Panel Discussion: National Policies for Teachers

Panelist One: Sandi Gardner

My name is Sandi Gardner and I am the Department Chair of Sciences at Triton College near Chicago.  I have worked for the past 10 years with Education majors in helping them obtain the needed credentials for teaching science in their state.  I work primarily with Illinois and Indiana, but because I am involved in online education (natural and physical sciences) I work with people meeting other state requirements as well.

I did not originally want to be a teacher, but rather I spent 8 years as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service.  I found that I was asked by many education groups to do outdoor education training over the years and eventually made a job change with one of the Professors at Indiana University.  I found that teaching is an art and I seem not to be able to draw a straight line or paint a picture, but I can talk and teach in the classroom and in the field.  Many people think that ANYONE who knows the subject can teach.  I would dissagree and say it takes a special set of talents.  Some people have the talent, but lack the area of knowledge that is needed for classroom teaching.

When we look at where the area of education has gone (and I specifically look at the sciences) I would say that American education has had a difficult time keeping up.  If you are a classroom teacher who does not continue your education, you will be left behind in a matter of years in the sciences.  Some of the field doesn't change.  Scientific inquiry may be the same but what that inquiry can offer us has.  Standards may seem like a way to get to that point, but I am not sure.  The Illinois State Standards for teachers in grade and high school list a set of skills and ideas.  This is good for today, but what happens when the field changes?  We need to teach people to be thinkers and explorers.  We need people who can read and change.  This is different from one period of educational history to the next.

I have some people in classes who can't think for themselves.  Imagine a college chemistry student who doesn't know that 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 is the same as 1 and 1/2. ”That’s Math and I don't need it” or “I'm not very good at that, I just need to know Chemistry”.  Thinking beyond where they are is what we need students to do.  How to get there?  I wish I had the answer.  Standards may give us a start, but if they are different from state to state, we still have people who probably don't know how to think and solve problems.

A national philosophy?  Good start, but if we all interpret it differently, that still doesn't get us anywhere.

Panelist Two: Arthur Ogden

Sandi, thanks for kicking off this program. My name is Arthur G. Ogden. I am President of University of Americas, and Vice President for Development and Communication at the United States Sports Academy. I received my Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Education from Walden in 1995. My bachelor's and master's are in philosophy.

I precipitated this topic because I believe it can help all of us. Sandi is in a unique position because her field, the hard sciences, mandate an ability to synthesize information and to THINK. We are surrounded by a culture which mitigates against thinking for a myriad of reasons. She is correct in identifying the need to teach people to think, AND to have teachers, I prefer the term "pedagogist" (pronouncing the second "g" as a "j") since it implies an "art" to inspiring learning. Nevertheless, Sandi has hit upon something which has as many heads as mythological dragons. We MUST attract good pedagogists, pay them well, then get administrators out of their hair (which is another problem I am certain most of you have encountered at one time or another) so that they can inspire young minds.

Hence, my quest is to set a real tone for education in a national philosophy of education. It puts the student at the center of learning, but does not compromise standards. It does not suggest education as the great "equalizer" in a democratic experiment, but rather, prompts each student to do her best, and the pedagogist is to accept nothing less. It intends that we understand that learning is an internal process, and that teaching is an external process. It also demands that we AS A SOCIETY respect education as an enterprise, and NOT a target of every interest group which crystallizes on the door steps of our schools. It does not seek a doctrine which seeks to re-write history, but rather studies history as fact. AND it must promote the scientific method as a viable means to learn how to think.

To that end, it is my radical position that a serious re-assessment of the Deweyan model, upon which our educational system was built during the early 20th century, needs to take place. Also, the traditional model of schooling taking place based upon an agrarian calendar does not fit in a technological-information driven culture. Add to this the sad fact that television and other privatized ventures are far ahead of our public institutions in education delivery and we have a formula which can only yield failure, frustration, and defeatism.

Solution, look to some of the classical models of education, beginning with Socrates and then to Nitezsche for parameters.

In the long run, Sandi is correct, and the answers are within US, the pedagogists who love education for the sake of education.

Hope this helps.

Arthur

Panelist Three: Susanne Beier

Hi, my name is Susanne Beier and I have been involved in career counseling for 15+ years. Additionally, I am an educator. My population of interest is the disabled student. I have been a classroom teacher and school principal (now am a consultant to educational facilities re: implementing transition programs that comply with IDEA regs). During the years that I was a principal it bothered me very much that we were having various "exit" conferences regarding upcoming graduates. These meetings typically discussed residential and behavioral goals. Transitions to work or college (some of these kids had very high academic abilities but lacked social skills), were given a cursory review. So at graduation time when I handed the student their diploma, I always felt a twinge of guilt that somehow we should have done more to prepare the student for the REAL world of work and or/education. I felt then and still feel so now that we need to educate parents, educators and related service providers of the importance to PLAN a career goal for these students.  

Career decision-making as applied to the general population has the potential to be an exciting and rewarding experience. However, for the disabled student lacking career maturity and decision-making skills in general, it can be a frustrating, anxiety-ridden ordeal. Consequently the learning disabled individual usually experiences fewer triumphs and successes than those who are not disabled. They often express that they consider themselves to be personal failures (Michaels, 1997). According to Michaels (1997), this results in an individual with a poor sense of self-competency who lacks the will to try in pre-anticipation of failure. Due to the pre-anticipated sense of failure and lack of competency, many young adults with learning difficulties have been described as having difficulties with all the skills necessary for making the transition from dependence to independence. (p. 189)

Consequently, the lack of career maturity relevant to their disabilities results in significant numbers of students with learning difficulties who do not make a successful transition from school to careers. According to Levinson and Ohler (1998), career maturity “begins early in the life of the child, which may be adversely affected by problems associated with learning disabilities” (p. 65).  As a result, learning-disabled students experience higher rates of unemployment and underemployment, and they often fail to adjust socially and emotionally to independence (Koller, 1994).
To ensure more positive outcomes Cummings, Maddux, and Casey (2000) suggested, “transition planning must begin in the elementary grades, be built on theory-based assessment, and focus on academic and counseling activities that teach vocational skills, self-awareness, and self-advocacy” (p. 69).

Transition planning 

Transition services as identified by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are defined as follows: a coordinated set of activities for a student, designed within an outcome oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The coordinated set of activities shall be based upon the individual student’s needs, taking into account the student’s preferences and interests, and shall include instruction, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation. The public agency (school district) is responsible to invite the pupil and representatives of any other agencies that are likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services at the point of graduation. If the pupil does not attend, the public agency shall take other steps to ensure that the pupil’s preferences and interests are considered. If the agency responsible to send a representative to a meeting does not do so, the public agency shall take other steps to obtain the participation of the other agency in the planning of any transition services. (IDEA, P.L. pp.101-476)

Cindy Bowman, Special Populations Coordinator, New Jersey Department of Special Education, added that there are two Individual Education Plan (IEP) requirements that relate specifically to these transitioning services: (1) Within the IEP there must be a statement of the needed transition services for students beginning no later than age 16 (age 14 in New Jersey) and annually thereafter; (2) When appropriate, a statement of the interagency responsibilities and/or linkages is to be included. When a participating agency, other than the educational agency, fails to provide agreed upon services, the educational agency shall reconvene the IEP team to identify alternative strategies to meet the transition objectives. http://www.nyu.edu/projects/cape-ability/newjersey/manual12.html (opened 11/17/98)

Career development theorists have suggested that career awareness and interests be developed over time, beginning as early as preschool (Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, & Herma, 1951; Levinson, Darrow, Klein, Levinson, & McKee, 1978;  Super, 1953). Holland (1992) argued, “people’s vocational interests flow from their life history and personality” (p. 7). If this is the case, then career planning should begin early for all students, but it is even more critical for individuals with disabilities who have characteristics that may interfere with normal career development (Koller, 1994; Levinson & Ohler, 1998).

Although IDEA requires that transition services include a variety of activities, in addition to academics, most secondary programs that serve students with special needs focus almost exclusively on academics within general education graduation requirements. In a rehabilitative residential setting there is usually a strong tendency to address mainly the residents’ lack in academic skills and provide them with psychotherapeutic support. Transition plans for these students provide few, if any, recommendations for other types of transition services such as vocational or career counseling (Collet-Klingenberg, 1998; and Grigal, 1997). Consequently, one out of three students with learning disabilities does not receive a high school diploma (Blackbory & Wagner, 1997), and is less likely to be competitively employed after leaving high school (Wagner & Blackorby, 1996).

Okay, I am done now. Hope I didn't overwhelm everybody with the length of my posting, but I really feel strongly about us educators better addressing those transition needs.

Susanne