UNC Education Schools: Helping or Hindering Potential Teachers?

The University of North Carolina is placing great emphasis on increasing the number of teachers in the state. But how good is the education that these future teachers are receiving? We know that the high schools of North Carolina have high dropout rates and that the academic success of our K-12 students varies tremendously. Some of these problems may, perhaps, be traced to the education of their teachers.

This paper looks at a major problem found in schools of education throughout the country, including the UNC system. That is the overemphasis on what is sometimes called “student-centered learning,” but is also known as “progressivism” and “constructivism.” As this report reveals, that approach to learning has major weaknesses when it comes to teaching potential teachers.

The author has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in special education from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Arizona. From 1975 until 2005 he was a professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at the University of Louisville.

For a pdf of the report, click here.

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