for the students they are serving. So, what we are proposing is a BAR exam for teachers. ”
While there are many ideas about how to improve America’s education system, Weingarten says that it really comes down to “problem-solving to ensure all kids get a great education.”
“Our economy depends on it, our democracy depends on it, our future and our children’s future depends on it,” she said.
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Weingarten hopes that her newly-developed digital platform, Share My Lesson, will be a step in the right direction. Created by the American Federation of Teachers and Britain’s TES Connect, this free online educator community offers unlimited resources, including lesson plans and teaching strategies for all ages.
“So, when you are sitting up as a school teacher at ten-thirty at night or at five o’ clock in the morning trying to say, ‘How am I going to differentiate instruction…how I am I going to refresh my lesson,’ there is that desktop, right there.”
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genConnect is credentialed press at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colo., where we are interviewing the premier speakers and attendees at the conference. For more of our video interviews and articles from the Ideas Festival, click here.
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