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The Importance Of The Interview And Observation Of A Teaching Candidates

Decent Essays

Bryan Goodwin attempts to bring awareness to the importance of the interview and observation of a teaching candidates. He states, “Leaders must look more deeply, examining whether teachers have adequate knowledge of their subject, know how to teach them, and intangible attributes.” Particularly, experienced principals realize that great teachers also possess many intangible attributes which cannot be quantified easily. Schools would do well to put as much careful analysis into selecting their teachers as major league teams put into scouting and drafting their players. In Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (Norton, 2003), Michael Lewis relates how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics, helped his small-payroll baseball team compete against teams with deeper pockets. Beane identified a new set of metrics – including player’s internal “makeup.” In other words, schools may be overlooking some important metrics or even using the wrong measures as they strive to recruit and retain the best teachers. At the present time, many school leaders rely on quantifiable attributes when considering hiring or rewarding teachers. Research suggests that good teachers possess a few simple easily identifiable attributes: Verbal and cognitive abilities, adequate knowledge of their content areas, and knowledge of how to teach their subject areas. It is not surprising that teachers’ verbal and cognitive abilities are strongly tied to their success in the

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