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Making the difference?

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by Melanie C. Gonzalez, University of Central Florida

During teacher appreciation week a few years ago, one of my students presented me with a teddy bear sporting a colorful t-shirt with fireworks exploding exuberantly from the phrase: “Teachers make a difference!” This statement can be found everywhere from teacher union slogans to research and even within President Obama’s state of the union address. Yet, our nation has struggled throughout its half-century history in education to maintain quality teaching in America’s classrooms. Therefore the question remains: if teachers do make a difference, then why are they not making a better difference for our children?

Some research and many media outlets report simply that it is because there are not enough “good” teachers. With record high graduation numbers reported from colleges of education and alternative teacher preparation programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2009), it seems the issue lies not in the number of teachers entering the field, but perhaps the startling number of these teachers leaving. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, almost 30% of teachers depart the profession within three to five years of beginning teaching. This number rises to a startling 50% in urban districts (2010). The National Education Association looked into why so many newly hired teachers flee and found that the number one cause for the high attrition rates was due to a lack of sufficient preparation for the realities of the classroom (2003). This sense of ill-preparedness caused new teachers to feel isolated and burnt out. With the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation in the next decade, education stands to lose an additional 28% of the workforce. Therefore, the attrition rate of new teachers needs curbing and begs solutions to the age-old question of how can we better prepare and reform teacher preparation programs to keep good teachers in the classroom.

An examination of the history of teacher preparation in the U.S. reveals that as early as the 19th century, administrators and leaders have debated fiercely on the most effective program to educate future teachers (Fraser, 2007). Through efforts to standardize, unify, and regulate teacher standards, the college of education became known as the traditional route to prepare teachers. However, due to demands of a rising population and varying debates on the merits of pedagogical knowledge versus content knowledge, an abundance of alternative certification programs sprung up. The aim of these alternative programs was to draw more out of field teachers into education. While the minimum requirements to teach are pretty much set in stone largely due to 2001’s No Child Left Behind Act, the pathways to certification remain varied in their scope and sequence.

In 2000, Darling-Hammond, compared graduates of colleges of education to graduates of alternative certification programs. She found that teachers from the four- or five-year long university-based programs remain teaching much longer than teachers recruited from alternative programs, citing better preparation as the key factor to their longevity. However, before completely writing off alternative programs, it is important to reiterate that the definition of an alternative program ranges anywhere from month-long online teaching boot camps with minimal field experience to programs that integrate content and methods coursework within longitudinal clinical experiences and mentoring initiatives. The NCEI estimates that the average state reports about 122 different alternative routes to teaching (2005). Without a clearer sense of what constitutes a traditional versus alternative route, it is difficult to make assumptions on which is the better program.

Despite the large number of possible roads leading to teaching, each one arrives at the same destination: the classroom. New teachers are voicing their frustration with preparation programs by leaving teaching early in their career. This feeling of inadequate preparation undermines the profession and makes it difficult to maintain a stable and high-quality teaching force. Therefore, to maintain excellence in our nation’s schools, it is important to look more closely at the factors leading to beginning teacher burnout and what aspects can be addressed in pre-service programs and how best to support new teachers.

After all, teachers can make a difference for better or for worse, including those who teach America’s teachers.

References:
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Solving the dilemmas of teacher, supply, demand, and quality. New York: National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. Retrieved from http://nctaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/supply-demand-standards.pdf

Fraser, J.W. (2007). Preparing America’s teachers: A history. New York: Teacher’s College Press.

National Center for Education Statistics (2010). Teacher attrition and mobility. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010353

National Center of Education Information. (2005). Alternative routes to teacher certification: An overview. Retrieved from http://www.ncei.com/Alt-Teacher-Cert.html

National Education Association (2003). Research spotlight on recruitment and retention. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/tools/16977.htm

Choose Your Literature Wisely

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By Alison M. Youngblood, University of Central Florida

As an avid reader and lover of all literature (except “Moby Dick” and “Heart of Darkness” which are books I never learned to embrace), I was aware of my own biases before I dived into “Using Literacy Texts in L2 Reading Instruction” from Hedgcock and Ferris’ 2009 book entitled Teaching readers of English: Students, Texts, and Contexts.

First, I whole-heartedly agree with the author’s discussion of literature as a window into the target culture and the target language (Hedgcock & Ferris, 2009). Literature themes are timeless; however, the presentation and interpretation of these universal ideals vary greatly based on culture. In addition, Hedgcock and Ferris remind the reader that literature provides an avenue for second language students to have a “close-up look at the complexity and potential beauty of the language they are acquiring” (p. 249). On the other hand, these texts are granted such generous license in their use of the English language that syntactical structures, vocabulary collocations, and discourse in general can become almost idiosyncratic.

If literature has been selected for inclusion in the curriculum, regardless if the approach is language-based, content-based, or personal enrichment-based, the burden of careful selection is great. The authors and I both called upon Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn as an example. This story offers adventure, friendship, and tests of morality that would certainly engage students, but the language input being provided is antiquated.  Therefore, acquired expressions and grammatical patterns could inhibit successful communication if used in personal or academic discourse. The struggle between finding texts with engaging themes while providing modern, applicable language input cannot be understated for the L2 instructor.

I feel, because of the delicate balance between content and input, that graded readers may be the way to go. While this reduces the rich language input of the original text, the time constraints are proportionally relaxed which can free up class time to interact with the text. In addition, graded readers can open up a variety of texts with themes otherwise unapproachable because of complex syntax, vocabulary, or literary devices.

One last thing I want to comment on is my reaction to Hedgcock and Ferris’ discussion of Spack’s (1997, 2004) case study of Yuko. Yuko enjoyed reading books and continued reading for pleasure after completing her English courses but struggled with her college textbooks. I think this is the heart of the reading debate! The context of this book focuses on academic language training for students who ultimately wish to enter a university where English is the medium of instruction. While the introduction of pleasure reading helped Yuko achieve proficiency, it did not prepare her for the kind of reading she would need to do in order to be successful in a university setting. Yes, academic texts can be dry and dull. However, we are doing a great disservice to our students by not preparing them for the rigors of this reading material.

In the end, I think literature can be an important component to a language program, but should not be the only source of reading input provided. However, I can’t help but wonder if all of this analysis is a moot point. I think the quote that stuck with me most from the entire chapter is that “It is worth noting, however, that almost no empirical research has examined the hypothesized benefits (or drawbacks) of integrating literature into the academic curriculum” (p. 245) I was shocked by this statement and feel that this is certainly an area that warrants further research.

References: 

Hedgcock, J. & Ferris, D. (2009) Teaching readers of English: Students, texts, and context. New York:  Routledge, Taylor and Francis.

Won’t You Sing Along?

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By Melanie C. Gonzalez, University of Central Florida

I have always wondered, why can I recall perfectly the lyrics to songs I haven’t heard in years, and yet cannot remember the five things I wrote on my to-do list ten minutes ago without rereading the post-it? Recently, I read the book The Orality of Literacy by Walter J. Ong in which he explored how literacy has changed the orality of society. I was reminded of this lyrical phenomenon when he stated, “Human beings in primary oral cultures, those untouched by writing in any form, learn a great deal and possess and practice great wisdom, but they do not study” (Ong, 1991, p.9). I have never read the lyrics to these songs, nor written them down, so how did I study these lyrics to know them?

Ong attributes this ability of learning without “study” to the “apprenticeship” manner in which oral cultures learn. The process of acquiring knowledge is one of trial and error, by listening and repeating.  As language teachers, many know the importance of repetition and the benefits of trial and error when acquiring new linguistic structures. The audio-lingual approach and natural approach to language teaching and learning most famously capitalized on this practice. In oral cultures, information was committed to memory via multiple retellings, often in the form of songs, rhymes, and stories. In early childhood, parents, adults, and teachers make use of this very same technique.

However in secondary and higher education, it is deemed too “elementary” or “childish” to provide information via rhyme schemes, storytelling, and songs. Yet, these are the very tools that oral societies use to make the information permanent and durable. In the field of English language teaching, it is quite probable that a child will enroll in the classroom from a non-literate, oral culture. If we rely solely on textbooks for the teaching of language and purveyance of content knowledge, then we are denying them equal access to the content that their literate classmates receive.  Making language and content comprehensible may mean shifting away sometimes from literacy to orality in order to develop knowledge. In this vein, we engage the child in a form of studying with which they are familiar in their culture.

In sum, the higher a student climbs in their education, the more orality dies, replaced by thick textbooks, expository articles, and involved essays. I challenge all in the field to think of ways to including aspects of orality into your units of study. You might be amazed at the level of recall your students may have! Even at my age, I still find myself humming the alphabet song in my head when alphabetizing, and I can tell you exactly which days of the month have 30 days, all thanks to orality.

References:

Ong, W.J. (1991). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the world. New York: Routledge.

Testing Posts

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