Duncan, Laura
Schwartz, K. (2013, July 1). Why teachers should be trained like actors. [Web log comment]. Retrieved
from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/07/teaching-as-acting-a-performance-profession/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29
The author makes the argument that, although performance is an essential component of teaching, there is little professional training for teachers on this particular skill. As school director Ken Lemov notes, "Knowing what you want to do is a long way from being able to do it." Lemov has started providing teacher workshops in which beginner teachers can role play and practice teaching in front of one another, while the group acts like a class of students. Lemov believes in encouraging teachers to respond in "real time," learning how to think on their feet, receive feedback and use that feedback immediately to adjust their approach. He notes, however, that teachers often have trouble letting going of old habits. He notes that there is an apparent correlation between the quality of instruction and the quality of content. He says that a "A teacher who pays enough attention to make instructions clear is probably also paying close attention to how academic discussions and projects are structured."
These points all rang true to me. I've met many school librarians who say that their biggest complaint about their MLIS/school librarian education was the lack or limited amount of focus on behavioral and classroom management. Being comfortable in front of a class of students, sometimes unruly, sometimes bored, sometimes confused, is one of the foundations of excellent teaching, and yet it's something that teachers - and school librarians, especially - have little training on. This article is worth the read, as it encourages you to reflect on your own teaching style and presence in the classrom, and to keep an open mind about your approach.
I do agree with your statement that teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare new teachers for what they will face in the classroom. I was blessed that I was able to student-teach with a marvelous master teacher. I can honestly say that I had one of the best first-year teaching experiences due to the fact that I felt adequately prepared. Many teachers that intern without the benefit of student teaching have a very hard time that first year.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure, however, that I agree with the notion that teachers be trained like actors. It isn't so much that teaching takes practice as it does being comfortable and being able to improvise. When I would teach the same subject multiple times throughout the day, there were days when what my 7th period kids heard was vastly different from what my 1st period kids heard. I would learn throughout the day what was working and what wasn't. For this reason, I like how Robert Marzano describes teaching as art and as science. I would often refer to my 1st period kids as the guinea pigs :)