This week, I collected major assignments from all of my classes, and am working with an extra class for another teacher. On top of that, I received both of my comprehensive final essays (Comps) and a major Lit Review essay for the education classes. Feeling swamped... Stephen Colbert had a guest this week who discussed how all internships should be paid. He went on to explain that it was unfair to expect work from anyone without paying them. This is interesting. As a student teacher, I am working full time for a semester and am not paid. Instead, I had to pay for the opportunity to student teach, and paid my university over 30 thousand dollars for the "privilege" of student teaching. In other words, I paid more than I would have made for a semester's worth of work. This is a very strange system, and I personally have felt discouraged a number of times for doing all of this work without pay.
And back to the grindstone...
Hi Chris--Your frustrations are real, but remember that your tuition dollars go towards paying the professionals who are mentoring you through this process--both at the university level and the school level. Your student teaching experience gives you access to both the work experience itself and the people who guide you through it. Your tuition also covers all the university privileges like library access and provides you the safety of learning by doing while protected by your university (which is a private university and that choice is always more expensive).
ReplyDeleteStudent teaching is one of the required "hoops" you must jump through in order to be certified. It may feel expensive now, but without it, your lifelong income in your chosen field would almost certainly be far less than it will be with it.
Maybe it is a strange system--maybe akin to being a Middle Ages apprentice--but it is the system that's in place. Its ultimate goal is to provide students with a structured, supportive way to try on the work of a full-time teacher and see what fits and what needs adjustment before that student is trusted with the educational experiences of young people. Viewed that way, it may seem more palatable!
I understand the system, but it is frustrating. "Trying out" teaching is a step I am far past already- and working in a Private school also has affected me. The majority of teachers there, including Mary, do not have certification, so never had to go through student teaching or any expensive education programs. Instead, they simply started teaching and make good money. As for the professionals who are "mentoring" me through the process, especially those in the Education Department- really not sure if I've learned much from them... Still, I do understand that it is just a hoop to jump through.
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