SHOULD ALTERNATIVE ROUTES

TO TEACHER TRAINING BE ENCOURAGED?

USAG-Humphreys

Created by: Melissa Kittleson PierceEDU613 – Current Issues in EducationOctober 16, 2012

WHAT DOES THE TERM ALTERNATIVE TEACHER TRAINING EMBODY?

The traditional definition for alternative teacher education has referred to individuals who complete a 4-year degree program and then seek to receive teacher certification.

I wish to define alternative forms of teacher education as being a choice on how one would like to be educated in an effort to become a highly qualified instructor.

My definition is derived from the meaning of the individual terms, as stated by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, combined with the views of the National Center for Education Information (NCEI).

CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS FACED BY TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS.

CENTRALIZED CONTROL VS. DEREGULATION OF LICENSING

It is my opinion that there needs to be a combination of both centralized control along with flexibility in licensing.

Certain requirements must be agreed upon and put into place in order for licensing to occur; the avenue with which a person tries to best prepare themselves to meet those requirements, however, should be up to the individual.

EDUCATION REFORMThe world around us is changing and has been for decades yet the American

education system seems to remain much the same as it was years ago. We need to find a way to keep up with the curve.

In my opinion, the reform that is to be made to teacher education programs cannot be black and white; there must be some grey areas, some room for flexibility.

All students are different, one mold cannot possibly fit every learner; this is one of the key elements that all educators learn in their schooling. Policy makers should be taking this into account when trying to herd prospective teachers into the typical, traditional, “one-size fits all” university based teaching degree program that has thus far yielded “public dissatisfaction”.

CENTRALIZED CONTROL

-Same standards for all

-Government controls what is mandated for certification

-Not an advocate of huge educational reform

-Teaching is not an innate ability, it must be taught

Most traditional university based degree programs are a result of centralized control.

DEREGULATION OF LICENSING

-Governing body is at the local level.

State, city, or district mandates the requirements for certification.

-Believe in employing the most highly educated individuals.

Subject area knowledge being the most important.

-Support value-added assessment as a method of accountability

-Strongly believe in teacher “training” vs. professional development, especially in terms of management. (Hollan

d)

CONCERNS WITH CURRENT METHODS

Traditional: Centralized Control

- Difficulty attracting high academic achievers and ethnically diverse candidates for all teaching positions.

- Prospective teachers are not getting enough opportunities to witness exemplary classroom instruction.

-There are “limited resources and structures to provide induction support for graduates” once they begin teaching (Berry, Montgomery, and Snyder)

Alternative: Deregulated Control (Referring to the definition that denotes completion of any 4-year degree program.)

-Lack the instruction of teaching diverse learners.

-Difficulty finding the balance between knowing the content and how to teach it simultaneously

-There tends to be an “overemphasis on preparing teachers for a singular context

(i.e. – a particular district) or a limited, prescriptive curriculum” (Berry, Montgomery, and Snyder)

.

SOLUTIONSTraditional: Centralized Control Teacher Education Solutions

-Strengthen knowledge base

-Connect practice and theory

-Support teacher development

Alternative: Deregulated Control Teacher Education Solutions

-Improve teacher training once employed

-Implement high quality and worthy mentorships

My Solution : Bring together the best of BOTH worlds-Create a teacher education program that mixes pieces of the traditional university based program with pieces of the alternative form to create a more COMPLETE future educator.

-Rearrange the program so that content knowledge, skill base and clinical experience are dispersed throughout

(Darling-Hammond)

IMPLICATIONS

Combining multiple facets of educational certification into one program will produce

More well rounded educators

People who…….

*are well educated in their subject area

*are well educated on the social and emotional behaviors of children

*have experience in a variety of classroom settings

*see professional development and training as essential to their careers.

CONCLUSION

I cannot not advocate one teacher education program over another because I think they both have huge flaws. I can however tell you what I would like to see in the future for those people wishing to enter the educational field. I see future teacher education as a melding of the traditional centralized view and the more radical deregulatory view.

My ideal teacher education program would:

1. Be rich in content area and practical educational learning. In order to receive certification graduates would need to pass both a content area test and a education based test.

2. Be a year long “residency” style program geared towards education and classroom/time management. This program would take place after graduation and require future teachers to “teach” under an expert teacher at both an inner city, and rural school setting.

3. Force school districts hiring new teachers to implement a mentorship program with a TRAINED mentor to help new hires get through those first few years of teaching.

RESOURCES

Berry, Barnett, Diana Montgomery, and Jon Snyder. "Urban Teacher Residency Models and Institutions of Higher Education." . Center for Teaching Quality. Web. 16 Oct 2012.

Darling-Hammond, Linda. "Journal of Teacher Education." Journal of Teacher Education. 51.3 (2000): n. page. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-62083142/how-teacher-education-matters>.

Holland, Robert. "Policy Review." Policy Review. 106 (2001): n. page. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://www.hoover.org/print/publications/policy-review/article/7841>.

USAG-Humphreys, . Back to School 2012. 2010. Flickr, South Korea. Web. 15 Oct 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/usaghumphreys/7891493418/>.