The challenge of turning business teachers into CS teachers: Where’s the passion?

Josh Paley raises an important point here.  The best teachers are passionate about what they do.  Converting existing teachers (most often business teachers, since that’s how CS is classified in most states) into CS teachers may result in dispassionate, unhappy teachers. I don’t think it’s the only possible outcome, and I don’t think that hiring teachers with “CS background” (degrees? job experience?) is the only answer.  But he’s right that it’s not the same as recruiting someone who decided on a career as a Computing Teacher.

I think the same sort of thing applies in CS.  Many retrained teachers will be enthusiastic about computing, study it intensely and, in time, become experts.  Others will teach CS, but it won’t be their passion, and that’s often a recipe for unhappy students who see an unhappy teacher.  There are lots of other possible outcomes, some better than others.  No matter how you slice it, it isn’t the same as hiring a person with a CS background to teach CS.

via If you want CS education, put your money where your mouth is. | Cheaper Than Rogaine.