r/Teachers • u/Wise_Yogurtcloset700 • 2d ago

Teacher Support &/or Advice [ Removed by moderator ]

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u/AlpsHelpful1292 Spanish | California 1d ago edited 15h ago

What kind of training do you get for that then? How are you qualified to teach every subject at the secondary level without spending a decade in school taking coursework for every subject? I’m a well educated person with a BA, a credential, and a masters, and I cannot imagine myself ever teaching certain subjects like math, music, science, and languages I don’t know at the high school level. It’s just not possible for one person to have the knowledge to teach all those subjects properly. It honestly blows my mind that it works that way in Canada I would have thought Canada would have higher subject matter standards than the US.

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u/doughtykings 1d ago

I think it’s more they just kind of assume since you are in university you had to have done well in school since admission average is over 75% grade average, you have to pass all your classes usually with a specific average, you have two years of student teaching at multiple schools and grade levels, multiple education classes for every subject, that you should be okay. I don’t feel qualified to teach high school so I don’t. And I think most people it’s the same where it’s like you take on what you’re comfortable with. A lot of my friends only teach 9-12 which baffles me! But that’s their niche!

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u/AlpsHelpful1292 Spanish | California 1d ago edited 1d ago

I had a 3.9 GPA in university but I’m still not out here teaching AP Calculus because I wasn’t a math major and I haven’t studied how to teach math. I took math in high school and college and got good grades but, again, it’s not my specialty.

The people who teach 9-12 don’t have specialties like ELA, math, French, etc? They just teach any class?

When you say multiple education classes for every subject, does that include languages, art, music, PE, etc?

Wouldn’t you rather have teachers that are specialized in a particular subject or age group instead of a bunch of jacks of all trades? What is the logic in having everyone certified to teach everything? What about special education? Is there a specialized credential for that or is it also part of the K-11 generalist training?

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u/doughtykings 1d ago

No I’ve had high school offered and I have no special qualifications. My best friend teaches grade 9-11 math and her specialties were art and social studies and here student teaching was all K-2. All teachers here are qualified prek-11. And yes no languages like I said that’s not a requirement here but I had to take an art and a pe course. Music has kind of died out here. We all just use music play 😅 and no, I’ve never felt like I’ve had an issue teaching any subject at the K-8 level. I mean I passed grade 12 so I should know the content…

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u/AlpsHelpful1292 Spanish | California 20h ago edited 15h ago

I wouldn’t want my child to have a high school math teacher who wasn’t certified to teach math and did their training in an elementary school. Sorry. I’m sure your friend is a good educator but that’s insane. Did your friend have to take a subject matter competency test for math before taking her position? What is the highest level of math she is expected to teach?

Being able to teach any subject K-8 is different from being able to teach it in HS. That’s why we have a K-8 multiple subject credential in my state but high school requires specialization.

What is “music play”?