CoT offers alternative teacher education program, seminar

Education major Marc Abrahams is a second semester junior but already spends time teaching at Edgewood High School.

Through the Community of Teachers, an alternative teacher education program, students can receive teaching certification in a more collaborative environment.

CoT differs from the School of Education’s other teacher education program by pairing students with a mentor, whom they choose. Those mentors will stick with them through their undergraduate experiences. Abrahams’ mentor teaches math at the secondary level.

Program Director Rob Kunzman said the mentorship aspect of the program also allows students to bond with their mentors. Students must interview to be selected for CoT.

After seeking out mentors, students spend time in their classrooms learning about their teaching styles.

“I’m teaching tomorrow, and I know exactly how he structures his lessons, and that’s how I’ll structure my lessons,” Abrahams said of Kunzman.

Abrahams said this is probably the most important part of CoT.

“You get to really have hands-on experience years before your friends do,” Abrahams said. 

Abrahams joined the program as a freshman, which he said is unusual. Traditional programs don’t allow full-time student teaching until the second semester of a student’s senior year.

“A lot of teachers don’t realize the stresses of teaching every day until they reach their senior year,” Abrahams said.

Another aspect of the CoT track is the student seminar. Designed by the students themselves, it is yet another opportunity to experience a classroom environment.

Kunzman said the seminars are taught by pairs of students and usually run smoothly. Even when they don’t, it’s a learning experience for future teachers, Kunzman said.

“The strength of the seminar depends on the students,” Kunzman said.

Students produce portfolios to demonstrate teaching experience and therefore have fewer course requirements than those in other education programs, Kunzman said.

Fewer requirements gives Abrahams more time to balance a part-time job, classes in other fields and volunteering on the outreach team for CoT, he said.

Junior Sydney Davis said she became involved in the program because at the time she joined, it was the only way to become licensed as a secondary special education teacher.

Davis said she enjoys the seminars, which allow collaboration between education majors from different backgrounds.

Kunzman said the cross-disciplinary approach adds a special dimension to CoT seminars. Teachers in seminars might be adults returning to finish their degrees or teaching under emergency licenses at the same time they’re receiving their degrees.
With a mix of backgrounds, these future teachers learn from one another and their
experiences.

“You really get a well-rounded program, unlike other programs,” Davis said.