New Teacher vs. Experienced Teacher

New and improved, or old and reliable? Which do you prefer?

The new school year has arrived, and the teachers teaching your kids (and/or grandkids) vary greatly in their training and proficiency. They might be just dipping their toes into the teaching pool, or they may have spent the past thirty years soaking in the whirlpool of instruction. And that disparity can mean a vast difference in the educational guidance of their students.

Would you rather have your child taught by a brand new teacher, or by a teacher with many years of experience? It's an interesting question because they each have their positives and negatives.

The New Teacher comes right out of college with all of the latest teaching ideas and methods. The Experienced Teacher has honed and refined their skills and techniques over years of actual classroom practice.

Unlike this teacher, most teachers, both New and Experienced, will have a face, arms, and/or legs.

The New Teacher is enthusiastic, vibrant, and ready to take on the world. Chances are that if the Experienced Teacher is still teaching, it's because they love the work.

The New Teacher has a greater likelihood of being unmarried and without children, so they can devote more of their time to their students. The Experienced Teacher is more likely to be married and have children, and therefore have less time to devote to their students.

There is the possibility that the New Teacher, when faced with an actual classroom full of students, will find that they just don't have what it takes to do the job. There is the possibility that the Experienced Teacher no longer loves what they do and is only still teaching just to get a paycheck.

The New Teacher's enthusiasm might be contagious, and their students will feed off of that enthusiasm to learn and thrive. The Experienced Teacher's love of helping their students learn might shine through, creating an environment of enlightenment and edification.

The bottom line? As long as the teacher has a good mix of knowledge, skill, enthusiasm, and love, it doesn't really matter. The New Teacher and the Experienced Teacher can each be very effective! (Especially if they have the support of the students, the parents, and the school administration.)

So, let's do what we can to help the teachers out. We can never have too many energetic New Teachers, and we can never have too many skilled, Experienced Teachers who love what they do! (Maybe it would help if we only paid congressmen as much as we pay teachers.)