Addressing Teacher Shortages in Your Area
Many articles in this issue address ways to attract, train, and retain high-quality teachers amidst teacher shortages. David C. Berliner spoke with EL Editor in Chief Marge Scherer about the characteristics of good teaching and the challenges of attracting qualified candidates in “Improving the Quality of the Teaching Force: A Conversation with David C. Berliner” (p. 6). Linda Darling-Hammond looks at the anatomy of the teacher shortage and analyzes teacher recruitment policies in “The Challenge of Staffing Our Schools” (p. 12).
Discuss whether and how shortages are directly affecting you or your school. Is recruitment a problem, and if so, in what areas and grade levels? What about teacher retention? How might your school improve its policies to attract and retain quality teachers?
Who Are Your New Teachers?
- What motivated you to become a teacher?
- How well did your training prepare you for your job?
- What are the most important attributes of a job for you? In what ways does teaching satisfy those attributes?
- What kinds of support did you receive in the first year? What actions were the most—and least—helpful?
Take the survey results back to the group and discuss them. What surprised you about the responses? How might new teachers feel more supported? Be sure to include new teachers in your discussion.
Pathways to Teaching
Should we encourage alternative routes into the classroom? In “Removing the Barriers for Teacher Candidates” (p. 29), Chester E. Finn Jr. and Kathleen Madigan argue for more flexible alternative routes into teaching. In “No Shortcuts to Preparing Good Teachers” (p. 32), however, Barnett Berry says that substandard alternative routes hurt students by failing to produce qualified teachers.
With whom do you agree? Get into groups and debate the issue. What pathway did you take to start your education career? Was it adequate? Those who have taken nontraditional routes may want to describe and comment on their training and transition into the classroom.
Who’s in Your Classrooms?
“Who’s in Our Classrooms: Teachers Speak for Themselves” (p. 18) highlights the diverse interests, incentives, and needs of educators.
Ask group members to write one or two paragraphs describing themselves with a personal anecdote, a description of an influential student or mentor, or a reason for becoming or staying an educator. Ask everyone to bring these self-portraits, along with an optional photo, to the next meeting. For fun, trade articles and try to guess who the author is. Then, each person might stand and read his or her self-portrait to the group.
Collect the articles and photos and display them in a prominent place in the school—the front hallway, the auditorium, or even the teachers’ lounge. Or publish them in the school newspaper, in a parent-teacher newsletter, or on the school’s Web site.
