Should Elementary Teachers Specialize in Content?

Relationships and Community Are So Important

Are We Teaching Math or Children?
Specialization can lead teachers to think about content before kids. They start to see themselves as a “math teacher” or a “writing teacher” instead of a third grade teacher. I sometimes hear teachers say things like, “I’m really good at teaching writing, so I should focus on that instead of science. Kids will learn more if they have teachers who are masters of content.” I disagree. If teachers feel weak with a particular content area, instead of avoiding teaching that subject, let’s help teachers boost their skills. Interestingly, a recent study (published in 2018 in a peer-reviewed paper in the American Economic Review) showed that student achievement actually decreased when teachers specialized in content.Resist the Allure of Saving Planning Time
Another reason teachers may argue for this model is that they hope to reduce planning time. (“I would only need to plan one lesson to teach with three classes.”) However, this may lead teachers to artificially keep all of their classes in the same place at the same time. One of the beauties of elementary school teaching should be its flexibility. A certain group needs more or less of something (or they end up going on a productive and cool side journey), and teachers give them what they need. This doesn’t happen if the goal is to keep the pace the same for all classes. Instead, the teacher tries to plan a generic lesson for three different groups, whether they need it (or are ready for it) or not.Content is Harder to Integrate
Content specialization also makes meaningful integration more difficult. Teachers may have the best of intentions to coordinate with each other in to integrate content, but this rarely happens. When do teachers actually get the planning time needed to pull this off? Additionally, when everyone is locked into a schedule that’s dependent on everyone else, flexibility is reduced. You can’t take an extra ten minutes when needed on a math activity if you’re trading students and everyone needs to change at the same time.So How Do We Help Boost Teachers’ Skills?
This all raises an important question. How do coaches help teachers develop the skills and confidence needed to be strong in all content areas? While many districts try to side-step this issue by purchasing box curricula (the idea being that anyone can follow a script…it’s one of the most degrading and deprofessionalizing things to happen to teaching…), what’s really needed is effective professional learning. Hiring a consultant to support professional learning is certainly one way to go, but there are other in-house ideas to consider as well.A Few Ideas to Consider
- Could school/district coaches visit grade level meetings once a month (or so) to share strategies for teachers to use?
- How about devoting some staff meetings to building teachers understanding/skills?
- Could you offer a voluntary book group to explore a professional resource to drive good teaching? (For example, Mathematical Mindsets is a fantastic resource to help teachers better understand good math instruction. Or, you might consider Kathy Collins’ wonderful book Growing Readers to explore reading in primary grades.)
- You might also invite teachers to share effective strategies with each other—devoting a bit of grade level or department meetings to share about pedagogy.
- Do you know of schools nearby who are using great teaching strategies that you could visit? It can be so helpful to see effective teaching practices in action.
- You might model some lessons in classes and lead reflective discussions with teachers afterwards. (I use this strategy a lot when I consult in schools, and teachers rave about how helpful it is.)
- Could you create an online binder of resources teachers could explore? For example, here’s one I’ve created to support the effective use of choice. Here’s another about effective language.
Building strong relationships and integrating content are two of the great benefits of self-contained teaching. Let's not ruin this by having elementary school teachers specialize in content.
-Mike Anderson Tweet
Author
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Mike Anderson has been an educator for more than 25 years. A public school teacher for 15 years, he has also taught preschool, coached swim teams, and taught university graduate level classes. He now works as a consultant providing professional learning for teachers throughout the US and beyond. In 2004, Mike was awarded a national Milken Educator Award, and in 2005 he was a finalist for NH Teacher of the Year. In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Educational Leader Award by NHASCD for his work as a consultant. A best-selling author, Mike has written nine books about great teaching and learning. His latest book is Tackling the Motivation Crisis: How to Activate Student Learning Without Behavior Charts, Pizza Parties, or Other Hard-to-Quit Incentive Systems. When not working, Mike can be found hanging with his family, tending his perennial gardens, and searching for new running routes around his home in Durham, NH.
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