EconTalk Elizabeth Green on Education and Building a Better Teacher
Sep 15, 2014
Elizabeth Green, an education journalist and co-founder of Chalkbeat, discusses her book, Building a Better Teacher. She dives into the art and challenge of teaching, emphasizing practical training over theory. The conversation touches on classroom discipline strategies, comparing American practices with those in Japan, and the balance between rigor and fun in education. Green advocates for reformed teacher accountability and the role of journalism in highlighting educational inequities, stressing the need for compassion in teaching.
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Teaching Is A Learnable Craft
- Teaching skill depends on what teachers do and know, not innate personality traits.
- Research fails to link character traits to classroom effectiveness, so craft matters more.
Rehearse Specific Teaching Moves
- Practice discrete teaching moves through role-play and rehearsals before real classrooms.
- Use approximations of practice so teachers can hone interventions like monitoring and when to help.
Break Tasks Into Practiceable Slices
- Break teaching tasks into slices and rehearse each one with peers acting as students.
- Focus rehearsals on both the monitoring moves and the academic problem teachers will use.
