Teachers

This is a team of qualified teachers who are collectively responsible for a large group of students, usually 80-100. Typically, this educational strategy involves teachers from multiple disciplines working together on classroom instruction, curriculum design, and student evaluation. In interdisciplinary team-teaching, the group of teachers can be assigned to work together for a year or more. This is a common and practiced approach at all levels of the school curriculum.

Some common goals that teachers try to attain are engaging their students and helping them to develop insights, knowledge, problem-solving skills, self-efficacy, self-confidence, and a passion for learning. Thanks to their diversity and exploration of things from different aspects, an interdisciplinary team can promote the realization of these teaching objectives.

An interdisciplinary team encourages and facilitates the collaboration of resources and ideas. For instance, general education teachers can plan and provide the course for all their students, while special educators work on meeting the learning goals of students with special needs. When members of such a team interact and work together with their colleagues, they often feel a sense of collegiality and zeal that they wouldn’t have achieved if they were working in isolation. However, to develop an effective unit, all members of an interdisciplinary team should value each other’s opinions and work collectively for the common goal. Typically, all members meet and pool resources as well as expertise to chart a learning plan, which is then implemented based on what everybody agrees upon. 

Interdisciplinary team-teaching brings several benefits for students as well. For instance, by introducing students to subject matters from different perspectives, this model of education can help them recognize bias and challenge their preconceived notions. Once students put aside their preconceived notions, they are able to learn facts more readily and are more welcoming to adopting diverse methodologies that encourage understanding.

An interdisciplinary team can also help students develop an admiration for the differences between disciplines and ways to handle a problem while considering its discipline-specific rules regarding feasible evidence. This way, they can get a broader knowledge of the problem under investigation.

Teaching via interdisciplinary teams can let students learn ways to embrace or tolerate ambiguity. They understand how ambiguity can be triggered by alternative perspectives on issues that are advanced by diverse disciplines. They also learn why it should be welcome instead of considering it a shortcoming of a specific discipline.

By encouraging the amalgamation of ideas from relevant disciplines, interdisciplinary teams can also help students value ethical dimensions to most matters of concern.

This is a status that teachers achieve after successfully completing a course or assessment. It is usually given for a specialized content area. The NCLB Act that became effective in 2002 required all teachers to be highly qualified in the core academic subject(s) taught by them. This was in line with research that showed teachers’ expertise in the academic content they teach is vital for keeping the students engaged and is a significant factor in boosting their levels of achievement.

To become a Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT), teachers needed to fulfill the following criteria:

1.      Hold a bachelor’s degree at the least from a four-year institution;

2.      Have a full state certification or license that’s appropriate to the subject and grade they are teaching; and

3.      Display expertise in each core academic subject they teach.

All these requirements were applicable to all teachers who provided direct education in core content areas. English, mathematics, language arts or reading, science (chemistry, biology, general science, physics, earth science, and physical science), economics, civics and government, foreign languages, theater, music, social studies, art, geography, and history were designated as core academic subjects. The HQT requirements under NCLB covered certified elementary teachers working at the middle level, alternative educators, special educators, and teachers of ESL (English as a second language). 

The scenario changed once the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) was signed by President Obama into law in December 2015. ESSA decreases federal intervention in state education programs and policies and allots significant decision‐making authority to the states. This act also rolls back NCLB’s prescriptive HQT requirements. Under ESSA, the sole authority rests with the states to decide all teacher certification requirements, including which teachers are qualified to handle core content. Thus, any teacher meeting state certification requirements now automatically becomes “highly qualified.”

As long as the NCLB Act was in effect, teachers met HQT requirements through college coursework, a Praxis examination, or other state programs. But ESSA modified the requirements and regulations to give the states more flexibility in deciding if any changes to the state’s teacher certification and staffing regulations are required or how preparation programs can be revised to comply with the amended state certification criteria and educational policies, among others. The basic idea behind the changes to HQT requirements was to ensure that all teachers continue to feel well‐qualified and prepared for all teaching positions to which they can be assigned.

These are opportunities given to teachers that are yet to serve, to gain experience by helping out and observing in classes within schools. They are also known as practicums. The primary model of field instruction is a concurrent one, which means the teachers will take classes simultaneously when they’re in the field. Field experience hours are taken into account as course assignments in particular courses within each program. Depending on the chosen program, the minimum number of hours required can differ (50 to 200 hours, for instance). 

Since each field experience will have its own objectives, it will be different from others. A pre-service teacher’s initial experiences will need him to watch students in the classroom and notice how the teacher teaches. Over time, the anticipations pertaining to his involvement will increase as he becomes more comfortable with and knowledgeable about the teaching profession. Eventually, he will craft and teach his own lessons.

Though field experiences encourage a steady progression, they will vary based on the pre-service teacher’s comfort level and ability. The decision for field placement of teachers follows a certain procedure. During the semester before their field experience, pre-service teachers will get an email asking them to complete a ‘field experience placement request’ form. This form needs them to answer questions about their background information, experience, interests, learning objectives, availability, and the populations and settings they would prefer to work with. 

Next, the FPO (Field Placement Office) will consider the answers submitted in the form, along with the criteria required by schools and teachers, to match the pre-service teachers to a specific school district and teacher. While making such placements, the FPO ties to put teachers in an environment that offers them the optimum potential to grow professionally and personally. Typically, email communication is used to notify the involved parties of the placements.

After the Field Coordinator visits the class and provides the pre-service teachers with the essential paperwork and information, they can contact their placement and make the necessary arrangements to complete their field experience. Placements for field experience are typically made within walking distance or a short drive away from the campus, but in some extenuating circumstances, they may be made beyond this area.

Field experiences engage cooperating teachers, who opt for it voluntarily as they understand and value the chance to work with pre-service teachers. The Field Office selects these teachers based on their experience, knowledge, passion for education, and support for the particular program.