It is not at all clear to me that licensed teachers are superior to unlicensed teachers.
I do not believe that any of the professors at Stevens Institute of Technology where I taught for over 45 years were licensed. I certainly wasn't, and my teacher reviews by students in my classes were always good to excellent. Of course, there were and still are some professors who were terrible instructors.
Teaching is an art, and you either have the native ability to practice it well or you do not. Being licensed is no substitution for not having the innate talent to teach.
I believe it has been shown that while most teachers' colleges are strong on method, they are short on teaching content. The better high school math teachers I have encountered over the years were math and/or science majors in college. Of course, in order to qualify for pay increases, they enrolled in Masters programs in teaching. But, if you do not know the subject matter well, how can you present it properly? NJ had and still may have a track that allows the hiring of unlicensed teachers who then earn a Master in education.
The same goes for Limudei Kodesh teachers, IMO. If they have a solid background in learning and a good knowledge of Yahadus and have talent, they will most probably be good to excellent teachers. If not, then forget it.
I am a bit surprised by your comment about not hiring unlicensed general studies teachers. I have not done a survey, but I doubt that most of the non-day school secular studies teachers in Brooklyn yeshivas are licensed. When my presently 16 year-old grandson was in the 8th grade in the Cheder, it was decided that the 8th grade boys would take the 9th grade algebra Regents. He had a teacher who was a Chassidishe fellow who told the boys he was basically self-educated when it came to math. Yet, he was a really good teacher according to my grandson (who did fairly well on the very hard algebra Regents that was given that year).
Yitzchok Levine
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2017 09:10PM by mlb.
