The better way to prepare teachers

Although new teachers receive tens of thousands of dollars worth of training, few learn skills that help them become better teachers, write William Eger and Michael Zuckerman in the Atlantic Monthly. Studies show that despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent training 200,000 new teachers each year, we suffer a shortage of teachers of sufficient quality or quantity. A better, less expensive way to train teachers is the apprenticeship model. It takes many forms, but at its core pairs a beginner teacher with an experienced "master teacher" who can demonstrate effective teaching techniques -- a good transition between a lesson and independent practice, for example -- then help the beginner adopt these techniques, reflect on them, and forge his or her own unique style. Interaction is the essence of well-structured teacher apprenticeship: nuanced feedback aimed at specific situations. And the feedback must be inscribed within a reflective dialogue -- as Katherine Merseth of the Harvard Graduate School of Education puts it: "You want the observer to have the awareness that [the master teacher] chose A instead of B, C, D, and E, and to understand why. Because next time, when I'm all by myself and I haven't seen the lesson taught before, and I have A, B, C, D, E -- how do I know which one to do?" More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

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Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.