Too much student teaching and content tests to be a teacher. BIG TIME?

Question

Why are you required to student teach for so long without getting paid?

Why do you have to take 2 content tests to become a high school teacher?

Why do you have to take so many education classes to become a high school teacher?

This is in the state i live in-NM

Someone could get an A in everything I just mentioned and still have no idea how to teach a class.

I think if they want to control the teacher shortage, we need to change the requirements. Lesson the amount of classes, tests, and student teaching time.

If you already have a bachelors degree, I heard that you don't even have to do student teaching in NM. Why would would others have to do student teaching that are working on their bachelors?

So illogical. I just don't get it.

In my opinion, you have to know the knowlege of the subject you teach, follow the district rules and laws, then begin teaching your own class.

I don't understand why student teaching and content test are such a big deal.

Answer 1

IMO it is because nobody is going to trust a class full of kids to a teacher unless they have had ample time to observe them first and benchmark their content knowledge.  

One of the reasons for the extra classes is to teach education students a wide variety of things, like the word lessen, instead of lesson.

Answer 2

History:

The real reason for student teaching is to see if you like teaching or not.

Example:  I have got all this schooling behind me now I am a doctor and I faint when I see blood.

Many student teachers change their major.

Answer 3

It is quite obvious that you have never taught or ever had the responsibility to organize and run a classroom.  I don't mean to make fun of your comments, but there is a distinct difference between being knowledgeable in a subject, and being able to teach it. If there were no need for education courses and student teaching, native speakers of all languages would automatically be superb teachers. Any person in the street who speaks Spanish, for example, would be able to teach that language at any level. Any person who had significant math knowledge, would be able to walk into any math class, organize, deal with disruptive students, and teach.

That is not the case. Neither knowing a subject well, nor being a behavioral or organizational specialist is sufficient. It is a combination of both. It is essential that you have a high degree of proficiency in whatever subject you teach. It is also important that you know how to conduct a class, how to discipline, how to organize a lesson so students will be able to understand, and very importantly, how to teach effectively in a classroom with possibly 30+ students, all with different learning styles and preferences, different backgrounds and interests. Only with such experiences can one successfully move students from one educational level to another. So while some education courses may seem ridiculous (and may not be really needed), it is still critical that you observe effective teachers, have instructional models to follow, learn organizational skills, and have experience under the tutelage of an experienced mentor. That is why it is important to have student teaching experience.

As for older individuals who are not asked to complete the same requirements, the assumption is that these people have a wider range of experiences than a young college graduate. They are still required to take courses to qualify as teachers, but can take them while they are teaching. Nonetheless, I still believe that even older adults with other experiences should have student teaching requirements, even if those requirements must be met concurrently in their own schools.