Institute to aid new teachers

Local News

July 4, 2011

By Tim Mandell Register News Writer The Richmond Register Mon Jul 04, 2011, 10:00 AM EDT

BEREA — Beginning a career as a teacher can be a daunting task.

Berea College is trying to bridge the gap between being in the classroom and leading the class by making the transition easier for its education students.

The Education Studies Department at Berea College is hosting a three-day institute in which they will meet with practicing teachers in an effort to find out what skills are required to be a good teacher.

Information from the institute will be used to create a four-semester experiential curriculum for Berea College’s middle and secondary education students.

As part of the institute, middle school and high school teachers from Madison County Schools and Berea Independent School will meet from Tuesday through Thursday at Berea College.

“The purpose of the institute is to work with practicing teachers to analyze their practice and break it down into the foundation skills required to be a good teacher,” said Jon Saderholm, assistant professor of education studies at Berea College.

Foundation skills might be designing a demonstration or lab in science, creating an engaging discussion in English, differentiating a lesson in social studies, or consulting with a student over his or work in an art class, he said.

“This institute will create a developmental classroom-based experiential curriculum,” Saderholm said. “With it, we hope to both extend our students’ experience in the field and also make it highly aligned with our philosophy and program course work. Historically in the U.S., there has been a pretty significant gap between education theory and practice that we hope to bridge”

He said teachers they have spoken to about the project have said they wished they had been better prepared before beginning their teaching careers.

“Many new teachers feel poorly prepared to enter the classroom because they have had limited opportunities to practice the basic skills of teaching,” Saderholm said. “Additionally, a significant factor defining the professional lives of middle and secondary teachers is the isolation they feel and the limited opportunities they have to collaborate with others.”

“We think gathering together with other teachers to talk about their practice and to transform the way new teachers are prepared will be both simultaneously rewarding and enriching,” he said. “The community of teachers we are creating is a central part of our transformed teacher preparation program and should provide continuing opportunities for its members to collaborate both with us and with each other.”

The practicing teachers will form a community of teachers who will serve as mentors for students, guiding them through the curriculum during a teaching methods course, two content specific courses and an assessment course.

Tim Mandell can be reached at tmandell@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 6696

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