Hall/Quinn/ Gollnick, Introduction to TeachingInstructor Resource

Lecture Notes

Chapter 1: Becoming a Teacher

Summary: This chapter focuses on the joys of teaching and the skills required to become a part of this profession. It covers the content knowledge required of teachers, the examinations required to enter the profession, steps to licensure, and the expectations of teacher education programs at the university level. Topics of motivation include intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, while the authors list the benefits and rewards of becoming part of the teaching profession. The chapter also addresses educational standards for teachers and students, as well as a detailed list of what teacher candidates should be doing to prepare for the profession.

The latter section of the chapter really focuses on activities for teacher candidates while enrolled at the university level, including: Volunteering and observing in classrooms, developing a professional portfolio, reflecting on teaching practice, and collaboration with colleagues to build networks of support and encouragement. In addition to the inclusion of traditional pathways to becoming a teacher, the authors also include ways for people to become part of the profession through alternative certification routes. Locations and salaries of the types of schools where teacher candidates may choose to work are also discussed within the chapter. The chapter concludes with a look at the importance of keeping track of personal and professional growth as a teacher, including the value of professional portfolios.

Chapter Outline:

Why Teach?

  • Teaching is a noble, joyful profession. While it is very hard work, it can be rewarding and fun to help others learn.
  • The profession is very demanding, requiring much decision making ability, energy, effort and motivation
  • People come to the teaching profession for many different reasons.

The Joy of Teaching

  • The playfulness and spirit of teachers endears them to the students. They should see that you view learning as fun and that you work to make the experience enjoyable.
  • Joy and rewards vary from teacher to teacher, and teachers love to share these stories

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards

  • Most teachers experience intrinsic rewards when their students finally grasp a concept or skill that they have been trying to teach.
  • It is rewarding to bring students together as part of a learning community
  • It is exciting to try to meet the needs of each individual student
  • Teaching is never dull or boring and always changing
  • Extrinsic rewards come in the form of acknowledgements from students, other teachers, parents, from awards
  • Money is not a real motivator for teachers since the majority doesn’t enter the profession to get rich!

The Laughs

  • Teachers love to share stories from their learning communities that help others understand why it is so marvelous to be a teacher.

Making a Difference

  • Effective teachers make a difference in student learning
  • The influence of teacher on student achievement is greater than any other observable factor

Student Learning

  • It is enjoyable to watch student achieve at physical, social, creative, and intellectual endeavors.
  • Teachers are responsible for creating rigorous and engaging instructional strategies that draw on the cultural background and previous experience of students to teach them.
  • Standardized tests are one way that schools can measure student learning.

The Teaching Profession

  • Despite the certification exams required to become a teacher, it historically has not been viewed in the same class of professions and lawyers, doctors, engineers, and accountants.
  • Teaching as a profession lacks high salaries and prestige, control over the work, ability to set policy and little time to interact intellectually with colleagues
  • Many teachers today are entering the profession with earned bachelor’s degrees in various areas, and taking the core of teaching programs as part of a graduate program

Being Professional

  • Teaching is a profession that requires specialized knowledge and skills. Teachers are therefore bound by an ethical code as they work to serve the public.
  • School administrators, members of the school board and state legislators usually set standards and rules for teachers.
  • Teachers unions and teacher organizations provide professional development opportunities for teachers, help negotiate salary and benefit options, and advocate for the teaching profession.
  • Teachers need to remain active and involved in professional organizations at local, state and national levels.

Setting and Upholding Standards

  • Professional standards boards have the responsibility for developing licensure standards for teachers and other school professionals. They may withdraw licenses from teachers whose behaviors have led to malpractice.

Accreditation

  • Teachers typically graduate from accredited university or college programs before they can take the state licensure examination.
  • The CAEP (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation) accrediting body nationally accredits teacher preparation programs based on specific required features.
  • Accreditation teams visit universities to renew accreditation periodically and may ask to see the portfolios of teaching candidates to view the expectations and rigor of the program, as well as to view student samples of required assignments.

Licensure

  • To teach in a public school, teachers must be licensed by a state agency to teach a specific subject.
  • Some states will grant a provisional license that allows teachers to teach for three to five years before meeting all the requirements for licensure, especially if they are experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers for a specific age group or population, such as early childhood or special education.

National Board Certification

  • It costs teachers about $2,300 to apply for National Board Certification. Many states help fund the cost of those teachers interested in pursuing this interest.
  • Teachers must have at least 3 full years of teaching experience to be eligible.
  • They must provide evidence in a portfolio to demonstrate competence and excellence in a particular area. The portfolio also includes a video of the teacher teaching, reflections on teaching, and analysis of student work. The work is judged by experience teachers using specific rubrics.
  • Many teachers say that the process of applying for this certification made them better teachers and helped improved the performance of their students.
  • Many national board certified teachers receive annual bonuses or pay raises.

Specialized Knowledge

  • Teachers are expected to understand the subject matter they teach well enough to help young people know it and apply it to the world in which they live. They must be able to relate the content to the experiences of the students.

Code of Ethics

  • The teaching code of ethics guides the work and relationships that teachers develop with students and colleagues.
  • This code addresses such issues as: Discrimination against students, restraint of students, protecting students from harm, personal relationships with students, and misrepresenting one’s credentials.

Obligation to Practice in Acceptable Ways

  • Teachers must model acceptable behavior based on the norms of the profession.

What do Teachers Need to Know?

  • Understand and be able to articulate teaching practices
  • Become familiar with the teaching standards

Teacher Education Programs

  • Students must demonstrate competence with a GPA over 2.5. For some institutions, 2.75 is required to gain admission to the program.

Ways Programs are Organized and Why

  • Traditionally designed to moved candidates along a path of acquiring knowledge
  • Students must complete a specified number of courses in their elected field

The Importance of Clinical Practice

  • Early clinical experiences are a key factor in candidates’ success. Students have to be actively involved in the daily work of teachers.

Different Pathways to Licensure

  • Teachers who have completed bachelor’s programs are prepared for a license to teach.
  • They also must complete field experience, observe and/or work in schools
  • Candidates student teach prior to licensure.
  • Some programs can be completed online or through distance learning programs
  • Some explore teaching through community college experience
  • Some educators can take post baccalaureate courses to meet licensure requirements.
  • School districts may negotiate professional development coursework with state licensing agencies to provide on-the-job credit for educators who have the experience, but not the degree.
  • The U.S. Department of Education provides incentives to colleges of education who recruit, select, train, coach, mentor and retain teachers in high need, hard to staff school districts.
  • There is currently a national shortage of teachers in the following areas: Math, science, English/language arts, foreign languages, English Language Learners (ELL), and special education (k-12).

The Five-year Teaching Degree

  • These programs begin at the undergraduate level and end with a master’s degree or eligibility for licensure after completing a sequence of graduate coursework.
  • They require a year-long internship in schools
  • The fifth year student gains practical experience during the day and attends classes in the evening.
  • Undergraduate students could purse a Master of Arts in Teaching degree through a MAT program.
  • Some programs are offered completely online, which is beneficial to nontraditional students with families and/or other work responsibilities.

Alternative Licensure Plans

  • No specialized training is required. However, most states require these alternate route teachers to take education courses and be mentored by experienced teachers.
  • Programs are designed for adults beyond the traditional college age of 18-24.
  • Tend to offer great flexibility in scheduling coursework and field experiences
  • Military personnel may select to participate in the Troops to Teachers program
  • Teach for America (TFA) is a non-profit organization that recruits outstanding students with bachelor’s degrees from the nation’s top universities to teach for two or more years in a low-income community throughout the U.S.

Graduate Licensure

  • Licensure programs lead to an elementary or secondary teaching license and a Master of Education degree (M.Ed.)

Trends in the Teaching Force

  • A projected 4.2 million teacher will be teaching by 2016. Jobs become available when teachers retire, move, or leave the profession. Jobs are also created in areas where population is booming and new schools are being built.
  • Over the next decade, around 700,000 teachers – almost one out of four current teachers – is scheduled to retire.
  • Teachers leave the profession for many reasons including: Pregnancy, health problems, moving to a new location, job burn-out, switching professions, or other child rearing responsibilities.
  • One in five beginning teachers are gone within the first three years. The largest turnover rate is in small private schools. Their teachers may transfer to public schools for higher pay, health insurance incentives, and teacher retirement benefits.
  • You may not find a job at the school in your neighborhood where you attended as a child or have close, personal ties. However, if you are willing to move and consider other options, you can find a teaching job.
  • California, Texas, Nevada, North Carolina and Florida are experiencing growth in their student populations, increasing the need for teachers.
  • The American Federation of Teachers report that the average teacher salary in the U.S. was $51,009 during the 2006-2007 school year.
  • California tops the states with the highest teacher salary at $63,640, and South Dakota offers the lowest salary at $35,378.
  • Most teacher contracts are for less than 12 months.
  • Over 60% of teachers earn additional income above their salary by doing extra duties as assigned by their school administrators

Teaching Fields

  • If you are willing to teach math, science, English language learners, and students with disabilities, your opportunity of finding a job increases, since there is a shortage of teachers for those areas.
  • There is also a shortage of culturally and linguistically diverse educators.
  • Special education teachers teach students with mental, behavioral, sensory, physical, and learning disabilities. Their jobs are very demanding and the burn-out rate is high.
  • It’s important to remember that the type of community you grew up in may not be the area that needs teachers the most. Highly qualified teachers are always in demand in districts all across the U.S.
  • Out-of-field teacher sometimes have no even minored in the field they are teaching and lack the knowledge and skills to help students learn core subjects.

What Role Does Technology Play in the Lives of Teachers?

  • You will need to think about ways to use technology in your teaching profession and think creatively about how you can use it to help students learn.
  • The latest technology for teachers can be found at
  • Teaching with the types of technology available to teachers today adds a dimension of magic in the art and science of teaching.

Educational Technology Standards for Teachers

  • The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed standards for teachers. Candidates seeking licensure should meet these standards.
  • View the performance standards at to learn more about them.

What do Teacher Education Candidates Need to Do?

  • Knowing what is expected of you is one of the best ways to feel confident and to assure you get the most out of your university experience.

How to Get Off to a Good Start in Your Teacher Education Program

  • Planning is essential!

Test of Basic Skills

  • Every teacher must prove competency in a basic skills test of reading, writing and mathematics.
  • You typically are required to pass this test before you are admitted into a teacher education program.
  • Individual state test requirements and passing scores can be found at state departments of education websites.

Learn About Assessment Practices

  • Teacher candidates must show evidence that they meet professional and state standard requirements through standardized tests, portfolios, case studies, evaluations of your internship, projects, and comprehensive exams. These are known as performance assessments.
  • Teacher candidates can use feedback provided from your mentor teachers, supervisors and professors, or field-based supervisors, to continually work to improve your practice.

Pass Licensure Tests

  • Potential teachers must pass one or more licensure tests in each state to be eligible for a license to teach. Requirements vary from state to state. It is the teacher’s responsibility to check with the state in which he/she plans to work to determine what tests will be required to pass before he/she receives a license.

Content Tests

  • Assess a candidate’s knowledge of the subject or subjects that they will be teaching or in the field in which they will be working.
  • Most states require new teachers to pass content tests before they receive the first license to teach. Many states require teacher candidates to pass the tests before they can student teach.
  • Check the state department of education website for this information.
  • Many states require that teachers pass tests in pedagogy, or the art and science of teaching, as well.

Knowledge, Skills, Dispositions, and Student Learning

  • Grades and your performance on papers, projects, presentations, and case studies contribute to the overall evaluation of the knowledge needed to teach. Specific proficiencies must be met in order to transition within your teacher preparation program.
  • Your skills can be observed and measured by how successful you are in helping students achieve on tests and other assessments.
  • Artifacts collected for ePortfolios are tied to the InTASC standards as well and document student progress toward state standards
  • The dispositions required of teacher candidates revolve around being caring, competent and committed. These types of behaviors or dispositions cannot be easily measured on a test. Your dispositions are often rated using a rubric as mentor teachers and professors observe and supervise your teaching experiences and interactions with parents, students and colleagues.
  • By the time you finish your program, you should be familiar with a number of assessments besides a test.

Pedagogical and Professional Knowledge Tests

  • Some states also require teachers to pass a general pedagogical and professional knowledge exam that they feel teachers should have to manage instruction and students.
  • Specialized knowledge about teaching and learning is assessed in this group of tests.
  • Performing well on these exams requires knowledge about educational theories, instructional strategies, critical research, the impact of diversity on learning, and the use of technology in teaching.

Spend Time in Schools

  • Field hours are required in teacher education preparation programs. Some will be for observation only, while others will be for direct teaching and instruction. It is important for you to learn from this experience to determine if teaching is the right profession for you.

Learn to be Comfortable in Schools

  • When you know the people who work at the school and what their jobs are, and you show a positive regard for each member of the school team and exude positivity, you will be comfortable in the school and help those you work with to feel comfortable as well.

Professional Development Schools

  • You may be assigned to one of these schools for your field experiences, where collaboration, team teaching, and support is valued

School District/University Partnership Schools

  • The aim of partnership is to seek reform at all levels. Everyone has to learn to work in new ways. This may require institutional cultures to change, which is difficult.

Shadow a Student or a Teacher for a Day

  • This will help you see the school day through another’s perspective
  • You will experience how they are engaged throughout the day and the interactions they have with others. This will help you learn what is expected of you during a typical school day.

Volunteer as a Teacher’s Aide or as a Tutor

  • Your offer of help will be met with enthusiasm and it will give you further insight into the profession.
  • Tutoring is a good way to become familiar with students’ learning styles and it can help you build your confidence and competence as a teacher.

Become a Member of a Teaching and Learning Team