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In a world where many new teachers leave education within three years, and with legions of complaints of newbies hitting the classroom unprepared, the idea of expanding the training of teachers seems logical. Those arguing this point are flat wrong, missing the true problems of teacher training and arguing for solutions that threaten to damage our educational system.

Very few people would argue that teacher training now isn't flawed. I am former military, a writer and former manager now working to receive a teacher's certificate. The flaws in the system seem obvious to me. A great deal of teacher training is purely theoretical. My class list includes courses on Philosophy of Education, Learning and the Brain, Phonics Based Reading and Decoding, History of American Education and Educational Psychology, to name just a few. Each of these are excellent subjects in and of themselves but long on theory with nonexistent practice for the inexperienced educator.

Yes, the system needs to be fixed, but a two-year internship is also counterproductive. In a world where we have critical shortages of teachers - different agencies place the shortage between 200,000 and 750,000 teachers nationwide, making the training program longer is counterproductive. We would end up with even greater teacher shortages as it will be slower getting teachers through the training pipeline, while the lengthier requirements are likely to put off at least some potential candidates, even if higher salaries were attached to the new requirements. In the end, while the preparation of the individual teacher might improve, and more teachers might stay in teaching, the mounting teacher shortage could only get worse.

A much better solution is to beef up current programs to make them more successful at preparing teachers during the time frames now used. Strictly theoretical course work can be combined and used as lead-ins to practicums and internships that apply the theories the students have learned.

For instance, classes in Learning and the Brain can be paired with Phonics Based Reading and Decoding with an end-cap practicum at an elementary school where teacher-students can work with experienced teachers and students to see how the principals learned can be applied. As it currently ranks, most teaching programs run four years for a bachelor degree of strictly theoretical preparation, followed by a one-year teacher preparation program that is 2/3 theory and 1/3 practicum. Keeping the same five-year preparation but interspersing many more practicums throughout, I think, will go much longer in providing useful preparation for new teachers, then adding a two-year internship to current programs.

While the current system of teacher training is flawed, simply adding a band-aid to the end of it is not a solution. Turning our current teacher programs into something that is robust and practical is a much better solution for our educators, and our children.

Learn more about this author, Richard Lloyd Evans.
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