New Teachers: Alone in the Classroom, Together in the Chatroom
Flint Christensen teaches math at a middle school in Oakland, CA. He is also a candidate for a MS in Education, Option in Online Teaching & Learning from California State University, East Bay.
Introduction
New teachers enter their profession with wild-eyed optimism and equipped with an abundant awareness of pedagogy. Unfortunately these same teachers enter their profession at risk of an extreme sense of isolation in the classroom, and establishing this connectedness for a new teacher can be a challenge. A K-12 teacher is the only adult present in their classroom much of the time.
New Teachers Need a Support Structure
I remember the look on her face when I saw her approaching across the Asilomar grounds while we were both attending our first conference hosted by the California Mathematics Council. In the same cohort of Oakland Teaching Fellows (OTF), our friendship was solidified during the ongoing training which included daily interactions before and after our student teaching. Seeing her took me back to those days that eerily seemed a lifetime ago, despite having concluded only a few months earlier. We instantly began searching for words to describe our experiences as new teachers. It was apparent we hoped that what felt utterly indescribable to other friends and family might somehow make sense to one another given our similar recent paths.
We compared the lesson plans each had felt were sure winners and how they fizzled or blew up. We exchanged stories of successes despite often dire circumstances. So many similarities and then the starkest of contrasts began to emerge. While I felt as though there lay before me a mountain of a learning curve that would surely take some time to ascend, my friend clearly felt defeated. The thought of the next few years of my life being a formative stage might have been more humbling than exhilarating, but it still felt little more than a simple fact of life. My friend summed up her feeling with one word – DREAD. She punctuated her thoughts repeatedly with the word, using it alternatively as a noun and a verb. How could this be?! I had seen her exceptional skills in the classroom first hand. But I had seen her during OTF training, when we were all there together, when she had community.
She was not my only OTF friend that entered with so much potential and promise and yet failed to return to the classroom for a second year. There is no single reason that explains retention, but the greatest contributing factor I observed in our OTF cohort was the existence or absence of a meaningful ongoing relationship with a peer and/or mentor. My friend didn’t dread the work or the challenges or the students. She dreaded being by herself during an intense learning process. This feeling of isolation is repeated over and over in classrooms everywhere. Guarino & Watterson (2002) share another new teacher’s journal entry, “Now I am all alone. I teach in my room alone, I plan at home alone, I execute plans alone, and I reflect alone. It is a much different world than the one I became accustomed to throughout college, student teaching, and my first semester of teaching.” While I didn’t enjoy my friend’s amazing natural giftedness in teaching, I was the fortunate recipient of an onsite math coach. I have never doubted the significance of having this always accessible mentor.
New Teachers Are Isolated
So why don’t all teachers have access to such a support system? It is not for lack of trying. California has designed a Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment induction program specifically to “support the professional development of newly-credentialed, beginning teachers”. (BTSA, 2008) And for those who are able to connect as a result, the rewards are worth celebrating. The challenge faced is that new teachers are almost universally placed in a classroom alone. The vast pool of available experienced teachers, those who are best suited to provide the needed support, are simultaneously occupied in classrooms of their own. This barrier of geography can be overcome by scheduling meetings with a support community. However this may come with the sacrifice of missing the most critical times for immediate reflection and review. The support community might consequently feel exterior to and separate from the teacher’s classroom environment, rather than an integral part of it.
The decline of our participation in clubs and organizations precedes the advent of the internet. While this shift from bowling in leagues to bowling alone (Putnam, 2000) was prompted by other factors, it might very well have been accelerated by the world wide web. My rationale for this statement is that the internet allows individuals to connect in the area of interest most treasured. Previously it was not realistic to maintain long distance relationships because timely group interaction was not accessible. The internet has removed the requirement that the co-participants of our social capital frameworks must be our neighbors. Let’s consider some ways to facilitate social capital opportunities for new teachers online.
Training
Online teaching and learning may still be in relative infancy, but its impact on education has already been immense. While initially appealing to many students because of the convenience it affords by eliminating considerable time for commuting and also providing flexibility in the learner’s schedule. This initial draw is not without merit, but the not so apparent advantage of asynchronous discussions afforded by the online environment is cited by many students as greatly enhancing their learning process. Given the emphasis on reflection for teacher development, the online environment could very well hold great promise for new teacher training.
Collaborating
Even experienced teachers are rightfully encouraged to collaborate with their lesson planning and professional development. The barriers of time and space are nearly eliminated with the use of a wiki. Allowing multiple authors to compose and edit the same document, wikis are a wonderful tool for teachers’ collaborative work. With internet access in the classroom, this collaboration can even be done on each participant’s home turf and at a time most convenient for each.
Problem Solving
Most problems faced by new teachers have been seen multiple times previously by others. Using online groups such as those provided by Google or Yahoo is an example of how teachers can form cohesive communities for the sharing of information and problem solving. Blogs are another opportunity for new teachers to capture their reflections and also benefit from a mentor’s feedback.
Socializing
Beyond problem solving and professional development, new teachers’ experiences can be enhanced simply by being connected to a friend. Email has become a pervasive form of communication in virtually every arena of our generation. Allowing teachers access to send and receive correspondence from their classroom can be a significant deterrent to feelings of isolation.
What the Future Holds
Might future teacher preparation programs in Institutes of Higher Education benefit from adopting an online format over traditional face to face formats? Course management systems such as BlackBoard provide the necessary framework. A caution against attempting to copy and paste content from traditional face to face courses is warranted. Online teaching and learning is most effective when utilizing constructivist pedagogy and activities designed for the online environment.
Might new teacher programs (such as California’s BTSA) benefit from adopting an online format as an “always available” mode of communication? Information does not appear to be the missing ingredient for new teachers. Rather, immediate access to social capital is the scarce lifeblood for new teachers. Perhaps leveraging the accessibility of the online format could be a remedy for new teachers’ feelings of isolation.
Might new teachers create their own “cohort” experience by forming their own network of co-workers utilizing commonalities of their own choosing? Examples might include “1st year science teachers in low performing schools”, or “new elementary teachers in rural school districts”. The students in a teacher’s classroom are responsible for their own learning. Likewise, when given appropriate online opportunities, new teachers can take responsibility for their own connectedness.
Conclusion
Isolation is a key problem for new teachers. Having a viable support system in place is a vital factor for success. While a new teacher’s classroom context creates a barrier, the internet can provide multiple opportunities to establish meaningful connections. How will we use the online environment to revolutionize the teaching profession? It is exciting just to imagine the possibilities.
References
BTSA (2008). California BTSA, Beginning Teacher Support and Assess. Retrieved July 25, 2008, from http://www.btsa.ca.gov/
Betz, M. (2004). Online learning teams: Indispensable interactions. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, Retrieved July 13, 2008, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jun_04/article03.htm
Brown, J. S. (2002). Growing up digital: How the web changes work, education, and the ways people learn.. USDLA Journal, 16, Retrieved July 13, 2008, from http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/FEB02_Issue/article01.html
Guarino, L. F., & Watterson, S. M. (2002). You are not alone: First-year teacher combats isolation. The Science Teacher, Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://www.nsta.org/pdfs/free/tst_GuarinoWatterson.pdf
Khalsa, D. K., & Hildreth, S. (2000). Finding a Place for Everyone: Creating, maintaining, and evolving optimal online learning communities for students in online teaching & learning courses., Retrieved July 1, 2008, from http://www.khalsamontessorischool.com/placeforeveryone.html
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling Alone. New York: Simon & Schuster. from http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=412571&agid=2 July 1, 2008.
Serim, F. (1996). Building virtual communities for professional development. U.S. Dept. of Education: The Future of Networking Technologies for Learning, Retrieved July 21, 2008, from http://www.ed.gov/Technology/Futures/serim.html