[thechat] skools

[Dean Mah]

Joe Crawford writes:

> I don't think anyone thinks it's a whole solution. But certainly,
> the mediocre pay scales in teaching don't /contribute/ to excitement
> and enthusiasm for teaching as a career.

But do you want the people who do *not* have excitement and enthusiasm
for their profession and are only there for the money?  Do you want
someone who couldn't give a rat's ass about educating your children in
there teaching because the pay is good?  Oh wait, that's university.

In my simplistic mind, you do what you do because you love it and not
because it pays well.  Why else would I work on open source projects
and online communities?  It sure doesn't pay anything but I love it.

That's not to say you shouldn't want money but it shouldn't be the
only thing that makes you happy about your work.


> I originally went into medicine for partly altruistic reasons, but
> the fact that the wages were generous at the time for my specialty
> certainly helped my enthusiasm. :-) But then, there was rigor
> imposed on me as a professional, to excel, to do continuing
> education, to be licensed and certified by various bodies. From what
> I have seen, the same kind rigor is not often applied to teachers.

Aside: software engineering isn't like medicine, in this respect,
either, but it is a relatively young profession.  Other disciplines
(engineering, construction) require certification, a code of
standards, continuing education, etc.  A lot of the legitimization of
software engineering as a profession involves these aspects.  But with
software licenses that say "as soon as you open this package, we make
no assertions that it will work, will solve your problem, will not
damage your hardware, etc." this isn't happening any time soon.

Dean