I would expect your first proposal to lead to a serious shortage of math and science teachers unless paired with a commensurate increase in incentives, and possibly with other systemic changes.
If the school administrators that I’ve talked to are to be trusted, there’s already a shortage severe enough to pretty much guarantee employment for people with even a modest math or science background (read: a few classes, or a major in a tangentially related field) who have teaching credentials. That’s probably not a situation where you want to be introducing stricter qualifications.
Requiring a math degree seems like overkill for math teachers up to grade 9 or so. What’s actually needed is a solid understanding of the math they’re teaching plus a few years ahead so that they can recognize and help bright students.
Teaching really is a different skill than knowing the subject matter. If education courses aren’t good, that’s another problem to be solved, not a reason for giving up on teaching how to teach.
I would expect your first proposal to lead to a serious shortage of math and science teachers unless paired with a commensurate increase in incentives, and possibly with other systemic changes.
If the school administrators that I’ve talked to are to be trusted, there’s already a shortage severe enough to pretty much guarantee employment for people with even a modest math or science background (read: a few classes, or a major in a tangentially related field) who have teaching credentials. That’s probably not a situation where you want to be introducing stricter qualifications.
Requiring a math degree seems like overkill for math teachers up to grade 9 or so. What’s actually needed is a solid understanding of the math they’re teaching plus a few years ahead so that they can recognize and help bright students.
Teaching really is a different skill than knowing the subject matter. If education courses aren’t good, that’s another problem to be solved, not a reason for giving up on teaching how to teach.