This powerpoint shares my views on alternative routes of teacher training

1. SHOULD ALTERNATIVE ROUTES
TO TEACHER TRAINING
BE ENCOURAGED?
USAG-
Humphreys
Created by: Melissa Kittleson Pierce
EDU613 – Current Issues in
Education

2. WHAT DOES THE TERM ALTERNATIVE TEACHER
TRAINING EMBODY?
The traditional definition for alternative teacher education has referred to
individuals who complete a 4-year degree program and then seek to receive
teacher certification.
I wish to define alternative forms of teacher
education as being a choice on how one would
like to be educated in an effort to become a
highly qualified instructor.
My definition is derived from the meaning of the individual terms, as stated by the
Merriam-Webster dictionary, combined with the views of the National Center
for Education Information (NCEI).

3. CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS FACED BY TEACHER
TRAINING PROGRAMS.
CENTRALIZED CONTROL VS. DEREGULATION OF LICENSING
It is my opinion that there needs to be a combination of both centralized
control along with flexibility in licensing.
Certain requirements must be agreed upon and put into place in order
for licensing to occur; the avenue with which a person tries to best
prepare themselves to meet those requirements, however, should be
up to the individual.

4. EDUCATION REFORM
The world around us is changing and has been for decades yet the American education
system seems to remain much the same as it was years ago. We need to find a way to
keep up with the curve.
In my opinion, the reform that is to be made to teacher education programs
cannot be black and white; there must be some grey areas, some room
for flexibility.
All students are different, one mold cannot possibly fit every learner; this is
one of the key elements that all educators learn in their schooling.
Policy makers should be taking this into account when trying to herd
prospective teachers into the typical, traditional, “one-size fits all”
university based teaching degree program that has thus far yielded
“public dissatisfaction”.

5. CENTRALIZED CONTROL
-Same standards for all
-Government controls what is mandated for
certification
-Not an advocate of huge educational reform
-Teaching is not an innate ability, it must be taught
Most traditional university based degree programs
are a result of centralized control.

6. DEREGULATION OF LICENSING
-Governing body is at the local level.
State, city, or district mandates the requirements for certification.
-Believe in employing the most highly educated individuals.
Subject area knowledge being the most important.
-Support value-added assessment as a method of
accountability
-Strongly believe in teacher “training” vs. professional
development, especially in terms of management. (Holland
)

7. CONCERNS WITH CURRENT METHODS
Traditional: Centralized Control
- Difficulty attracting high academic achievers and ethnically diverse candidates for all teaching
positions.
- Prospective teachers are not getting enough opportunities to witness exemplary classroom
instruction.
-There are “limited resources and structures to provide induction support for graduates” once
they begin teaching (Berry, Montgomery, and Snyder)
Alternative: Deregulated Control (Referring to the definition that denotes completion of any 4-year degree program.)
-Lack the instruction of teaching diverse learners.
-Difficulty finding the balance between knowing the content and how to teach it simultaneously
-There tends to be an “overemphasis on preparing teachers for a singular context
(i.e. – a particular district) or a limited, prescriptive curriculum” (Berry, Montgomery, and Snyder)
.

8. SOLUTIONS
Traditional: Centralized Control Teacher Education Solutions
(Darling-Hammond)
-Strengthen knowledge base
-Connect practice and theory
-Support teacher development
Alternative: Deregulated Control Teacher Education Solutions
-Improve teacher training once employed
-Implement high quality and worthy mentorships
My Solution : Bring together the best of BOTH worlds
-Create a teacher education program that mixes pieces of the traditional university based
program with pieces of the alternative form to create a more COMPLETE future educator.
-Rearrange the program so that content knowledge, skill base and clinical experience are
dispersed throughout

9. IMPLICATIONS
Combining multiple facets of educational certification into one program
will produce
More well rounded educators
People who…….
*are well educated in their subject area
*are well educated on the social and emotional behaviors of children
*have experience in a variety of classroom settings
*see professional development and training as essential to their
careers.

10. CONCLUSION
I cannot not advocate one teacher education program over another because I think they both
have huge flaws. I can however tell you what I would like to see in the future for those
people wishing to enter the educational field. I see future teacher education as a melding
of the traditional centralized view and the more radical deregulatory view.
My ideal teacher education program would:
1. Be rich in content area and practical educational learning. In order to receive certification
graduates would need to pass both a content area test and a education based test.
2. Be a year long “residency” style program geared towards education and classroom/time
management. This program would take place after graduation and require future
teachers to “teach” under an expert teacher at both an inner city, and rural school setting.
3. Force school districts hiring new teachers to implement a mentorship program with a
TRAINED mentor to help new hires get through those first few years of teaching.

11. RESOURCES
Berry, Barnett, Diana Montgomery, and Jon Snyder. "Urban Teacher
Residency Models and Institutions of Higher Education." . Center for
Teaching Quality. Web. 16 Oct 2012.
Darling-Hammond, Linda. "Journal of Teacher Education." Journal of
Teacher Education. 51.3 (2000): n. page. Web. 16 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-62083142/how-teacher-education-
matters>.
Holland, Robert. "Policy Review." Policy Review. 106 (2001): n. page. Web.
16 Oct. 2012. <http://www.hoover.org/print/publications/policy-
review/article/7841>.
USAG-Humphreys, . Back to School 2012. 2010. Flickr, South Korea. Web.
15 Oct 2012.
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/usaghumphreys/7891493418/>.