Many of you have gone from a private to a public or a public to a private placement during your field experiences in the MAP. Discuss some of the problems of either or both. Which do you think a MAP apprentice should do first-private or public? Why? Please add any suggestions as to how to make this transition easier, or less shocking for future MAP apprentices.
P. Komperda
7 comments:
I think the biggest thing to teach new MAP students, especially those with no experience in a classroom or even working with children of their age level is the dynamic differences between public and private.
I think with private you have more collaboration, freedom of choice in planning, and less stress with classroom management. Although in private you deal more with the PR aspect of teaching..parents, professional development, etc.
With public the focus is more on standards, classroom management, heirachy of positions, and sometimes the disconnect in large school districts. In public you sort of have to be more assertive and independent.
I think perhaps really focusing on giving students an opportunity to take a field trip to different schools for the day, not necessarily who their mentor will be...to give them a sample would be a better choice.
Experience is after all, the best teacher.
My public and private placements have been night and day. While I enjoyed my private placement and adored my students and mentor I did not feel like a real teacher. Being in a public placement has opened my eyes to all of the aspects of teaching and I really have started to feel more like a teacher. I am looking forward to working in the public atmosphere in the future.
I have really enjoyed my two placements immensely, despite the fact that these experiences could not be more different! At Lakewood, I really enjoyed the diversity and, surprisingly, the "set" curriculum. Additionally, I think I see myself as more of a high school teacher than a middle school teacher, and so my placement at Lakewood tied into that.
That said, University School is incredible. There is far more freedom when it comes to creative lesson planning, field trips options, and resources. You can easily see how much the students WANT to learn and do well--this is a little bit harder to see sometimes in the public realm.
I think I definitely would suggest doing public first, and then private (rather than vice versa). It was nice to have my background in a more standardized approach, stronger classroom management skills, and ideas that seemed "impossible" in the public school. I could not imagine going from US to Lakewood, and then learning how to monitor classroom management issues all while planning my unit.
The one thing I will say--the age range found in the AYA licensure is vast! My seventh graders are truly "children", while my seniors at Lakewood were adults (not that they always acted that way:). While I feel really lucky to have had the experience to teach basically the entire range of my license, I think I would have benefited from being taught how to deal with twelve-year-olds versus eighteen-year-olds.
I definitely agree with Kristin: the MAP students should be able to take field trips to observe other schools and grade levels (within their license). I think it would really benefit everyone to see what they are expected to be proficient in teaching. When you need a job, and the only one available is 7th grade and you're only experienced in 12th, I think anyone would be extremely out of their element!
I agree with Ariel that MAP students should have a public experience prior to a private one. I started at LHS last year and immediately saw the diversity and classroom management aspects that go into teaching. Then I went to a small private school in a rich area (Agnon) and saw how vastly different the curriculum and community aspects were.
I have loved both experiences, and I think that if I had started in a private school and then moved to public, I may have been less comfortable with asserting my authority.
I also agree with Kristin's idea to allow the MAP students to visit schools prior to student teaching beginning. I think they will be bettered prepared for what is to come.
Do you feel we (MAP instructors) present a one-sided exposure to how to teach either favoring public or private school education based on your courses and field experiences?
P.komperda
I will say, that although I don't feel there has been a promotion of either private or public education over the other. I do feel that unfortunately Ursuline does not do enough to expose students to urban educational settings. The experiences teachers face in a large urban school system are at times vastly different than those even experienced at a public school like Lakewood. Several times throughout the year, we were told we would be going to a Cleveland school to visit, but no follow through was seen.
I think in a city like Cleveland, which has so much state and national focus on their educational system, and the need to better prepare teachers for tomorrow's classroom, that Ursuline should strive to provide a more well rounded experience between not only public and private..but suburban and inner city.
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