The Problem of Underqualified Teachers: A Sociological Perspective

Despite research that has established that high-quality elementary and secondary teaching is highly complex work, K-12 teaching lacks commensurate stature and standing. Underlying out-of-field teaching, it appears, is the assumption that female dominated school teaching requires far less skill, training, and expertise than do traditional professions and therefore that it is acceptable to treat teachers like interchangeable blocks. From a sociological perspective, meeting No Child Left Behind’s mandate of ensuring that all classrooms have qualified teachers will require more than increasing the recruitment and training of teachers. Ultimately, it will require upgrading the status of teaching as an occupation.