DUSP Hosts MIT Teacher Education Program

Mariam Wheeler and Jeanne Bamberger

Fall semester '95 marked several milestones in the new Teacher Education Program (TEP) which is housed in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. The first graduate of the program and the first recipient of the Noyce Prize, Sally Buta '94, joined the teaching staff at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School (CRLS) where she is teaching physics. Ricardo Campbell '95 the second winner of the Noyce Prize, is teaching eighth grade science at the Longfellow School in Cambridge while completing his certification in the Wellesley Fifth Year Program. And the TEP introductory course, 11.124, Introduction to Teaching and Learning Math and Science, had 25 students in the fall semester, up from eight the first year and 14 the second year. Of the students enrolled last year, six completed certification requirements in June 1996.

The TEP is currently funded by the National Science Foundation under their Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation program. The grant of $5,000,000 over five years has been made to the TEAMS-BC Collaborative (Teacher Education Addressing Math and Science in Boston & Cambridge) which includes Harvard, UMASS Boston, Wheelock College, MIT, and the Boston and Cambridge school systems. The primary aim of the program is to improve teacher preparation in mathematics and science.

General Description

To qualify for Massachusetts State Certification in math or science at the middle and high school levels, students must complete a major in the subject they expect to teach, and also take the following education courses at MIT: 11.124 Introduction to Teaching and Learning; 11.125 (optional) Observation and Analysis in Classroom Setting; and 9.85 Developmental Psychology*. These are followed by two subjects taken at Wellesley (often in the Wellesley Fifth Year Program): Educational Theory, Curriculum, Evaluation (Education 300); and Supervised Practice Teaching (Education 302-303)**.

We expect that students who choose to participate in the Teacher Education Program will do so for a variety of reasons. For those who wish to make teaching a career (in the short or long term), TEP will provide most of the requirements towards Massachusetts State Teacher certification (see below). The program will also help prepare students for teaching at the college level-an area that has been traditionally (often noticeably) neglected. For others, the concerns of the program might be applied to future work in related research fields such as psychology, cognitive science, innovation in curriculum development, or educational policy making and administration. For those who go into industry, the TEP can contribute to work in advancing educational programs, as well as work on human factors and human service programs. More informally, the program can help students to participate more effectively in community outreach programs, and as responsible citizens, to assume a more informed role in addressing the nation's pervasive social and educational problems.

In designing the Teacher Education Program we have tried to address this broad spectrum of interests while at the same time responding to the intellectual demands of our MIT students: sophisticated and rigorous knowledge of their subject matter, virtuoso skills at thinking analytically, abilities to inquire into, confront and play with complex problems, the enjoyment of grappling with the surprise of unexpected outcomes. Building on these qualities, we envisage our students becoming individuals who will be competent to teach in their fields, who are not afraid to challenge established norms, who are eager and able to bridge disciplinary boundaries, who can think on their feet, and who have the ability to stimulate students and others with the eagerness to question and to be innovative in their solutions to new problems.

The program takes very seriously our responsibility to communities in the inner city. In this regard we recognize that, perhaps paradoxically, the very qualities that best characterize our students may also present them with the greatest challenge. In particular, our students need special help in learning to appreciate the real-world experience of urban youth, the kinds of problems that form the fabric of their lives, along with their legitimate and effective learning styles, all of which may differ significantly from the experience and knowledge with which our students are most familiar. In this regard, we wish to pay special attention to building effective bridges between school and work, including responsiveness to kinds of knowledge expected in workplaces in our rapidly expanding technological society. To this end, the program has been integrated into the Department of Urban Studies and Planning whose faculty will play a critical role in meeting the goals of helping students work effectively not only in classrooms, but also within the context of communities and community organizations.

Who are the students?

The students in the Teacher Education Program come from a wide array of backgrounds, ranging from small town Ohio to East Los Angeles. Their paths to teaching have been as varied as their home environments and their current majors. But the unifying piece among them is their belief that education is important and a commitment to improving teaching for all students. None of the students in the TEP came to MIT with the intention to teach, but they found here, reflecting on their own educations and rethinking the options that were open to them, that teaching was an increasingly important possibility. The students are following their interests in education through different paths; some will go on to complete certification through the Wellesley fifth year program, others will begin graduate programs in education at other universities in the fall. One student is planning to teach Cambodian refugees in San Francisco for the next few years and will then consider going on for certification.

Why go into Teaching?

For many students the desire to teach is first of all an active response to dissatisfaction with their own educational experiences. They also describe the importance of finding a way to "make a difference" in the world. Cane senior in biology, who is planning to go on to study at Columbia's Teacher College, said she had been excited by the material in high school, but disappointed by her teachers.

Views of MIT Education

Many have found that their frustrations and disappointments in high school have been present at MIT as well. For instance, one graduate student said that he feels "frustrated that constantly (in his classes) an equation is put up on the board and you are expected to get some physical sense out of it." He feels that "you can't unless you are able to really play around with it." He would like to teach physics and be able to say to his students "this is what this stuff is really used for." Another senior who has just completed her student teaching in math at a local middle school explained that at MIT she often hesitated to ask questions in class. She felt she was always running the risk of "visibly annoying" the professor when she interrupted to ask for clarification. She feels that a classroom at any level should be more open and available to students and that with her own students it is understood that asking questions is an integral part of the lesson itself.

Alternative Career Paths

Another impetus for becoming teachers has been concerns about the kinds of futures students might expect from the more conventional engineering tracks. One student from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science explained that he was concerned that his present prospects in engineering might not offer him enough personal satisfaction. "In a lot of companies, you are so separated, working on one small piece of something. Ultimately, you are so disconnected from the whole that you couldn't even describe to others what you are doing." He feels that it would be hard in this situation to feel that "you personally are important." For that reason, he thinks that teaching holds more appeal. "In teaching you can't just know the material, the actual person is important and you are required to put in some of your own style." While not going into full time teaching right away, this student has chosen to work for a company in Manchester, NH sponsoring an outreach science program in the schools in which their employees are encouraged to participate.

MIT Students Teaching??

Choosing a teaching career while being a student at MIT is not an easy decision. Most students have had difficulty finding support for their decision from MIT faculty. One student confessed that he had not even told his advisor about his plans, fearing the negative reaction he feels he would receive. "It is difficult to get a lot of support for this at MIT," he explained. Others reported that in the view of their peers, to teach after four years at MIT is a "waste."

In response to these criticisms one student explained, "I know that teaching is seen as a "lower profession," but I feel like the only response to those comments is: "Do you have kids? Well who do you want teaching them, me or someone who may not understand the material as well?" As one student, a math major, said, "If you are going to make this choice (at MIT) you have to have enough self-confidence to say, yes I'm making this choice. It may not be a popular one, but I have to go forth and do what I want to do."

Not all students have experienced difficulties with their decision to go into teaching. One student reported that her advisor also taught high school before going on to get her Ph.D. and was very enthusiastic that others were interested in teaching. This students has also received a lot of support from her family and friends to go on in teaching.

Students Comment on DUSP/TEP Courses

For many students the TEP courses helped them to explore and articulate their own questions about teaching and learning. One senior was "fascinated by what she discovered about her own ways of looking at the world." 11.124 was very different from the rote "how to" teaching course that she had expected. She describes it as one of the best courses she has taken at MIT. She added that what sets it apart is the fact that everything covered and discussed felt connected to the "real world" and was something she could "apply back to her own learning and understanding." She explained that the course "gave me new ways to look at things, even new ways to look at my own science classes."

Another student explained that the course alerted him to the importance of multiple learning approaches. "You can't just spew out one explanation and expect it to work for everyone...expect people to understand. That is the way that textbooks are set up, but teaching is different." Another student who is teaching an SAT preparation course says, "Now I ask more questions of my students to find out where they are and are not understanding the material."

Notes:

The $10,000 Noyce Prize is awarded to the outstanding graduating senior who has chosen a career in teaching and who has completed (or will complete) certification requirements to teach math or science in a public school.

* 11.124 and 11.125 are HASS elective subjects. These two together with another Course 11 class can make up a HASS concentration.

** Working with mentor teachers at CRLS and observing in their classrooms is an essential part of the program.