Refelcting on the Relevance of Ed Schools

After half way following a lengthy discussion over at Jenny D, then reading a superb post on education schools and the nature of teaching by Ms. Cornelius at A Shrewdness of Apes, I got all reflective. What follows is part one.

Before I get started let me say that before I went through an Ed program I was one who thought I could teach without Ed prep. I had a few years of experience working with youth, both successful and delinquent, and thought that my experience and my History degree were enough. I was wrong.

As part of the post-bach Ed program (I have a straight history B.S. with a philosophy and a poli-sci minor) that I came through small cohorts of teacher candidates were placed in a school four days a week for the majority of a school year (Sept.-April.) while we took Ed classes at night and on Fridays. We observed and interviewed teachers, attempted to create and teach lessons and units, developed relationships with the school personnel and students. The program simulated real teacher life by (among other things) throwing requirements at us all at once and then not mentioning them to us for weeks, changing requirements for assignments at the last minute before they were due and putting us through endless observations. We were upset with the program administration most of the time but liked individual instructors (sound familiar?). Ed Philosophies of the candidates and instructors were diverse and we were encouraged to find what worked in the classroom for us. The program recognized that like the students we were going to teach, teacher candidates were diverse and would not last long if they were crammed into a standardized mold that they didn’t fit. We were called “interns” or “candidates”. We were assigned to take part in debates like the one that is going on over at Jenny D’s place because they are part of developing as a teacher. We started the program with 90 plus students and 60 or so finished. While I almost lost complete touch with my wife during this grad school experience I came out a well informed BEGINNING teacher with an M.A. in Education and a passion to continue learning and developing my new craft.

Part Two: Four years later…