Inside Education 427, Etta Hollins on Teacher Education and More (2-4-24)

On this week's podcast I speak to Professor Etta Hollins from the University of Missouri-Kansas City about teacher education and the role of the teacher. Among the topics we discussed are: Why observation is key to good teaching practice and learning to teach The need to be observing, documenting and analysing classroom practice from early in a student teacher’s course How the influence of theorists like Jerome Bruner and John Dewey can be seen in classroom practice Directed observation – how the subject you're studying narrows your focus of observation She gives an example of how a student teacher might learn to teach with reference to learning to teach aspects of early literacy. She illustrates her point with reference to the book Brown Bear Brown Bear by Bill Martin and Eric Carle. As the teacher educator, she engages in epistemic practices (practices related to knowledge) with student teachers including focused inquiry (studying something specific that you’re going to be able to observe or apply). Knowing when it’s time to redesign a teacher education programme. How to solicit feedback on a teacher education programme’s impact and outcomes. (Do peers trust graduates’ knowledge? How do school leaders evaluate performance of our graduates?) Using generic versus subject-specific instruments to evaluate student teachers’ teaching. A student is ready to graduate from their teacher education programme when they can consistently apply academic knowledge to practice and make adjustments as needed for differences among children and get the learning outcomes that are expected for the child’s age, grade and subject matter. How students can progressively demonstrate their development of teacher knowledge throughout their programme. Why she believes assessing students in particular contexts does not mean that their competence is confined to those contexts: responding to students is a habit of mind that can be transferred to wherever you are teaching. She draws a parallel between how teachers respond to children in classrooms and how she responds to teacher educators when reviewing teacher education programmes. Why teachers need not just academic knowledge but to be aware of why they’re teaching. Teachers need a bigger purpose for their work. How children responded to her as a middle-school history teacher “Every teacher, whether they do it intentionally or not, influences children’s perception, their relationships, their values and who they become.” How extreme events such as school shootings can be traced to children being isolated, excluded by their peers in school. A teacher’s role is to help every child find a place of comfort in the school, learn to build relationships with peers, and help peers become more accepting of difference. Bank Street in New York is an example of how teachers can help transform schools and communities serving students from socially and economically backgrounds. Schools founded by John Dewey. At the centre of such schools was the study of children. He conceptualised how learning takes place and he had a conception of diversity. The spirit has been maintained because of a sense of clarity and commitment to John Dewey’s principles. The Lab school in Chicago was founded by John Dewey and takes children from low-income environments. Culture influences cognition, values and practices. She compares how children learn to think with how they learn a language from caregivers. She gives an example of how student teachers trusted their own experience over theory. She gave them an experience to help them understand difference. She is inspired by the awesome responsibility of being a professional educator.