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Teach Talk
If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that question, I would have saved up enough by now to raise MIT's endowment back to where it was two years ago. But this question highlights one of the great challenges of the small Teacher Education Program (TEP), which is based in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (aka Course 11) – how do we get the word out? The other major institutional challenge associated with the unique nature of the TEP is that no one comes to MIT with the goal of becoming a teacher. While the former of these challenges is one we are still combating (through means such as this piece), the latter has actually been found to be an asset. It is what makes the teachers that MIT produces unique. But first, a bit of background on the TEP.
Jeanne Bamberger, professor of Music, founded the TEP in 1995 to serve the undergraduate students of MIT. The development of this program was motivated not only by the crisis in K-12 education (including shortages in teachers, deficits in teacher quality, and disenfranchisement of students across the K-12 system), but also by a growing interest on the part of MIT students to meet the challenge of this crisis. Many students already work as volunteers in school-based programs through the MIT Public Service Center and other organizations across the campus and the city. Their activities include assisting teachers in teaching science and math in grades K-8, developing and providing support for new curriculum, organizing science fairs, and working one-on-one with special needs students.
The TEP was designed to offer a legitimate academic option for these and other students, along with an opportunity to inform and develop their interests in education. The original format of the program included a sequence of two or three courses at MIT, plus an additional three courses and student teaching taken through Wellesley College. When completed, students in this program are eligible to receive a Massachusetts state teaching license in secondary math or the appropriate science discipline. The courses themselves do not compose a major or minor. The only GIR that they fulfill is that they may be used to partially comprise a HASS concentration.
While many students have availed themselves of the MIT-based introductory courses, few have had the time to take the Wellesley courses, which require a full-time spring semester of student teaching (typically in the Cambridge Public Schools). Some students do take advantage of a special opportunity that allows them to return for a fifth year, at a highly discounted rate, to complete their student teaching and other missed courses, but numbers have remained low (approximately one to three per year).
This year, with the help of the MIT Class Funds for Education, the TEP was able to offer an MIT-based alternative to the Wellesley option. In addition to the two introductory classes (which have swelled to their capacity of 30-35 students per semester), students can now take an additional three course sequence (fall/IAP/spring) that includes student teaching and results in Massachusetts state licensure. The new program has been tailored to fit the schedules of MIT students by placing the full-time teaching load in IAP, reducing the number of hours required in the classroom during the semester. Two master teachers from area schools have taken on the primary teaching responsibilities for the new courses, bringing with them years of classroom teaching experience, and on-the-ground connections to the teaching environments in which the MIT students work. This new version of the program attracted eight students in its first year, and hopefully that number will grow in the coming years.
Given that students don't come to MIT thinking they are going to be teachers, just who are these students that wind up in the TEP? The majority of the students that enter the TEP do not in fact know that they want to be teachers, but rather they "think that they might want to be teachers." Consequently, students in the TEP are given the opportunity to explore careers in teaching by spending time in the classroom, and delving into the field of education. There are other students who are sure that they want to be teachers, but not right away. Many students feel like they would like an opportunity to make a bit more money after leaving college to pay off their student loans before embarking on a career in teaching. This is symptomatic of a larger problem of the K-12 system in which teachers are underpaid. Unfortunately, there is little that the program can do to battle this discrepancy in salaries, other than encouraging the students to eventually come back to teaching.
There is one characteristic that is nearly universal in the 30-50 students that go through portions of the TEP each year, and that is that they wonder if they are the only ones at MIT that want to become teachers. As such, the classes often have a component of TA (Teachers Anonymous), where students support each other in pursuing their interests to teach. Part of this doubt arises from a pervasive comment coming from students' peers, parents, and professors – becoming a teacher is a waste of an MIT degree. Most students have not told their parents of their interest in teaching, and many of those who have are strongly discouraged from doing so.
Is teaching a waste of an MIT degree? Would these students (and their students in turn) be better served by majoring in education at some other university? Of course the answer is a resounding NO. The TEP is based upon the unique contributions that MIT students can bring to the classroom, primarily their strong disciplinary preparation, research experiences, and models of success. Being a great physics teacher is grounded in a firm grasp of physics.
Strong disciplinary knowledge, though, is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for being a great teacher. Along with this knowledge must come proficiency with different pedagogies and practices, which is where the TEP comes in. Most MIT students have succeeded in school, mastering the requisite test-taking, note-taking, and memorization skills. At the same time, students have limited experience with varied teaching and learning styles.
One of the challenges of the TEP is devising ways to provide students with a broader perspective on learning styles of a diversity of students, and the teaching methodologies that one can employ to reach them. As such, we build upon the weekly K-12 classroom experiences of the students with activities and discussions that embed them in the roles of teachers and learners and help them construct their own understanding of teaching and learning in these contexts.
As the TEP moves forward we are faced with a changing landscape in K-12 education. The new standards and standardized testing warranted by state initiatives as well as the No Child Left Behind act, demand teachers that are ready to meet these challenges, and programs prepared to enable these teachers to do so. The TEP is constantly adapting to respond to these challenges, and as we do so we can certainly use your help in spreading the word.
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