College is appropriate, teachers need to learn how to teach. You aren't going to get a good job out of someone who doesn't have a clue what they are doing.

Lol, have you been to college? I studied computer science, my wife studied natural resources and then got a degree in education.

First, colleges, at not the top ranked research schools aren’t about teaching. They’re about research. You’re expected to learn in your own, else why else have competitive admissions?

Second, my wife’s teaching degree, though supposedly highly ranked, was a joke, coming after her degree in natural resources. She was cruised by with a 4.0, and even so, was constantly dinged for things like not using enough colors in sticky-note bookmarks or highlights, not highlighting enough, etc. It was an absolute joke. She absolutely didn’t learn to teach either.

Can anyone teach? No, but a college degree isn’t the metric either. It is however a barrier to entry that keeps poorer people from joining the profession and also reinforces that institutional accolades are the mark of success, when really they are no such thing - they are an indicator of future success. Requiring four year degrees results in watering down degrees and erasing such indicators.

I definitely think teachers need (A) understanding of effective teaching methods and learning development and (B) a deep understanding of their subject.

Both are important at all ages, but (A) seems more important at younger ages, where you need to know how to engage children. Kids are also more impressionable. (B) seems more important in middle school and high school. You wouldn't, for example, want someone who doesn't have a background in math to teach calculus.

A 4 year degree certainly isn't a perfect way to impart teaching competence, but it does set a threshold for the experience that a new teacher has. I'd expect more teachers at the back end of the bell curve if you remove the degree requirement.

Presumably this depth of understanding should be deeper than the students. And probably a little deeper than the material taught. That way the teacher can inform and maybe inspire students to study further.

How much depth is required to have a deeper understanding of anything than a 7th grader? How about 2nd grade?

I think that falls back to (A) in my original post. You certainly don't need a Master's in pure mathematics to teach 3rd graders how to add fractions, but you probably do want to understand what teaching techniques are effective for children that age.

I could see dropping the college requirement if it were to be replaced by some other stringent barrier to entry. Teaching as a trade school style profession makes sense to me.

Having a college degree in education is definitely worthwhile. I’m not sure an associates in soap operas is going to help much however.