There has been a lot of press recently about holding teacher education programs accountable for the results of their students, i.e. the teachers in the schools. As a soon-to-be graduate of a teacher education program that is considered fairly good and productive, I can say that the problem is not one program vs. another, the problem is simply the development of teacher education programs in general. As I mentioned briefly in my last post, doctors, lawyers and a number of other professions do not simply allow graduates to be a full member of their field without at least a year of additional training and mentoring. Teachers should be no different.
Engaging. Approachable. Helpful. Knowledgeable. These are all qualities that a good teacher hopes to possess, however, it is not easy to gain these skills and qualities during a 16 week student teaching semester. In fact, there is so much stress simply about having lesson plans done and "perfect" on paper that it is hard to have the time to develop the interpersonal skills that good teachers seem to exude. Where are the programs that give teachers real hands-on experience in the classroom enough so that when they are thrown into their own classroom they don't panic, burn out or quit.
I want to be a great teacher, one of those teachers that the students want to have, the parents enjoying meeting with and staff come to to ask advice because things just seem to click for me. From discussions with other students in the program I am aware that I'm not one of a kind, the majority of students who really want to teach want to have the tools necessary to really help students progress, not to just be the teacher who stands in front of the room and bores the students to tears.
Residency programs are the answer. They provide students with a year or two years of mentored teaching, where the new teacher is not asked to bear the entire burden of teaching students in their first year of work. Instead the workload is shared with an experienced teacher who knows the ropes and will make sure that the students do not lose out simply because you're trying to get your feet on the ground. That is the key isn't it? That the students receive a quality education and the tools they need to succeed. So many students have missed years because their teacher was brand new, and not for lack of trying, simply did not have the experience to give them the help they might otherwise have received. After this first year of mentored teaching, the new teacher has an entire year, start to finish, of working with students and seeing what works and what doesn't, learning classroom management and curriculum planning, all while having the support system necessary to get the job done.
Currently a major network of teacher residency programs that I was introduced to by a friend called Urban Teacher Residency United offers programs in many large urban areas in the United States. But these programs shouldn't be limited to large urban school districts, instead teaching colleges and universities around the country should develop programs based on these models in their own areas whether urban, suburban, or rural. Through a program like this, you are not guaranteed that every teacher will be great, but you certainly will avoid missing out on years of learning while a new teacher, who might be a great teacher soon, gets his/her feet under them. And school districts will develop a sense of ownership of their new teachers. Teachers will be connected to their mentors and to other residents in the program and schools will have a better network of sharing teaching strategies and experience that benefit ALL teachers and most importantly, the students.
-MB
Engaging. Approachable. Helpful. Knowledgeable. These are all qualities that a good teacher hopes to possess, however, it is not easy to gain these skills and qualities during a 16 week student teaching semester. In fact, there is so much stress simply about having lesson plans done and "perfect" on paper that it is hard to have the time to develop the interpersonal skills that good teachers seem to exude. Where are the programs that give teachers real hands-on experience in the classroom enough so that when they are thrown into their own classroom they don't panic, burn out or quit.
I want to be a great teacher, one of those teachers that the students want to have, the parents enjoying meeting with and staff come to to ask advice because things just seem to click for me. From discussions with other students in the program I am aware that I'm not one of a kind, the majority of students who really want to teach want to have the tools necessary to really help students progress, not to just be the teacher who stands in front of the room and bores the students to tears.
Residency programs are the answer. They provide students with a year or two years of mentored teaching, where the new teacher is not asked to bear the entire burden of teaching students in their first year of work. Instead the workload is shared with an experienced teacher who knows the ropes and will make sure that the students do not lose out simply because you're trying to get your feet on the ground. That is the key isn't it? That the students receive a quality education and the tools they need to succeed. So many students have missed years because their teacher was brand new, and not for lack of trying, simply did not have the experience to give them the help they might otherwise have received. After this first year of mentored teaching, the new teacher has an entire year, start to finish, of working with students and seeing what works and what doesn't, learning classroom management and curriculum planning, all while having the support system necessary to get the job done.
Currently a major network of teacher residency programs that I was introduced to by a friend called Urban Teacher Residency United offers programs in many large urban areas in the United States. But these programs shouldn't be limited to large urban school districts, instead teaching colleges and universities around the country should develop programs based on these models in their own areas whether urban, suburban, or rural. Through a program like this, you are not guaranteed that every teacher will be great, but you certainly will avoid missing out on years of learning while a new teacher, who might be a great teacher soon, gets his/her feet under them. And school districts will develop a sense of ownership of their new teachers. Teachers will be connected to their mentors and to other residents in the program and schools will have a better network of sharing teaching strategies and experience that benefit ALL teachers and most importantly, the students.-MB