Project 2 First Draft

Here at the Florida State University, the College of Education is considered to be an exceptional and unique college that fully prepares students to enter the education world. They offer many programs and one of those programs is the Elementary Education program which will “prepare you to teach children at the kindergarten through six grade levels in all content areas.” (Elementary Education) However, College of Educations all over the country are being scrutinized about whether they are effectively preparing their students to enter the difficult and challenging education world. There are many issues in the education world, problems like poverty, at risk students, high stakes testing, school reform, standards, and so many more and the question that arises is: Are we preparing our teachers well enough? There is also the massive problem of increasingly more schools that are failing all across America. In fact, according to The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, “nearly ten percent of the nation’s schools are failing” which is around eighty-six hundred out of nearly ninety-one thousand.” One possible response to this predicament could be that colleges are sending out teachers who are not prepared to deal with and fix the current issues of our education system. Perhaps teachers are being sent in rather blind and without enough adequate background knowledge and experience to properly handle the situations that demand to be handled with. According to the Florida State University’s website, the Elementary Education program offers “extensive field experience with students of different backgrounds and grade levels” as well as “course work grounded in research based, ‘best practices’ that prepare you to be a leader in (the) field and community.” However, are field experience and coursework enough, or is the College of Educations Elementary Education program lacking in some way and therefore not preparing their students to be teachers.

The first important aspect to criticize when it comes to evaluating whether teachers are prepared for the education world is teacher effectiveness. Teachers must be trained to teach in a manner that best facilitates student learning. Teacher effectiveness manifests in many different ways. The first large way a teacher can be effective is through classroom management. Rachel Lootens is a first year, third grade teacher at Kate Sullivan Elementary in Tallahassee, Florida. When talking to her about what classes helped her the most during her time at Florida State University, she said that the most beneficial classes were her classroom management classes. She states, “the curriculum that we use (in class) is very scripted and there is not a lot of time for the creative teaching. I enjoyed the classes that taught us how to teach creatively but practically, the classroom management classes are the most applicable to my teaching today.” Classroom management skills will lead to a healthy and beneficial classroom environment which will further lead to a better learning environment for students. There are other things that make a teacher effective. Some of those things include field experience, classes taken while in college, and internships.

Debatably one of the most important aspects of preparing students to be exceptional teachers is field classroom experience. Rachel Lootens would even go as far to say that “classroom field experience is more important than classes and tests.” She continues to say that “the classes (she) took gave her the background knowledge (she) needed to do well in the classroom but most of what (she) learned and applies in the classroom today came from the experiences (she) had from being in the field. Teaching, like many other jobs, is something that is hard to be prepared for without firsthand experience. Classroom experience is something that is incredibly necessary for teachers to complete because it shows them what a classroom looks like. It is imperative that students get “direct experience with children and the community prior to student teaching.” (Goodlad) Not only does classroom experience give students a glimpse of what teaching is, but it also typically allows students to work with actual students in some fashion which in turn, give pre-service teachers experience with students.

Most colleges realize and accept that field experience is a necessary part of the Elementary Education major. “The desirability of direct contact with schools and children by prospective teachers before they engage in student teaching is generally recognized today” (Goodlad) Students can get this experience at Florida State University in many different ways. Most education classes, especially the higher level classes, require a certain number of service hours in the classroom. For example, the course Introduction to Education at Florida State requires that students get fourteen hours of service learning experience in schools around the Tallahassee area. This requirement is a pass/fail requirement. If the hours are not achieved, the student does not pass the class. This service hour requirement is common place in most education classes. Once a student gets accepted in to the program, Florida State takes it a step further and requires internships or “co-teaching.” Co-teaching is when “a pre-service teacher is placed with a cooperating teaching in the student teaching setting.” (College of Education and Human Development) This can be very beneficial to pre-service teachers because they get some freedom and experience in being a teacher but they simultaneously are not left alone and given to much responsibility. There are also other ways students can get experiences, opportunities such as volunteering at after school programs, childcare programs, or even educational and non-educational summer programs. All of those opportunities offer pre-service teachers the chance to work with and spend time interreacting with students of all ages.

Another problem arises when discussing whether the classes offered to students are truly preparing them to be teachers. Goodlad states that “to study all the disciplines within the traditional, departmental organization of the American college presents a preparation period far in excess of the standard four years.” This viewpoint is a very unique viewpoint considering the fact that Florida State University Elementary Education programs is a “combined bachelor’s/master’s program that leads to teacher certification in grades K-6 in the Florida public schools.” However, speaking from personal experience, the choice to pursue a master’s degree in Elementary Education is an optional choice, as well as a choice that many students decide not to choose. That further begs the question of if four years of schooling is adequate enough for students to become teachers.