Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein may have been the two people who understood mathematical concepts better than anybody in human history. However, both most likely would have made terrible second grade teachers. To be a teacher in the Elementary School grades, one needs personal qualities such as patience and some nurturing traits to deal with the needs of young children. Elementary School teachers are also asked to do something else that no other teachers are asked to do and that is to be an expert on a wide array of subjects. Junior High and High School teachers for the most part specialize in teaching one subject. Since, Elementary School teachers must teach every subject, (except for specialty elective classes like music, art, and gym) it would stand to reason that every elementary school teacher has subjects that they feel more comfortable teaching because of either expertise or enthusiasm for the material and subjects that they are not as strong at teaching due to either lack of knowledge or enthusiasm for the subject

This leads us to David Cohen’s case study The Case of Mrs Oublier which was first published in 1990 in the The Jossey –Bass Reader on School Reform and the teacher he profiles Mrs. O. Mrs. O obviously want the best for her students and seems willing to try new things as evident by performing what she believed to be major innovations in her classroom. However, Cohen’s observations of her teaching not only suggest that she may not be fully implementing the innovations, but that she might not have the understanding of mathematically concepts herself that are needed to effectively teach for the type of deep understanding of how math works. These type of situations where an Elementary School teacher does not have sufficient knowledge in an area that they teach may be common. My question is, how do we go about remedying that? Do we make sure that teachers pass subject tests that demonstrate they have complete grasp of the subjects that they will be teaching? Do we need specialty teachers in education for math, reading, science, history, et al like we have in the older grades? Do we need schools with “coaches” for each subject to go around to each class, monitor how teachers are teaching each subject, and work with them on making improvements? Or do we need another solution entirely. There may be others cultural factor that creates the problem of Elementary School teachers not being fully informed about each subject area.

When I tell people that I teach kindergarten, one of their first reactions is always something like “ oh that’s so cute .” I would not be surprised if first and second grade and possibly older grade teachers get similar reactions. As Stigler and Hiebert point out, teaching is a cultural activity with its own “script” or vision of patterns of what a teacher does. I believe that the cultural script of teachers from preschool through at least 2^nd grade is one that looks at the teacher as more as nurturer as opposed to a teacher who is helping the children deep understand of a subject. Thus, I think that there is a cultural acceptance in the greater public and maybe even in the teaching profession that a teacher of young students does not need to be an expert and have a solid understanding of the subject they teach. How can we reform the cultural perceptions how what being a teacher in the younger grades entails?