Class act...

New Teacher Education Program Eases Transition to Classroom

 Amanda Hurt, staff writer

Many students are interested in teaching as a career choice but are unsure what to expect as they start their preparation in a teacher training program.

South Plains College has helped to reduce that anxiety by offering a new associate’s degree in teaching, which offers field observation experience in an actual classroom setting.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved the Associate of Arts in Teaching degree (AAT) in the summer of 2004. South Plains College was the first community college to offer the program, beginning in the fall of 2004. This program was the first of its kind in the state of Texas, and the first graduates walked across the stage at the Texan Dome in May 2005. To date, a total of 117 students have been served, either through graduation or are currently enrolled in this program.

“South Plains College has been a real pioneer in the state of Texas,” said Dr. Gail Platt, director of the Teaching and Learning Center at SPC. “It was the first community college in the state to offer the AAT program. It’s a fabulous program for those students who want to become teachers, and it enables them to find out early on if this is really what they want to do.”

This program gives freshmen and sophomore students the chance to take introductory courses in education, starting the students on their career course as underclassmen, instead of putting it off until their junior year at a university. The students are involved in group projects and gain knowledge in the educational experience by having the chance to observe other teachers, by making visits to various schools to monitor teachers and students in their classroom environments. In addition, students will study ethics, policies and classroom strategies, along with other topics that make up the education field.

“This program has helped me realize that our children really need to be taught,” said Artella Seth, a student in the teacher education program. “Each child has a different style of learning, and teachers need to realize that and learn how to deal with it. I love to come to this class, because I learn so much from Annette Smith. She teaches us how to not just teach out of a book, but to teach children social skills as well. I highly recommend the program to anyone who wants to be a teacher.

The program is effective because of the articulation agreements that are signed by SPC and a partnering university. When students graduate and transfer their work to a four-year institution, their degree transfers in its entirety. The education courses are transferred for education courses and not as an elective, which was the common practice before the AAT degree was created. The program also offers the two additional math courses that, when combined with College Algebra, will complete the entire math requirement for a four-year education degree.

“One of the major advantages to this program is that the students will not lose any credits when they transfer,” said Annette Smith, faculty member and teacher education certification specialist for SPC. “All courses have been pre-accepted by the institutions that we have articulation agreements with. We know exactly what the student will need in order to transfer in at the junior level.”

The program has a few requirements for students to be eligible for entry into the program. Those include: students need to hold a GPA of 2.0, which will be worked on to reach a 2.5 or 2.7 for transfer requirements; and they will need to have passes all parts of THEA, taken at least one English course as well as college algebra.

“Texas Tech College of Education was the first institution that was piloted and partnered with,” said Smith. “South Plains College is attempting to complete articulation agreements with Lubbock Christian University, Wayland Baptist University, and the Texas Tech College of Human Sciences.”

For those who want more information on the program, contact Smith at 894-9611 ext. 2173.