Exclusion of student representatives from state educational planning committees and of education courses from the two-year college curriculum are major stumbling blocks to a more effective teacher-training program, according to John Benson, who attended the Texas Teacher Educational Professional Standards Conference in Houston Dec. 3-4.
Keynote speaker Dr. Allen Schmidgall of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., praised the leadership of the State of Texas in the establishment of teacher training centers through the co-operative efforts of teachers and administrators.
However, Benson is “disturbed” that over 7,000 Texas collegians were not represented in planning and activity sessions and will apparently not be represented on planning committees in the future, since their request for representation was denied.
“Such exclusion conflicts with the aim of the conference to find new and creative methods to solve education problems,” he feels.
Also, students’ and teachers’ requests for more education-course offerings at the community-college level were tabled, according to Benson, who pointed out that these courses have been traditionally offered during the third and fourth years because senior colleges questioned the ability of two-year colleges to handle education studies.
“Prospective teachers want and need to be introduced to the profession through field work placement during the first two years,” he said.
“Interviewing and working with teachers makes students stop and think about the values of education and wonder whether to go on. They can avoid wasting two years of college preparation and a lot of money later if they realize soon enough that teaching is not for them.”
Benson pointed out that TC is one of a very few Texas community colleges which have been permitted to offer education courses and that one or more of these courses can now be transferred to a number of four-year colleges, depending upon the policy of the institution.
Also, TC students are now being assisted by the Volunteer Bureau, which helps place area residents in schools as observers and gain classroom experience.