In the last decade, much has been written about the teacher shortage and the large number of teachers who will be needed to fill classrooms in the coming years. Although the increasing rate of teacher retirements affects this shortage, the low nationwide rate of teacher retention contributes even more to the problem (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 2002). One factor affecting teacher retention nationwide is the limited support system that exists for new teachers.
Current literature about teacher preparation focuses largely on supporting new teachers' work within the classroom—and points to a new teacher's immediate school environment as the chief source of help in the early teaching years. Mentoring, usually a model that partners each new teacher with a veteran, is the most common option for giving guidance about the profession (Angelle, 2006; Wynn, 2007). But if a new teacher's school system does not have a mentoring program, the teacher is often left to fend for him or herself. If a school's administration is not committed to encouraging new teachers, such teachers often struggle to make connections between learning theory and classroom practice, and they may leave the field.
The focus on supporting teachers' classroom performance makes sense. New teachers need to develop confidence in their teaching ability. But concentrating solely on classroom practice ignores the larger picture of the education enterprise. If we only prepare new teachers to work in their individual classrooms, we lose the chance to engage these teachers in larger issues that affect the field—to help them become teacher leaders. The education system can't afford to squander the leadership potential of those who know the processes of education best.
Preparing New Teachers for Leadership
To prepare new teachers to become savvy leaders as well as skilled practitioners, George Washington University's masters in education program offers the capstone course Teacher Leadership in Education. The course introduces teachers to the broader scope of the education system and encourages them to explore their role in that system. Students read widely and discuss issues at the local, state, and national level that affect classrooms. They become knowledgeable and enthusiastic about teacher roles, standards, and other vital education topics; research issues in depth; and apply their learning in diverse school settings. And for the last 10 years, graduates of this course have had the opportunity to continue these rich conversations and connect theory to their budding education practice in an ongoing gathering called the Educator Group.
The group—current teachers, doctoral students, and a few individuals who work with education organizations—meets twice each semester for dinner and conversation. Approximately 15–17 people attend each time. All invitees (now about 100 educators) remain on the e-mail list and receive the discussion notes after the meetings; many remain connected to the group even after they have moved away, changed jobs, or committed to schedules that don't permit them to attend.
Before and during dinner, participants simply talk together, meeting people from previous university cohorts and various local schools and districts. The informality of the gathering allows time to network, bond over issues currently facing the education community, and encounter like-minded colleagues. New educators share experiences, gain support for their programs, become aware of one another's good work, exchange strategies, and solve problems together. They often discover that others share their perceptions about schools, students, or learning.
The Professor's View (Kathleen Anderson Steeves)
I initiated the Educators Group (which meets at my home) to continue the process begun in the Teacher Leadership in Education course, which I taught until September 2008. The gathering gives new teachers a chance to expand and apply their knowledge base. This process helps them evaluate their individual situations, not just through the lens of their own classrooms, but also through a systemic lens. The more teachers know about the wider system—and their own school—the more effective they will be. For example, if a teacher is teaching English as a second language at a middle school in a particular jurisdiction, that teacher should be aware of federal policies that influence the financial support he or she receives, the makeup of the school's English as a second language classes, and the requirements placed on those students.
I know the statistics on teacher retention. And I know that once my students' preparation experience at George Washington University ends and they begin teaching (mainly in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.)—they often lack ongoing support. I knew these new educators and I would benefit from exchanging ideas and struggling together to build capacity for positive change.
- If you could talk to the local business community, what would you ask them to do to support schools and learning?
- Have you conducted action research in your teaching? How and why?
- How can we accurately assess student learning? (During this discussion, veteran teachers provided examples of powerful assessment strategies.)
- What is the role of international and global education in schools?
- What is the most important issue facing you in your classroom, school, or school system?
- What are the effects of No Child Left Behind on schools, classrooms, and teachers?
- What is one thing you can do in your school to empower teachers?
I cover the table with a paper tablecloth and put felt-tip pens at each person's place. As we consider the questions, we literally use the tablecloth to jot down ideas, highlight important issues, and note discussion trends. To keep a record of these conversations and the suggestions that spring from them, I "type the tablecloth" after each meeting and distribute it to everyone on the e-mail list. This allows the conversation to continue from one meeting to the next.
As a university educator, I benefit greatly from this regular association with practicing teachers and those involved in education policy. I learn what practicing teachers are experiencing across three states and multiple districts and about new policy initiatives that are underway or being considered. And I get to continue the conversation with bright, dedicated educators.
A Participant's View (Sandra Nagy Sinclair)
I have been meeting with the Educator Group since I completed the Teacher Leadership in Education course in 2007. As a student just a few classes away from receiving my master's degree in education—and a first-year teacher—I was interested in how what I had learned about policy, funding, and leadership would influence my teaching and vice versa. But I feared that after graduating from my master's program, I would become isolated, focused wholly on planning, and would have no opportunity to take on policy issues or consider the larger effects of federal, state, or local decisions.
Teachers often complain about top-level decisions being made by policymakers who have spent little if any time in a classroom. I feel it's important that teachers get involved at a higher level in the issues that directly affect our classrooms, our professional careers, and most important, our students. Many of my colleagues and classmates in my graduate program felt the same. After just one meeting of the Educator Group, I realized that this group would help me avoid such isolation and build a community of like-minded educators.
The discussions we engage in after dinner always have a clear direction and remain results-driven. We teachers often complain about what is wrong with education or what fails to work, but the Educator Group doesn't allow the discussion to end there. Our sharing goes beyond a passive expression of frustration to a kind of professional processing that helps us become more reflective practitioners and stronger leaders in the field. Instead of focusing on all the things that might go wrong in our classrooms, buildings, and districts, we talk about solutions. Whether it's trying a suggested tactic in the classroom, opening up a discussion with school administrators, encouraging other teachers or business leaders to exchange thoughts about education, or working to change public policy, members always present a wealth of suggestions for moving forward.
During one discussion about how to gain more recognition for the teaching field, the group decided that encouraging nonteachers to visit our classes and teach for a day might help raise the profile of the teaching profession and help forge partnerships between local businesses, governments, and schools. Following this meeting, I invited two nonteacher friends into my classroom. Both shared with my students information about their careers and helped students consider career options they might otherwise not have known about. When my friends returned to their respective employers, they encouraged relationship building and further involvement in local schools.
Members of our group who work with education policy use conversations from the Educator Group to inform their efforts. One member who engages in policy development at the federal level developed a national program for teacher ambassadors.
Becoming Our Own Change Agents
The Educator Group goes beyond individual mentoring or school-specific induction programs to help new teachers survive and thrive as practitioners. New teachers build confidence in their own leadership abilities by drawing on their own experiences, knowledge, and ideas to address big questions. Teachers come to recognize one another as knowledgeable professionals from whom they can learn. They link their classroom practice to theories and policies that directly affect their teaching lives.
By exchanging perspectives and ideas with professors and teachers across disciplines, beginning teachers become more empowered within their own buildings to advocate for what's best for students. Group members begin to believe that they can be the change agents they've been looking for. They know there are colleagues standing at the ready to help them formulate ideas and to encourage positive action.
Teacher preparation programs are necessary but not sufficient for new teachers to apply their learning about education to their practice on the ground (Melnick & Meister, 2008; Scheeler, 2008). Ongoing programs like the Educator Group allow the preparation—and the conversation—to continue beyond graduate school classroom walls. Any group of committed educators can organize a gathering like this (see "<EMPH TYPE="4"><XREF TARGET="startinganeducatordiscussiongroup">Starting an Educator Discussion Group</XREF>"). We see this as professional development at its most continuous, relevant, and accessible. And we believe such programs increase both new teachers' capacity and the likelihood that they will remain in the profession.
