The Problem with Teacher Training

According to Deborah Ball—Dean of the Education School at the University of Michigan— one of the reasons the teaching profession lacks the respect that other professions have (such as doctors, lawyers, architects, and others) is that the verb teaching is used ubiquitously.  In other words, anyone can be a teacher.  In America, we use the word “teacher” to describe the person who leads a Saturday ACT prep course in much the same way we use the word to describe an Elementary school teacher with a Masters Degree from Columbia.  We do not label everyone who slaps Neosporin on a cut a doctor; however, we often label everyone who teaches something—no matter how nebulous—a teacher. 

In her keynote address to Vanderbilt University, Deborah Ball argues that there is a dire need for initial and continuing teacher education programs that change the way we teach teaching.  As a result, she suggests that the profession of teaching will be elevated and that the quality of teachers will improve.  She argues that a model teacher education program pairs experience teachers with first year teachers, places them in classrooms together, and provides a constant feedback loop for teaching, evaluating teaching, re-teaching, and observing.  Additionally, she suggests, much like Harvard Professor Richard Elmore in School Reform From the Inside Out, that teachers need to take courses that address the 3 areas that lead to teacher effectiveness: one, content knowledge; two, general pedagogical knowledge; and three, subject specific pedagogical knowledge. 

In contrast to Deborah Ball’s hypothesized ideal teacher training program, most teacher education programs that currently exist have nothing to do with the actual practice of teaching.  Deborah Ball addresses this point when she says that most teacher training programs are boring and totally separate from experiences in classrooms.  The education of teachers takes place in University classrooms, far away from real teaching.  This is comparable to a surgeon reading books and listening to lectures on surgery but never performing or observing the actual act of surgery.  I would feel bad for this surgeon’s first patient.  Nevertheless, this is the reality for the majority of teacher training/certification programs.

Critics of Deborah Hall’s theory would point to research that suggests no difference in quality between teachers who go through University training programs and those who go through alternative certification programs, like Teach For America or NYC Teaching Fellows program (Kane, Rockoff, Staiger, 2007).  They argue that traditional 4 year University programs actually do put students in classrooms for student teaching and thus fulfill the requirements for Deborah Hall’s proposed teacher training.  However, this is a misconception.  Although traditional University programs do put students in classrooms, there is extreme variability in the quality of experience in student teaching placements.  For instance, some student teachers are little more than a warm body sitting in the back of a class, watching an experienced teacher.  There is value in observation, but teachers learn to do the work by actually doing the work, receiving feedback on the work from an experienced teacher, and doing the work again.  Hence, the student teacher that spends 6 months observing a practitioner, who may or may not be competent, gains little from the experience. 

In short, there is a lot educator training programs can learn from other professions training regiments, as Deborah Ball points out.  One suggestion I would make is to have a common body of knowledge that all educators could share.  As it stands, the curriculum of teacher education programs is tremendously variable.  No one is alike.  Teachers would benefit from a teachers-theatre course, where students watch experienced educators teach a lesson with voice over, whereby the teacher explains why he/she is saying or doing something.  Such a class would allow students to see how a teacher thinks in the actual moments of teaching.  

Ball, Deborah.  The Work of Teaching and the Challenge of Teacher Education.  Invited Address at Vanderbilt University, September, 2008

Kane, T., Rockoff, J., & Staiger, D. (2007). Photo Finish: Teacher Certification Doesn’t Guarantee a Winner. Education Next, 7(1) 61-67. http://educationnext.org/photo-finish/