Teacher Training Students' Perspective | Observing the Trend of Teacher Training Students Jumping Ship

Why Do I Want to Become a Teacher Training Student?

I believe many people initially have a passion for education; I did too, but on the path to becoming a teacher, there are too many obstacles that are not easy to overcome.
I enrolled in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at National Taiwan University in 2021, but in reality, I wasn’t particularly interested in the atmosphere; I mistakenly thought I was interested.

Since high school, I haven’t had much expectation for life and couldn’t see my future. I started to worry about whether I would find a job after graduating from university. Of course, my parents have also thought about this for me, so I listened to my mother’s advice and applied for teacher training qualifications in my second year after enrollment.

Why Did I Change My Mind After Becoming a Teacher Training Student?

Before becoming a teacher training student, the education program courses at NTU could actually be taken for free. However, if you are a teacher training student, you have to pay for credits. If you complete the courses and then become a teacher training student, you also need to pay these fees. It’s somewhat like Coursera, where you can watch courses for free, but you have to pay to get a certificate.

Aside from the credit fees, I believe these are still valuable learning experiences that can help me better understand the professional knowledge required to become a teacher and gain a deeper understanding of the learning process.
However, not every class made me feel it was worth the credit fee, and not every class’s content could be realistically applied in the teaching field.

---

A Brief Summary Before the Detailed Analysis

1. Compared to other professions, the initial investment cost of becoming a teacher is particularly high. Not only do you need to take complex education courses and internships, but once you enter the workforce, you also have to face pressure from parents and a large amount of administrative work, while the actual rewards are difficult to proportionate to the effort put in.
2. Many teacher training courses are not limited to just teacher training students; anyone can take them as long as they get the professor’s consent. It is suggested to audit a few courses first and decide whether to formally apply to become a teacher training student and pay the credit fees after experiencing them, which is a more flexible way to explore.
3. After taking so many classes, I truly understand and sincerely admire those teachers who accompanied us through our growth during our past educational stages.

---

To Obtain the Completion Certificate for Teacher Pre-Service Education Courses, You Need…

Educational Professional Courses

The 26 credits here seem like a lot, but they are actually quite easy to obtain, and the workload is relatively light compared to other courses at NTU. You just need to pay attention to the regulations when scheduling classes to see how to complete them as quickly as possible.

🧠 Basic Education Courses

Required/Elective	Course Name	Credits
Required	Educational Psychology	2
Required	Philosophy of Education	2
Required	Sociology of Education	2
Minimum Required Credits		4
Elective	Introduction to Education	2
Elective	Introduction to Special Education	2
Elective	Comparative Education	2
Elective	Education Policy and Law	2
Elective	Adolescent Psychology	2
Elective	Educational Anthropology	2
Elective	Ethics	2
Elective	Education and School Administration	2

📘 Educational Method Courses

Required/Elective	Course Name	Credits
Required	Curriculum Development and Design	2
Required	Teaching Principles	2
Required	Learning Assessment	2
Required	Teaching Media and Application	2
Required	Counseling Principles and Practice	2
Required	Classroom Management	2
Required	Special Topics in Educational Issues	2
Minimum Required Credits		8
Elective	Reading Comprehension Strategy Teaching	2
Elective	Adaptive Teaching (including Group Cooperative Learning, Differentiated Instruction)	2
Elective	Educational Research Methods	2
Elective	Psychological Statistics	2
Elective	Gender Equality Education	2
Elective	Positive Interpersonal Communication	2
Elective	Career Planning and Educational Counseling	2
Elective	Life Education Theory and Teaching	2
Elective	Career Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities	2
Elective	Application of the Internet in Teaching	2
Elective	Theory and Teaching of Moral Education	2
Elective	Environmental Education	2

It is worth noting that Special Topics in Educational Issues is a required course, and it is not optional; it must be taken.

🛠 Educational Practice Courses

Required/Elective	Course Name	Credits
Required	Subject/Field-Specific Teaching Methods	2
Required	Subject/Field-Specific Teaching Practice	2
Elective	Educational Practice Course (I) Secondary School Service	2
Elective	Educational Practice Course (II) Secondary School Service	2
Elective	Educational Practice Course (III) Educational Service Team (Upper)	2
Elective	Educational Practice Course (III) Educational Service Team (Lower)	2
Elective	Educational Practice Course (IV) International Exchange	2
Minimum Required Credits		8
Elective	Vocational Education and Training and Career Planning	2
Elective	Remedial Teaching	2
Elective	Culturally Responsive Education	2

It is worth noting that courses such as Secondary School Service, Educational Service Team, or International Exchange require a significant amount of extracurricular time to complete the credits.
For example, the Secondary School Service course is scheduled for Monday during the first and second periods, but the actual educational practice ends on Wednesday during the fifth to seventh periods. Additionally, you must also consider commuting time.
Under these circumstances, the credit fees still need to be paid, and I feel that I can’t hold up mentally…

---

Specialized Courses

The next specialized courses are more complex, as this part varies by training department. Taking my field of “Natural Science and Earth Science” as an example, we need to complete an additional 30-40 credits of specialized courses on top of the graduation credits of our department and the 26 credits of educational professional courses.

Why is there such a large difference? Let’s take a look at the 🌍 Overview of Specialized Courses in Earth Science

Minimum Required Credits: 44

As an atmospheric science student, some courses are included in our department’s graduation requirements. Let’s analyze each item one by one:

📂 Core Courses in the Field (Minimum Required Credits: 4 | Total Credits Offered: 17)

Course Name	Credits	Type	Group
Exploration and Practice in Natural Science	4	Elective
Atmospheric Observation Practice	2	Elective
Application of Programming in Earth Science	3	Required	A
Introduction to Numerical Simulation	2	Required	B
Introduction to Numerical Simulation Lab	1	Required	B
Statistical Ecology and Programming Applications	3	Required	A
Basic Ocean Statistics	2	Required	B
Geological Survey I	2	Elective
Geological Survey II	2	Elective

In the Core Courses in the Field section, at least 4 credits must be taken, which is manageable because the atmospheric science department has Programming and Scientific Computing and Statistics and Atmospheric Science that can be credited. However, it seems that Statistics and Atmospheric Science is no longer a required course for our department, so it still depends on the regulations based on the year of enrollment.

📂 Interdisciplinary Courses within the Field (Minimum Required Credits: 8 | Total Credits Offered: 22)

Course Name	Credits	Type	Group
General Physics I	3	Required	A
General Physics Lab I	1	Elective	A
General Physics II	3	Required	A
General Physics Lab II	1	Elective	A
General Chemistry I	3	Required	B
General Chemistry Lab I	1	Elective	B
General Chemistry II	3	Required	B
General Chemistry Lab II	1	Elective	B
General Biology II	4	Required	C
General Biology Lab II	1	Elective	C
General Biology Lab II	1	Elective	C

In the Interdisciplinary Courses within the Field section, at least two specialties must be selected. However, the atmospheric science department is actually divided into groups, so it can be understood that you can choose either physics or chemistry. This means that to fulfill the specialized courses for teacher training, you need to take an additional 4 credits. Of course, you can also complete them as elective credits for your department.

📂 Basic Courses in Earth Science (Minimum Required Credits: 15 | Total Credits Offered: 27)

Course Name	Credits	Type	Group
Introduction to Geological Science I	3	Required
Introduction to Geological Science II	3	Required
Principles of Geophysics (including lab)	3	Elective
Applied Geophysics	2	Required
Introduction to Atmospheric Science	2	Required
Atmospheric Measurement Science	3	Elective
Introduction to Astronomy	3	Required
Introduction to Ocean Science	2	Required
Earth Climatology	3	Elective
Biogeochemical Cycles and Climate	3	Elective

To become a qualified Earth Science teacher, it is not enough to specialize in just one area; you need to learn about four major content areas: geology, oceanography, atmospheric science, and astronomy. Therefore, in this category, all required courses must be taken, and the graduation credits for the atmospheric science department only account for 2 out of 15. The remaining credits = 15-2=13, which will count towards elective credits. Up to this point, the elective 44 credits already have 13 (Basic Courses in Earth Science) + 4 (Interdisciplinary Courses within the Field) = 17 credits that are not optional; these courses must be taken.

📂 Advanced Courses in Earth Science (Minimum Required Credits: 16 | Total Credits Offered: 139)

Course Name	Credits	Type	Group
Earth Materials	3	Required	*
Earth History	3	Required	*
Earth Structure	3	Required	*
Field Geology	2	Required	*
Weather I	2	Required
Atmospheric Thermodynamics	3	Required
Introduction to Physical Oceanography	1	Required	A
Introduction to Biological Oceanography	1	Required	B
Introduction to Marine Geology	1	Required	C
Introduction to Chemical Oceanography	1	Required	D

In the Advanced Courses in Earth Science section, all required courses must also be completed, and the complete table is attached below (super long), feel free to take a look if interested.
In simple terms, at least the following must be taken:

Course Name	Credits	Type	Group
Earth Materials	3	Required	*
Earth History	3	Required	*
Weather I	2	Required
Atmospheric Thermodynamics	3	Required
Introduction to Physical Oceanography	1	Required	A

The above 12 credits plus 3 credits of electives (which can usually be from the department’s required or elective courses), but of the 12 credits mentioned above, only 5 credits are required for the atmospheric science department, meaning an additional 7 credits must be taken and counted as general elective credits.

The general elective 44 credits have already fixed 17 credits, and in the advanced courses, another 7 credits are fixed, meaning that in the four years of university, only 20 credits are available for exploration if you want to take interdisciplinary courses.

National Taiwan University is a research-oriented university that emphasizes interdisciplinary integration and autonomous learning, allowing students to flexibly choose courses from different fields based on their interests, expanding their diverse knowledge horizons.

There is really no need to give up other exploration opportunities for the small salary of a teacher. In this era of side hustles, feeling that you lack a little bit of knowledge makes you feel less competitive.

---

🎥 Teacher Dream Shattered? Warning Signals in the Education Sector as Teacher Training Students Jump Ship【Hotline Follow-Up】