I liked that the reading addressed the issue of teacher preparedness because as I get closer and closer to actually entering the classroom I get more nervous and unsure about how ready I am to actually be a teacher. I
think the stereotype Smagorinsky refers to in Chapters 1 +2 of teaching being
easy comes from a combination of teacher performance in schools and teacher
preparation programs. I’m sure
everyone had at least one teacher in their lives who put in minimal effort,
didn’t seem to care, and skated by at their job. I think the way the educational system currently functions
allows there to be teachers who aren’t completely committed and invested in
teaching. Over the summer I taught
7th grade language arts for 8 weeks with Breakthrough Miami and this
short time in the classroom really showed me that the amount of time and effort
I put into writing my lesson plans, preparing for class, and connecting with my
students was up to me. I saw that
teachers get a lot of choice in how much effort they put into classroom time
and preparation time.
Unfortunately because of a lack of teacher accountability (which can’t
simply be based on student performance) in schools, as well as lack of support
for teachers, and because teacher training programs are not rigorous enough, teachers
have the option of putting in minimal effort which contributes to the stereotype that
teaching is easy.
I
thought it was ironic in Chapter 2 when Smagorinsky referred to teaching a
subject vs. teaching students because I think in teacher training programs
professors can be too concerned with teaching procedures and theories, rather
than preparing individuals to become teachers. A lot of the talk in teacher training programs about topics
such as culturally responsive teaching, RTI, making learning relevant to
students, connecting learning to the real world, etc. is not modeled. I’m not entirely sure how this can be
corrected. I think there needs to
be much more discussion about how social issues including poverty, immigration,
violence, race, gender, access to health, etc, affect students and the
education system because these are topics teachers should be more prepared to
deal with. Another idea is to make
field experience much more engaging so that future teachers get more time
actually interacting with students in the classroom, practicing teaching more
lessons, seeing what it takes to become an effective teacher, while being
guided by an experienced teacher, however this idea is contingent upon
cooperation with schools in the county.
What ideas does everyone else have about how to better prepare teachers?
Hello Olivia,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your criticisms of our educational system 100%. I feel too often teachers enter the field unprepared, unmotivated, or otherwise disinterested. Of course, teachers are people too, and like in any other field, there will be people good and bad at doing whatever their job happens to be. This is no excuse, but something I like to keep in mind when critiquing our (unfortunately) flawed educational system. I also share your apprehension of entering a classroom, but when I see teachers at work I am constantly filled with ideas of what I would do differently. Sure, call me arrogant, but I feel like we already have something that sets on the right path to being the best teachers we can; our passion for teaching. As long as our actions are guided by this in the classroom, we will do well and learn from our mistakes. And by being the best teachers we can, I mean the best teachers for the students we are teaching; this changes from class to class!
I would enjoy greater hands-on work in teacher education programs. It is important to understand theory concerning teaching (it invalidates another harmful stereotype, that just "anyone" can teach, as if it comes naturally and takes no planning or study), but even more important in applying it. After all, there have been many great teachers, many of whom I'm sure we were all fortunate to have, that became great through practice, not the kind of modern teacher education we are receiving. I am very much looking forward to my field experience in Booker T. Washington because, as someone who grew up in Miami-Dade County, I have heard all the gossip, rumors, stereotypes, and bad news that comes with being a struggling school in a predominately black, low-income neighborhood. If there is anywhere teachers can and need to make a change in their students lives, it is in social-economic situations like Miami's Overtown neighborhood. There is only so much we can learn from studying theory before we can apply it.
Olivia,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you stated about how we aren't prepared to actually be in the classroom in our program. I agree that a lot of what we are taught, such as the RTI and culturally responsive teaching, isn't modeled in our classes. Perhaps to fix this, we should be given more time in a classroom and work more closely with our field experience teachers. As you stated too, it might be hard to do this because its all based on the cooperation of the schools, but it also depends on the work schedule of the student.
Maybe in our classes we can begin to watch more videos of teacher's teaching, like how we are about to with the MET project, and we can discuss in class what the teacher is doing. This might help us gain a better understanding of the classroom, and especially show us an entire or a majority of the day in the classroom, since most of the time during our field experience we are only exposed to one part of the day.
I think the best way thought to better prepare teachers is to have our classes focus less on how to be a teacher and more on how to teach students. As you stated, we get so caught up on the technicalities and theories, and we hardly ever get a chance to actually apply them. We just need more time in classrooms to better prepare ourselves and to help us understand the students.
- Joanelle
I agree with all of you and can only hope that you help me model the type of pedagogy that you justly admire and would like to see more of.
ReplyDeleteI wrote an entire post and it was all just erased.
ReplyDeleteThe gist of what I said:
I could not agree more. I feel like we learn a lot of theories and practices, but never get to actually practice teaching enough. I think field experience teachers should be made more aware that they are supposed to be modeling for future teachers. Also they should be more willing to allow us to interact with the students. When they agree to have one of us observe their class, they should also attend an orientation where they are made aware of their responsibilities and what is expected of them in the capacity of a field experience teacher. Sometimes I dont even get to ask questions and I feel like my observation is almost fruitless.
It may be a good idea to present our lesson plans to our fellow classmates in a mock-class. In actually presenting the lesson, we will be able to identify logistical hiccups, find areas that need further development in our planning process and also feedback from our classmates will help us fine tune our lesson and our lesson planning skills.
Since PTO students don't have a year of student teaching, I also think we should be strongly encouraged to do something like you did during the summer. Having long term interaction with students on a regular basis will help us to develop confidence and prepare us for real classrooms more so than observing someone else teach.