Experience Needed



I met Mark on the subway last week. He is a former student, a very bright young man who just graduated from college and had spent his last semester student teaching in one of the better schools in Queens.  Mark and I spent a long ride catching up and he told me tales of his student teaching days. 

Mark was very disappointed with student teaching.  His mentor teacher was a twenty five year old woman who had only been in the classroom for three years.  And, while the mentor had many good skills, it was obvious to Mark that the mentor was still in need of a mentoring and could not teach him the things he needed to learn. 

Mark told me he was thrilled when he got his student teaching assignment.  He was assigned to the high school he had graduated from and he knew there were many good teachers to help him.  Unfortunately, most of those teachers had left by the time Mark began.  The few that were left, the AP decided were not good enough to teach a new teacher and  Mark ended up with the newbie.

Aside from not learning how to teach, Mark felt he was turned into a glorified servant for his mentor.  He got little to no help with lessons.  He was given full responsibility for one class and asked to do work for some of the other ones.  He had a miserable, unproductive year.

Mark is now looking for a teaching job, something that will not be easy to come by.  He knows that and is willing to wait.  he just wishes his education had him better prepared for the future he hopes to one day face.

Student Teacher Abuse

My department has three student teachers this semester. One lucked out. Her cooperating teacher is a great guy who spends at least one period every day helping her plan lessons. He often stays late critiquing her lessons and even calls her on the weekend to help plan for lessons that are being observed.

The other student teachers are not so lucky. One of them is spending her time marking tests and home works for her cooperating teacher. When she does get to teach, she is being forced to teach a double period math class because the teacher wants the students to have "continuity" in their lesson. This teacher often wanders into the office to chat with friends while the student teacher is teaching.

The other student teacher is not being taken advantage of, but she is getting no help either. Last week I found her agonizing over a lesson she would be teaching. I gave her some advice and asked her what her cooperating teacher had said she should do about the lesson. She informed me that he does not help her write lessons. He also never gives her any feedback on her lessons.

I always thought student teachers were given to the most competent teachers in the department, the ones that really cared and wanted to help the future generation of teachers. I thought nothing could shock me about my profession, but, here I am again shocked. To promise to help and to renege on that help is despicable. I'm appalled at the treatment of these young people at the hands of the people in my department.