I have observed many first-year teachers enter the workforce.
Often these novice teachers are given the most challenging students; large class sizes; and assignments to mobile unit classrooms, a euphemism for trailers. They are given dictates to utilize technology without having access to adequate amounts of working equipment.
The litany of unrealistic challenges goes on. Parents often single out these beginning educators for criticism and even scorn.
With a bachelor’s degree in management, my daughter was employed as a salesperson for a major medical equipment company. She was given 15 months of training at a comfortable salary. Her beginning salary was higher than mine after I’d worked more than 15 years as a certified teacher with a master’s degree from the same Big 10 university from which she also graduated.
I was amazed. I had spent a full semester as a student teacher years ago, without one penny of pay. I had supervised others training to be teachers who were in a similar situation. I understood that there was something inherently wrong with that parallel situation.
Teachers make thousands of important decisions about the lives of children daily. The best ones become coaches, disciplinarians, parents and confidants. The expectation is that teachers are “called” into the profession. Thus, like men and women who choose the ministry as their life’s work, there is an assumption that it is fine for educators to cheerfully take a vow of poverty and approach their jobs like they are missionaries.
Many do. They tend not to advocate for themselves, and in most cases, they are not provided the support and mentoring they would clearly need to be successful.
In DeKalb County, there is a Teacher Support Specialist program. Veteran teachers, again with a missionary spirit, are assigned to help new teachers. These veterans, who complete more than 50 hours of training, still carry a full class load themselves. They sandwich in time to assist the beginners. At best, it is a hit-or-miss proposition.
The expectations for new teachers do not differ appreciably from those for 30-year veterans. In many cases, the veteran teachers have “earned” the opportunity to teach gifted students and specialized, smaller classes.
There is something inherently wrong with these long-held procedures.
I have to wonder whether teacher quality is really a priority, despite numerous research studies that correlate teacher effectiveness with student achievement.
To improve teaching quality, we should enable experienced educators to mentor new teachers while unencumbered. Give those of us who have done the work successfully for many years the opportunity to help frame education policies and relevant legislation.
Allow beginners more than one year, with adequate pay, nurturing and competent supervision, just to learn the ropes. We just might be more successful then and retain more teachers.
Gwen Green is a library media specialist at Stephenson Middle School in DeKalb County.
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