Labels and Substance

From my years on the public school faculty, let me make the following observations:

• Not all who are certified as teachers are good at teaching.
• Not all who lack a certificate as teachers are bad teachers.
• Some uncertified persons are better teachers than some certified teachers.
• The certificate is not main thing.

The overaggressive reader takes such statements to say more than they do. Caution: These sentences do not say that certificates are worthless. They do not say all certified teachers are bad teachers. The sentences only say what they say.

The qualifications of a teacher rest on more than his certificate.

In a parallel context, allow me to direct readers to John Piper’s eight rationale for not over-reacting to labels of ministries.