Let your mind wonder for just a moment. As yourself this question: If I could redesign an entire teacher education program, what would it look like?
Here is my vision of a teacher education program. I imagine a teacher preparation program that:
- Challenges the individual. No one in this program would say “But I thought getting an education degree was easy!”
- Is rigorous enough to attract intellectual, innovative, thought-leaders
- Robustly develops a student’s ability to solve problem, become a critical thinker, and work collaboratively.
- Is packed with upper level courses in history, ethics, mathematics, law, economics, policy, research, engineering, biology, anatomy, chemistry, and computer sciences (just to name a few).
- Is academically challenging so that becoming a educator is professionalized at the level of doctors, lawyers, MBAs, etc.
- Stresses global, national, and local issues. Students would not only understand where Cambodia is, but have some understanding of its politics, culture, history, and relationship to the rest of the world.
- Mandates each student study abroad.
- Mandates the individual gain proficiency in a foreign language.
- Forces the pre-teacher to act on the tenants of social justice and peace education. This individual would be a skilled conflict mediator.
- Produces teachers who are intercultural leaders.
The main draw back would be that this individual may be too marketable for the teacher education profession. With skills like these, what Fortune 500 or innovate start-up company would not be banging on this person’s door? This individual would be a cosmopolitan and in high demand. Thus, if such a teacher education program were created, how could we retain such individuals. Isn’t this the person you want to teach your children? Why are we not doing more to create cosmopolitan educators? What is your vision? Are there revolutionary programs out there? I would love to hear about innovative approaches currently underway.
(Jayson Richardson is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, University of North Carolina-Wilmington.)
I agree, I agree, I agree! But I want to add another “problem” if your scenario were to become reality … we’d have to completely redesign K-12 education to make use of these cosmopolitan teachers. I can’t imagine someone with the characteristics, experience, and knowledge set you describe teaching in the classrooms I taught in as a secondary school English teacher (and staying there).
That’s my challenge to you in response. If we were to have teacher education that looked like what you describe in the post, what would that mean K-12 schools and classrooms would need to look like?
Amy