Educational Psychology

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educationalpsychology/chapter/communication-in-classrooms-vs-communication-elsewhere/

Chapter 1: The Changing Teaching Profession and You

Teaching is different from in the past

In the past decade or two teaching has changed significantly, so much in fact that schools may
not be what some of us remember from our own childhood. Changes have affected both the
opportunities and the challenges of teaching, as well as the attitudes, knowledge, and skills
needed to prepare for a teaching career. The changes have influenced much of the content of this
book.

To see what we mean, look briefly at four new trends in education, at how they have changed
what teachers do, and at how you will therefore need to prepare to teach:

 increased diversity: there are more differences among students than there used to be.
Diversity has made teaching more fulfilling as a career, but also made more challenging
in certain respects.
 increased instructional technology: classrooms, schools, and students use computers
more often today than in the past for research, writing, communicating, and keeping
records. Technology has created new ways for students to learn (for example, this
textbook would not be possible without Internet technology!). It has also altered how
teachers can teach most effectively, and even raised issues about what constitutes “true”
teaching and learning.
 greater accountability in education: both the public and educators themselves pay more
attention than in the past to how to assess (or provide evidence for) learning and good
quality teaching. The attention has increased the importance of education to the public (a
good thing) and improved education for some students. But it has also created new
constraints on what teachers teach and what students learn.
 increased professionalism of teachers: Now more than ever, teachers are able to assess
the quality of their own work as well as that of colleagues, and to take steps to improve it
when necessary. Professionalism improves teaching, but by creating higher standards of
practice it also creates greater worries about whether particular teachers and schools are
“good enough.”

How do these changes show up in the daily life of classrooms? The answer depends partly on
where you teach; circumstances differ among schools, cities, and even whole societies.
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