Malcolm Gladwell contributes to the cause!

So to repeat the concluding words of my previous post... Everyone is trying the best they can. Teaching is hard. Everywhere. Why can't that be the new story?

And, lo! none other than Malcolm Gladwell contributes to the cause with a story in this week's New Yorker. He says straight up that teaching is like being an NFL quarterback. And what job is harder than that?

I am distorting his argument a little, though. His point is that it is impossible to predict who is going to be a good teacher, just like it is impossible to predict who is going to be a good NFL quarterback. Therefore requirements that teachers be "highly qualified" are beside the point and that "Teaching should be open to anyone with a pulse and a college degree-- and teachers should be judged after they have started, not before." He then suggests some sort of apprentice system.

This article mostly makes sense. And because it is Malcolm Gladwell and this is what he does, it is very persuasively written. Good writing about teaching! Because I am feeling peppy, I will state my reservations (and, oh, I do have some) later.