Remember the myth of Sisyphus? In the epic story by Homer, Sisyphus, the calculating King of Corinth, was punished in Hades for trying to cheat death. His punishment? Continuously rolling a huge stone up a hill only to have it roll down again as soon as it reached the top.
A parallel could be drawn between Sisyphus and efforts to improve teacher education in this country. Over 30 years ago, the Holmes Group, made up of more than 50 education deans, developed recommendations to better ensure that newly minted teachers entered the classroom with more relevant knowledge and skills to enable them to teach effectively.
The recommendations were solid, but sadly, few colleges of education acted on the recommendations.
Then, in 2006, Arthur Levine, the former dean of Columbia University’s College of Education, issued a report titled Educating School Teachers. An excerpt from the news release about the report painted a depressing state of affairs:
The report, Educating School Teachers, released today by the Education Schools Project, identifies several model programs but finds that most education schools are engaged in a “pursuit of irrelevance,” with curriculums in disarray and faculty disconnected from classrooms and colleagues. These schools have “not kept pace with changing demographics, technology, global competition, and pressures to raise student achievement,” the study says.
A majority of teacher education alumni (61 percent) reported that schools of education did not prepare graduates well to cope with the realities of today’s classrooms, according to a national survey conducted for the study.
School principals also gave teacher education programs low grades, with fewer than one-third of those surveyed reporting that schools of education prepare teachers very well or moderately well to address the needs of students with disabilities (30 percent), a diverse cultural background (28 percent) or limited English proficiency (16 percent).
Further, fewer than half of principals reported that education school alumni are very well or moderately well prepared to use technology in instruction (46 percent); use student performance assessment techniques (42 percent); or implement curriculum and performance standards (41 percent).
The Levine report garnered national attention, but again, not much happened.
The Science of Learning: A new look at teacher preparation
Now, a new report has been issued by a new organization titled Deans for Impact. Titled The Science of Learning, the organization tapped Daniel Willingham, a cognitive scientist at the University of Virginia, and Paul Bruno, a former middle school science teacher, as collaborators. (Read more about Willingham’s work and thinking in my blog titled, “Both/And Club: Want to Join”.)
The publication, which reviews current cognitive science about how students learn, underscores the knowledge and understanding that all new teachers should possess when they graduate from a teacher education program.
The report identifies and addresses six questions. “Deans for Impact believes that, as part of their preparation, every teacher candidate should grapple with—and be able to answer—the questions…”
- How Do Students Understand New Ideas?
- How Do Students Learn and Retain New Information?
- How Do Students Solve Problems?
- How Does Learning Transfer to New Situations In or Outside of the Classroom?
- What Motivates Students to Learn?
- What are Common Misconceptions about How Students Think and Learn?
Annie Murphy Paul, a journalist who specializes in writing about cognitive science, moderated a panel of deans on the day the report was released (October 6 at the National Press Club). In her own newsletter, she highlighted key points in the report, offering a good overview for busy readers.
The participating deans give a caveat to the report:
“The Science of Learning does not encompass everything that new teachers should know or be able to do, but we believe it is part of an important—and evidence-based—core of what educators should know about learning. Because our scientific understanding is ever evolving, we expect to periodically revise The Science of Learning to reflect new insights into cognition and learning. We hope that teachers, teacher-educators, and others will conduct additional research and gather evidence related to the translation of these scientific principles to practice.”
What all this means for Alabama
Rather than view this as a divisive attack on existing teachers education, I hope that Alabama’s teacher educators will take the “both-and” approach to this report. Celebrate the improvements currently in place in your programs and ask, “What else can we do to ensure that teacher candidates graduating from our institution are well-prepared for their job?”
The University of Alabama Birmingham’s UABTeach program is already asking this question, as evidenced in the recent UAB Magazine cover story, “Reinventing the Teacher.” In an upcoming post here at the ABPC blog, Lee Meadows, associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and co-director of UABTeach, will share more about the program’s work and its connections to the principles described in The Science of Learning.
UABTeach, which emphasizes the preparation of STEM-oriented educators, relies on three Alabama master teachers, including just-hired Suzanne Culbreth, the 2013 Alabama Teacher of the Year and recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. The other master teachers are Paulette Evans and Amy Morgan. Ann Dominick, another former Alabama Teacher of the Year who also manages the Greater Birmingham Math Initiative, is on the UABTeach faculty.
The Deans for Impact also believe that “all educators, including new teachers, should be able to connect these principles to their practical implications for the classroom (or wherever teaching and learning take place).” The rich material contained in this relatively brief publication will certainly be valuable to Alabama principals, instructional partners, and district leaders involved in assuring teaching quality in their schools.
We can do better
In his famous existentialist treatise, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” French novelist and philosopher Albert Camus mused that the fallen king might be content with his fate.
With the knowledge and know-how represented in “The Science of Learning,” and with the fate of our students at stake, surely we will not be content until we all join together and roll the rock to the top of the mountain, assuring once and for all a strong system of teacher preparation and support, rooted in what we know will help children learn at the highest levels.
