Thoughts On What Teachers Need - Really

I am worried about education in this country.

Does that sound overly cliched? Maybe I should change my statement. I'm thinking about the education of teachers in this country.

About 7 years ago, I finished a Master of Arts in Teaching program in that i learned absolutely nothing. My evening classes were evenly taught by older men and women (mostly men, they were all Caucasian) and the 3 hour sessions extremely contains one teaching technique: lecture.

Think of, if you will, a high school art class where the teacher lectures on approach, but the students never lift a paintbrush. Or even a science class that learns about chemical reactions, but never finishes a science lab. That was my education program. I sailed through the program with out read any "required" textbook. I didn't even purchase some of them. Being as I had already gotten a teaching job, I used the time to mark reports, make lessons plans and when I had no schoolwork to do, I even maintained the occasional letter to my grandmother. How can a professor teaching Class room Management not notice that I've slipped in my favorite book to read below the table? And why does a course on Curriculum Evaluation and Design hyper-focus on including activities for all those learning styles when the professor did nothing but lecture? As is the case for most in the teaching profession, I quickly remarked that all my helpful teaching techniques would come from experience of the classroom and not more teacher recertification courses, but rather many more experienced colleagues. Mentally absent, I experienced the motions of my education and managed to graduate with a 4.0.

"I wish I had been allowed hands-on experience from the first day," said one coworker when I started surveying educators to find out if my experiences were the tradition. The other teachers I surveyed echoed her viewpoint. "I required additional time in the class room, more collaboration with veteran teachers, more shadowing of staff, more work with various class room cultures." More.

Teachers need much more.

What would training courses look like if pre-service teachers were associated with master teachers for the complete course of their training? Imagine being in a classroom and seeing what you're learning, doing what you are learning from the first day. How much better would you be whenever you took on your very first single class? How much easier would employing be when schools have had the opportunity to determine good quality teachers informed about their communities and values? How much better would training be for the K-12 students who never need to serve as the educational curve for that first year teacher? It is a severe suggestion, but we are due for a drastic change.

Still, suppose that the higher education system is not prepared to tackle this kind of change. Even if we keep up with the existing structure for a degree in education and teacher recertification, the courses should not teach the theory behind greatest practices; they should be our best practices. What would a program on Classroom Management look like if students were offered the roles of "trouble" children to play while another student taught? What if a program on Lesson Plan and Design targeted less on whether the target comes before the goal and authorized students to test out several styles by teaching mini-lessons to their colleagues? What if the professors in every education class removed lecture as an acceptable teaching tool? Any good teacher knows that students learn best by doing.

Therefore why are not we DOING?

I really hope my experiences are not those of every educator in this country. I wish that somewhere out there exist creative, effective and hands-on degrees which are building the next generation of teachers. I hope that somewhere, teachers are walking to their first classrooms with all the experience they need and jumping right in. But I haven't seen it yet.

Thus, for the time being, I offer my thanks to all of the teachers, administrators and students who offered me the actual tools necessary to make my classroom a better place and I invite people new to the trade to swing by for a visit at any time. Just do not expect me to talk at you. You will be extremely busy learning to listen to me.

By: Ana Fassola

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Ana Fassola is a high school Spanish teacher since 2002. She has created and implemented school-wide Peer Coaching Professional Development and Teacher Recertification Programs and partnered with local charter schools to apply professional development in Peer Coaching. Ana considers herself an energetic, devoted teacher with a comprehensive understanding of Spanish and a fascination for Hispanic/Latino society.