The number of people making second career decisions to go into teaching or coming to teaching from unconventional backgrounds has increased, and that is, overall, a good thing.
But a lot of teachers are needed now and will be needed in coming years and the mainstream way to get into teaching — go to college, major in education, go to work in a school — remains important.
UW looks to improve teacher pipeline
The University of Wisconsin System has created a task force to recommend ways to improve the pipeline.
The session at UWM was sort of an open-microphone night for those who are concerned. Speakers were mostly people involved in the field, not all of them at UWM. They voiced support for more financial aid for students, more partnerships in developing teachers, more encouragement for people to become teachers, fewer bureaucratic barriers.
You’re trying to push a string unless more is done to improve the working situations in schools, one speaker warned. “There’s got to be something to go to that’s attractive,” he said.