The shift from teacher preparation to research at California State University

Teaching Today: An Introduction to Education

On the question of teaching there are various factors that enable the teachers to perform in a manner that will perform the best education for the children. Parts of these characteristic requirements have changed with time, but others remain constant and depend mainly on the relationship between the teachers, students and the society as a whole. All these matters have to be judged when the question of teaching has to be discussed. Here some of the important factors have been considered, but these are not necessarily all that can be said about teaching.

Are Universities not interested in producing enough teachers?

The headlines on the front page of a large circulating newspaper in North California had brought this question up regarding California and its universities. The news piece said "Debate on Growth of Research at CSU Campuses." The piece clearly mentioned that there was a growing debate over the requirement for a higher amount of research being carried out on-campus in California State University. On the other hand, this is the university that is supposed to provide the largest number of teachers to the education system in the state and has been doing so for a number of years. This is an apparent slow movement for removing the capacity of the teaching system to stop them from performing their duties. The problem has come up due to the shortage in funds for the university that has come due to the shrinking of the government budget, and the university is now trying to balance its own books by getting research grants from organizations which are interested in getting them done through the university and its facilities.

This requires a greater number of students moving towards research rather than concentrate on becoming teachers. This means that all institutions of higher education are now changing their stand and shifting to become large research universities. Obviously the movement is not only in California, but exists all over the nation. This is not in line with the existing education system in America. Here the large research universities are expected to conduct advanced research and their goal in teaching is only secondary. This is the problem that is being mentioned in the article of the newspaper as mentioned above. These are the research universities and not the comprehensive higher education institutions to which California State University belongs, like many other institutions in the country. The suggestion is that the former State Normal schools, which are now called "comprehensive universities," are shifting their focus. (There Is No Research "Mission Creep" at Comprehensive Universities, it's the Nature of Teaching and Research Today That Has changed)

When these comprehensive universities were set up, their main aim was to prepare teachers for the K-12 schools and the various organizations that required employees of that level. This specification makes these institutions give their teachers double the load of teaching when compared to the teachers in the research universities. This is reflected in the position that in comprehensive teaching institutions the teaching load is to the extent of four courses a semester. This means that the teachers have a load of eight courses a year, whereas the teachers in the research universities are not expected to be more than three courses a year or a maximum of four. This is the basis of the argument for the conventional view of teaching and research universities and is further reinforced through the Carnegie Classification System which gives the universities the labels of being teaching or research in their status. The labels have given the universities an image so powerful that it is used in their description even by Carol Lin, the chair person of the California State Assembly Committee on Higher Education. This is one of the main sources for the funding of the universities and her views have been stated to be "The principal purpose of the CSU is teaching, and that is why kids go -- because they get more attention in the classroom." (There Is No Research "Mission Creep" at Comprehensive Universities, it's the Nature of Teaching and Research Today That Has changed)

This is also reflected in the students with the best grades and standardized test scores being sent to the Research institutions or the Flagship research institutions that exist within the state. This is the University of California. This is a very prestigious organization and has many research facilities on campus and that includes the University of California facilities at Berkeley. The portion of students who can be admitted here are the top 12% of the students who pass out. The next lot of 33% is sent to the California State University. This is not a reflection on the university as it is clear that the best students will also require the best in teaching to progress further, and there is no sense in also thinking that they will not fit in an institution which has undergraduate teacher preparation as its main objective.

This should not give us a false idea that there is a difference between organizations which concentrate on research and organizations which concentrate on preparing teachers. It is always essential that an institution teaches well and the need comes from the process of changes that are taking place in the changing frontiers of knowledge with time. The objective for California State University is the same even today, and that is a purpose of teaching so that good teachers are produced. No teacher in California State University or any other organization devoted to teaching or called Comprehensive institution would like to state that the goal of the organization has changed. They all try to maintain an excellence in teaching. The question that comes up then as to whether there have been any changes in teaching today? (There Is No Research "Mission Creep" at Comprehensive Universities, it's the Nature of Teaching and Research Today That Has changed)

This is a problem that exists in not only comprehensive institutes, but in all institutions that teach. To understand this difference one has to think of the situation in 1960 or so when this policy of having Comprehensive institutes was first thought about. This was when the master plans came about. In those years a college professor required to produce one set of lecture notes, and this preparation required a lot of effort. but, the same note, without any major changes could be used for a number of years, without any major changes. Today the century has changed and so has the speed of transmission of knowledge through computers. There are now many more researchers in the world, many more scholarly journals, much more support from the government and non-government sources of funding for research as also global interchange of thoughts between the researchers due to the speed of Internet.

The effect of all this is that the speed of movement of knowledge has increased a lot, and that can make the thoughts of last year outdated even within the year, and sometimes even incorrect. This means that the teachers in all institutions including those in the comprehensive institutions like California State University must keep pace with the rapid changes that are happening. Only this can permit teaching of the highest quality and they have to be in touch with all research literature that is available. Further, there has to be research in these institutions so that they themselves can contribute to the increase of their own knowledge directly through experience. No teacher wants to pass on outdated knowledge to the students as it may have been proved to be wrong.

There is no doubt that teaching requires a teacher to know the frontiers of research and then to absorb and reflect the knowledge that this research passes on. This is not easy and it takes time. Further this is eased of one is involved in direct research as that will lead to publication of results. This in turn will lead to evaluation of the effort by others. This was not the situation in 1960 when the knowledge available in most subjects was smaller and the changes took place much slower. It is clear that there are no direct differences between research and teaching and this position has been strengthened even more with the rapid speed in change of knowledge. Indeed one may say that a requirement for excellence in teaching today is to know the changes in knowledge available in the field today. This means that a teacher of Plato's Republic should have knowledge of the feminist views of political theory. They also have to contribute to these advances directly by conducting research themselves. (There Is No Research "Mission Creep" at Comprehensive Universities, it's the Nature of Teaching and Research Today That Has changed)

Quality of teachers as they are There have been questions raised in New York Times regarding the quality of present teachers, as is believed to be by many individuals. This was in the column of 25th March, 2004 in the Economic Scene by columnist Virginia Postrel. There are some papers that are to be released and referred to by her in the above article. In the first of those papers, the belief is that the present result of the aptitude tests of the teachers today is the same as was the case a generation earlier, but the best among them are not likely to become teachers. In the second paper, the result shows that the women from the best colleges are not continuing to be teachers as the pay received by them as teachers is low, and not due to the attraction of higher pay in other occupations. On the level it can be assumed that if the salary of teachers were better, a lot of the best students would still be going into teaching.

According to the columnist, "Teachers aren't exactly getting worse. They're getting more consistently mediocre." She ends her own article by saying that at present we are paying average wages for getting teachers and the result is that we are getting teachers of average quality. In terms of statistical argument it can be said that the profession is now hiring teachers near the mean for the profession and for getting quality of people for any profession that is the best. Yet, since the figure itself is low, we are also getting teachers whose quality is low. At the same time, the general view was that we have been trying to get the best persons for teaching, and in spite of our pious efforts why has there been no improvement? The situation has continued since 1960 at the same level. Does this mean that there is a need of higher pay for the teachers? or, does it mean that the good teachers should be given an opportunity to earn more money. During the course of this argument it is often forgotten that the job of the teachers today is not the same as it was some time earlier due to a change in their method of functioning. This aspect has not been covered in the column, and presumably not taken into account. (New Studies on School Teacher Quality Leave Many Questions Unanswered)

The demands are different and that may be the reason for constraints. This is probably leading to the difference in the quality of good teachers. It is also true that the teachers who are the smartest are not always the best teachers. There is some evidence of this from the initiatives to improve quality of education in children through Koalaty Kid. This sort of innovations are accepted by good teachers as it makes their job easier, and it also helps the children as it takes away time from their learning activities. This gives them more time for learning other difficult things. These are all preliminary or preparatory activities and the children do it on their own. The teachers do not have to supervise whether the children are doing it. These methods also give the children a direct capacity to plan and evaluate their own learning, and development of learning. For the teachers, these methods help better management of the classroom, while giving capability to the children to concentrate on their own learning. The other factor that is often forgotten that pay is not the main reason why most teachers get into teaching. They feel that they have a calling for the profession. This makes one argue that the classroom should end up being a better place if we want the teachers to stay longer in teaching, or more people to get into teaching.

The activity of teachers is mainly socialization, but this is realized by teachers only when they actually start teaching. This is not a new activity as the teachers have always had to socialize, but the challenges have become different from what they were earlier. Thus quality programs can help the teachers to improve the quality of their socialization after school, before the school starts, and all other time. This may not help the students much, but it should be helping the teachers. (New Studies on School Teacher Quality Leave Many Questions Unanswered) the only problem is that everybody has to get into the rat race of earning more money as that is what improves a person's status in society, and why the teachers should be an exception. Even if this is not very important in the beginning of their career, yet it will develop when they have a family. Today there are a lot more things to buy and a lot of them are related to the status of the teacher in society. One does not know really how long any teacher will be able to avoid those attractions.

Is mentoring good to retain teachers?

All persons concerned with teaching know that teaching is a strenuous job, and it does not matter what the age of person being taught is - 6 or 16. As we have seen that the first couple of years in teaching is frightening for the teachers, and even educators say that these few years are the most difficult years in the career of a teacher and lead them to seek careers elsewhere. This is leading Davis School District to take special measures to set up a team of mentors who will help the teachers through mental support, aid and practical support. In this year this has lead the district to get 14 new trainers as mentors for the school teachers. Their job will be solely to make sure that teachers continue after the first year and continue on the job later. The problems of the new teachers start from the school itself. They end up getting the worst of all classrooms and that is the one without windows. Even other teachers put them at a disadvantage by taking away the good desks before they come and the teacher is left with the worst desks in the class. This leaves the fresh teacher to figure out methods as to how the teaching can be done in these situations, and if a teacher is determined enough to last for a couple of years even in these conditions, then the individual has the makings of a successful teacher and will probably continue as a teacher for the rest of normal career. (Mentoring teachers) study was done in Utah about the supply of teachers in 2001 and that showed about 40% of the graduates from colleges of education never even tried for a job as a teacher. Even the hardy persons starting out as teachers lose 40% of the complement within five years. Their main problem is that they are just left to their own devices in the classroom. The new job as a teacher is not very attractive and that gives them very bad vibes and they can overcome the bad feelings. They are discouraged, then frustrated, and finally they quit as teachers. The first year is the toughest and even after a couple of months, some teachers feel that they have had enough. In the program at Davis, 14 top teachers of the district were taken on as mentors. Seven were full time mentors and they are expected to look after 15 new teachers each, and seven of the part-time mentors were expected to work with 15 teachers of second year teaching or with 30 teachers of third year teaching.

The full time mentors do not have any teaching to do and thus they can concentrate totally on helping the new teachers. They are all experienced teachers with the experience ranging from 10 years to 30 years. The funds for this program have not come from the funds for the salaries of teachers, but from a special grant. One of the teachers to get support from the mentor is named Michelle Fredericks, and she first met her mentor a week before the school started operating. She has received help in all areas of her work from setting up the classroom to planning of lessons. The mentors themselves are being trained and have discussions on the method to help teachers. They generally try to spend at least an hour to hour and half with the first time teachers every week. The program at Davis is based on the program that has been developed by the University of California at Santa Cruz. This system has been developed, tested and improved for a period of 16 years. It is a widely used program and 125 districts in California are among the users. The program has been seen to be very useful in helping new teachers in improving their performance. Ultimately the objective is to improve the students learn from the new teachers. The new mentors will be on the job for three years, after which they will go back to teaching and a new set of mentors will be used. The district foresees a problem in having teachers in Utah after a period of ten years and this is one of the steps taken to counter the expected problem. (Mentoring teachers)

or, is it money?

The school districts love teachers who are committed to teaching and there is the example of Mark Ingerson, who is a teacher of history at Salem High School. He is very successful in training his students for the tests of the state, is often in charge of training new teachers and has won a number of awards for his efforts. In spite of all his efforts, his salary had only reached a figure of $39,000 a year. This had made him start thinking of shifting to some other profession as only then he felt he would be able to give his wife and daughter the life they deserved. Then he received news last year that may be able to attract him to his profession for the rest of his life. He had to go through a lot of teaching, report writing and examinations. This got him the certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as a certified teacher. He had received many certificates earlier, but this certificate brought him cash of $7,500 during the current year and there were to be other annual bonuses of $5,000 each for next nine years. There have been as many as 40,000 teachers who have gone through this examination in 50 states and many districts to go through this test. It also costs $2,300 for application and has a high failure rate of 50% and this is in spite of hundreds of hours of effort on the job. Yet the results are also good as there are some 30 states and Districts who give higher bonuses or salary to those who succeed. This makes it the most powerful method of increasing motivation among teachers, according to educators. (for Elite U.S. Teachers, Cachet and More Cash)

There is also another examination for certification, the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, and they have their own awards. The emphasis of those examiners is on results achieved in the classroom and this is probably a better method to win awards for many teachers. The states and school systems are increasingly conscious of the methods of advancing the careers of teachers, and these awards are likely to make the teaching career something more like law or medicine. In those professions the persons who work with the maximum efforts and best results end up making the most money. The teachers are proud to talk about the many types of recognition that have come due to the certification. One teacher has received an adjunct professorship at George Mason University, a radio spot during national education week, magazine interviews, speeches to other teachers, coaching and mentoring work, service on a teacher advisory board and praises from parents.

All this is a result of the certification. Another teacher, a French instructor at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in the District has not been very satisfied by $5,000 received by her due to success in the examination as teachers in Maryland and Virginia receive more money. Yet she received confirmation of her quality as a teacher. She went on to say "The seasoned teachers in my field who questioned me and dismissed my techniques, my alternative teaching strategies and style, can no longer deny my efficacy as a language instructor." (for Elite U.S. Teachers, Cachet and More Cash) the payment differs in modes and amounts and another teacher who teaches at Fallsmead elementary School in Montgomery County will receive $2,000 each from the state as also the school system, separately. (for Elite U.S. Teachers, Cachet and More Cash) Yet, she is happy that both the authorities are finally agreeing to recognize the value of teachers, and this ended a long period of frustration. This is also the feeling among others who want to get the certificate for the respect and the money that comes with it, and also the proof that their methods of teaching are valid. It has been seen in the initial tests that the teachers who have been rewarded produce more achievement among the students. This has to be certified by bigger research, and then the bonuses may be received by the teachers from other states also. At present Florida, North Carolina and California offer the highest bonus and end up getting most of the certified teachers.

Men v Women

Another important problem regarding the number of teachers available for schools is the question of male teachers. Let us look at Mr. Roberts who is available at MacFarlane Park Elementary School for teaching 20 kindergarten students lessons on throwing a ball. He is just one of the two male teachers available in the school, yet the students require him a lot for help in the work that he is doing. This is the situation in most of the country and that county, Hillsborough, has only 450 elementary male teachers. The number of women teachers is three times that. This is not exceptional and it has been seen that the numbers of male teachers have been falling continuously all across the state that this located in, Florida. According to a survey conducted by National Education Association, the number of male teachers has come down to a level which is the lowest in terms of ratio for 40 years. This has collected the figure that only 22% of the 158,000 teachers across Florida are men. Even the figure of male teachers at a national level is almost the same in terms of ratio. The minimum numbers of male teachers are in the elementary section and in Pinellas, their ratio is only about 4% and in Hillsborough it is 3%. (Educators want more Mr.'s in their classrooms)

Yet there is a great requirement of male teachers in these schools as the teachers there form the students' view of life. Another African-American teacher is interested in the profession for the black students as the students will otherwise have a wrong view of life with the cash-rich drug dealers in the area as the heroes whose life they would otherwise they would like to follow. According to groups that are looking at the question of recruitment of male teachers, the importance of having male teachers in school is to give the children a view of life in practice. It is not that male teachers are not satisfied with teaching, but their problems are different, and one of that is their freedom in showing affection to the children. This has to be in a manner that would reassure the parents as the teachers would be accused of child abuse otherwise. The other big problem is of course the salary and that is a problem that even forces existing teachers out of the profession. When one of the teachers gave up teaching and decided to become a salesman, his income went up by three times. This makes the teachers leave even if they like the profession of teaching. There is always the feeling in males that they have to be the breadwinners for the family. This problem of insufficient salaries for the teachers to stick on with the profession has already been discussed. (Educators want more Mr.'s in their classrooms)

Teaching methods

The final point that one has to talk about the present views on teaching itself and its requirements in today's world and how it has changed over time. This has been determined by some observers through identification by seeing the classes which are reputed to be of high quality and thus identifying the important factors. It has been seen that students have to be involved in important ideas and concepts, and that is even for science and mathematics. The mode of teaching strategy was not very relevant, but what mattered was the interest of the student in the matter that was being taught. This is generally increased through demonstrations and investigation. There has to be some collaboration among the students and that increases investigation among them. The total contents of the course have to be maintained in a very strict manner and the students given to understand that this is only a small part of a much wider body of knowledge. The matter is to be taught has to be accurate, significant and valuable to the students. The manner of teaching can be through direct instruction as it helps in the development of vocabulary and information of the contents. The increase in development of the concepts can be achieved through instructional strategies based on inquiries from the students. (Direct Instruction: Is it the Most Effective Science Teaching Strategy?)

At the same time, teachings from the teachers can never the experiments that the students have to conduct, as it develops some knowledge in the students directly. This knowledge is in the form of mental modes that are created in the students that are created through the entire process of experimentation. There is a continuous process of observation that is going on while the experimentation is on, and the students have to make some sense of the entire process. During the entire process of teaching, teachers also have to find out the previous knowledge of the students as it can form a base on which their teaching can be based. The total amount taught has to fit into a broad framework that has to make sense to the students, and this means that teachers have to prepare high quality lessons in a manner that will increase thinking among the students. When the students think about what is being taught to them, they will be able to evaluate their own position in relation to the subject, and then strive for understanding what they did not understand earlier. Thus it is important for teachers to understand how students learn so that their preparation of lessons can be prepared accordingly. (Direct Instruction: Is it the Most Effective Science Teaching Strategy?)

Finally, the teacher should never feel that any action of the students are because of malice; teachers have to understand that students' growth is a process and has to be viewed as a continuous process; teachers should realize the importance of the setting and environment for teaching as important and finally the teacher should be ready to learn while teaching. (Teaching today's College Students -- Four Simple Steps)