Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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TUDcnr T60 llinC . . . most students feel that student teaching is the most valuable portion of their education The student teaching requirement is probably one of the best known courses offered for an education degree, yet most students do not have any idea what to expect from it until they get into their assigned schools. We have attempted, in these interviews with student teachers and their campus supervisors, to present the expectations and actual experiences of the student teaching assignment. The student teachers interviewed were all in their fifth week of teaching in a large suburban district. Dr. Frank Grispino is the coordinator for all student teaching assignments. He views the experience as a chance for the would-be teacher to meet and work with his professional counterparts and to test his ability to perform in an actual classroom situation. Although most students have had simulated teaching experiences through micro- teaching or practicums, Dr. Grispino stresses that most students feel that student teaching is the most valuable portion of their education. Here they are given a chance to learn through experience and by discussing problems with a cooperating teacher who has tested various methods over years of actual teaching. As chairman of the Department of Secondary Educa- tion, Dr. Roger Epley coordinates the education courses of all secondary majors. He views student teaching not as a final grooming to be a teacher, but as a preview into the life and work of a teacher. He points out that the student teacher is a guest in the building for a short time, and should not try to drastically alter the policy of the school, but rather live with it and sort out the things he would do the same or differently in a classroom of his own. Although the school with which a student may eventually sign a con- tract may be vastly different from the one in which he did his student teaching. Dr. Epley feels that this experience, as well as all education courses, can predict the success of a future teacher to a large degree. Dr. Dean Savage, chairman of the Department of Elementary Education, views student teaching as an op- portunity for the student to make final adjustments before he goes into his own classroom. Over the past three years the elementary education department has added several practicums to required courses, enabling the students to teach a variety of subjects to elementary children in Horace Mann before the student assignment. Dr. Savage feels that this makes the students feel more confident when they go into their student teaching; he also feels justified in expec- ting a good performance from students who have had these teaching experiences. Both the elementary and secondary education departments meet regularly with students who have completed their student teaching to discern what kinds of improvements are needed in the program and preparation for it. The role of the campus coordinator is often mis- understood, even after the student teacher is in his school. The campus coordinator acts as a liaison between the stu- dent teacher and the University, which may involve taking messages or equipment from Maryville to the student or offering constructive criticism and assistance to the student teacher. It is important that the student trust his coor- dinator, who is there to observe and be of service. The coor- dinator observes the student teacher several times, and, with the recommendation of the cooperating teacher, awards the final grade for the student assignment. In the following interviews with three students we hope to convey the mood of the student teacher and his job. They have commented on how well prepared they were for the assignment as well as on the assignment itself. Although they believed they knew the theories of education fairly well, all three, as well as many others who were consulted, stressed the need for more practical experience with students in the age group of those whom they will be teaching. They felt an aspiring teacher should know what high school, jvnior high, and elementary students are like before their last semester in college; to know what to expect and to be sure teaching is the occupation he wants before he has spent four years preparing for it. 18 -

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P-- . T k .; ■:t-5«?. ' ; -• ' - :n Student teaching is an experience designed to bridge the gap in teacher education between theory and practice. It is a problem -solving process; a time for trying one ' s self in the role of a teacher. The self-knowledge and technical skills which one acquires during the student teaching experience should provide the prologue for a career- long process of professional development. The student teaching program should provide teachers-in-training with an experience which will accomplish the following objectives: 1 . Develop in the student teacher a sensitivi- ty to the school as a functioning social body . . . 2. Provide a context in which to practice and develop a personal repertoire of teaching skills . . . 3. Allow the student teacher to determine whether his personal attributes, professional qualifications, and interest in teaching give prospect of success as a career teacher. 4. Provide the student teacher with a first- hand knowledge of professional educational stan- dards, ethics, customs, and organizations. 5. Develop in the student teacher a familiari- ty with planning procedures, instructional materials, and types of equipment used in the school. — Student Teaching Handbook

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' . . the students know you ' re only there for awhile, and kind of take you with a grain of salt ' Q: Do you think the college ' s teacher training program prepared you well? A: Well, I think it ' s hard to say ex- actly what you can prepare a stu- dent teacher for because a lot of the differences are so individual. You are taught that you need lesson plans, you must have objec- tives, and basically theoretical things. You need to get out and teach your subject. Q: Did you think you were getting a sterotype idea of students and classes? A: The main thing is that here at the school it is so radically different. You can tell someone what you may run into — the problems. But you can ' t tell someone how to han- dle problems because every situa- tion is individual. I feel we talk too much about what we are going to do, and less about, say, how we can make things better; for exam- ple, how to motivate students. The problem doesn ' t seem to be how to prepare lessons as much as how to present them in a good way. Some kids are going to get the material — they ' re into the school thing, but others have low motivation. This is where the real skill of teaching comes in. Q: Then you feel that it ' s more a question of why students should be in a place that may not hold any interest or relevancy from their point of view? A: Let me put it this way — Tm young and I haven ' t done much or had much experience at this. But I feel I ' m really lacking in prepara- tion in knowing how to motivate kids. Sure, I use things like positive reinforcement and all, but it doesn ' t seem to get to the heart of the matter. Q: What have you found that is usable in your situation? A: We talked a lot about testing, but we never went about actually preparing a test, how we thought we ' d give one. We talked about how people thought they maybe wouldn ' t want to use tests and that they aren ' t really effective means of evaluating people, but that we must have some way to evaluate a student ' s progress. And my co-op teacher has asked me to test the students . . . I ' m not prepared to construct a test, so the only thing I can do is to go through the material and pick out what I think is good or what students should know. I never had a chance to see how effective my tests were before I came here. Why not ex- pose the student teacher to this before he starts his student teaching? Why not have me prepare a test out of some material, let ' s say from a text be- ing used, and have some high school students take the test? Q: What did you get in the education block that you ' ve found helped? A: I thought micro-teaching was great. But the problem in it was all the questioning you had to do, which was good, but the students were college students pretending to be high school kids. Student teaching is supposed to be your first level of actually getting out to teach, and then you take over really teaching. I know a lot of people who, even after they ' ve done student teaching and are out on a job, are still bridging a lot of gaps and having a lot of trouble. Maybe that will always be the case, but perhaps if we expose them a little earlier, and then stu- dent teaching becomes like the se- cond experience, when they get into actual teaching it would be like the third experience and they ' d probably be better at it. Otherwise, while the teacher ' s learning, the students may be suf- fering. Q: How are you looked upon at your student teaching school? A: They have a good deal of respect for student teachers here; I was worried about that when I came, that I would be treated as some kind of outsider. In one sense that ' s true, because the students know you ' re only there for a while and kind of take you with a grain of salt; and the cooperating teacher takes you with about ten grains of salt. But cooperating teachers probably would not have been given student teachers if they hadn ' t had pretty good ex- periences as teachers and good relationships with people. Q: What do they expect of you as a student teacher? A: I may be selfish, but I think there should be some restrictions in the amount of work a student teacher should have to do. Like I have to be here all day and back at night. I think I ' m asked to work (free) so I can get a grasp of what theater work will be like; but I ' ve been in drama for four years and I know what it is like. 19