Reforming Teacher Education With a Flip

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Education as a profession is in crisis on many fronts not least of which relates to the effectiveness of teacher education programs. I came across a fascinating article which may, in part, present a path forward for education programs which would better prepare the educators for their classroom experiences. With the advancement of technology in all aspects of our lives, the concept of the flipped classroom is one that is intended to harness this connectivity allowing for students to engage the materials on their own time, and at their own pace, freeing up classroom experiences for greater direct engagement with the instructor. At the heart of the attached article is a similar concept as it applies to teacher education. The idea here though is to create more time for teachers in training to directly engage with students and master teachers in classroom experiences (Matthew, 2017). As almost all professionals can generally agree that while there is need and value in classes, seminars, professional development and staff meetings, that at a point they are of little value and impact relative to professional preparedness. For educators nothing can replace direct contact with students to initiate, develop and hone pedagogical skills. With the use of VR and other technologies, as well as the application of teaching concepts applied with younger students the hope is that future teachers would enter the classrooms far better prepared than they have been to this point (Matthew, 2017). The stakes are high. With fewer and fewer young people choosing to go into education for a variety of reasons, and with so many leaving the field within the first few years of their initial experiences, there is something significantly wrong with the current teacher training models that are now in place. Hopefully flexible and forward thinking might provide a path forward to a brighter tomorrow for education.

Please read the following article:
Reforming Teacher Education With a Flip

Reference

Lynch,Matthew (2017). How should we reform teacher education. Retrieved       from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_futures/2017/10/how_should_we_reform_teacher_e ducation.html, January 1/14/18.