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Full of Sound and Fury, Certifying Nothing
Although most people assume that certified teachers get better results than uncertified teachers, the accumulating evidence suggests that, on average, uncertified teachers get as good as or better results than their certified colleagues. Anyone who has done his or her time at a faculty of education will probably not be surprised by this fact. Paraphrasing Bismarck, preparing teachers is like making sausages: it is better not to watch them being made.
In 2003, the Ontario College of Teachers asked its members to rank the sources of their teaching skills. Pre-service training at a faculty of education was ranked ninth, after such things as common sense and input from family members. It gets worse. The requirement of a year of busy work at a faculty of education serves to deter many talented and hard-working individuals from entering the teaching profession. Furthermore, teacher training is not only unlikely to confer much pedagogical skill on its victims, but also it frequently fills their heads with foolish fads.
As George Will writes, “If you were ill and could miraculously be treated either by Hippocrates or by a young graduate of the Johns Hopkins medical schools, with his modern technologies and techniques, you would choose the latter. But if you could choose to have your child taught either by Socrates or by a freshly-minted holder of a degree in education, full of the latest pedagogic theories and techniques? Socrates, please.“