Perhaps I will never understand, how US Peace Corps are given free entry, with all the rights and privileges to teach in far-flung places of the world, where they neither have the cultural connection or comprehension nor the professional teacher qualifications. Yet, when I try the same strategy, to teach abroad, I am told that I would need at least two years of full-time professional teaching in a classroom.
Never mind that, many of the Peace Corps enter these societies without a teaching degree, or teaching credentials from their home country, the United States, or the country in which they are to teach. They are given a carte blanche, to pursue their dreams, discover themselves, and experiment on children in countries and societies deemed underprivileged. They are not just teaching English, but content areas like - Math, Science, Geography, or Biology. These are students coming straight out of college, often without any teaching experience, yet they are not asked for their teaching credentials or language proficiency in the host country.
Do not get me wrong, we can all learn from each other. However, I do not understand how the shoe changes on the other foot. I am someone who may be considered highly qualified. I went back to obtain teacher certification - through full-time study toward dual certification in Special Education and Early Childhood. Yes, another Bachelor's degree, after a Master's degree. Some may wonder why anyone would "go backwards" in academic study? I say, it is a combination of life's twists and turns, and finding something that really culminates into the what I enjoy doing, and where there is a need.
In all of my work, I have been a Teacher, and there is no other work I have enjoyed more than teaching: prison inmates, refugees and other displaced persons, rural parents and community leaders on child health and nutrition, adult immigrant learners of English, college students seeking career advice and global internship opportunities, graduate international students writing and researching in English, technical advice to multilateral donors on designing partnership fund facilities, or private grantmakers on the needs in higher education in Africa. Yes, I even taught my siblings children to talk, sing and dance. I taught my own son the theory of riding a bike, then he taught my adult self how to practically ride a bike.
So, I am a teacher! I am also a self-driven teacher, perhaps like the Peace Corps who dare to go into places imagined but unknown. I have traversed into career fields with just the confidence and determination that I can learn, and excel. That is how I delved into Substitute Teaching in US K-12 classrooms, when I did not have my formative education in this country. I wanted to learn, "how kids learn in America," to better support my child's learning. It became "my thing."
Yes, I faced the challenges: 1) my accent was not what most kids here in rural Pennsylvania were used to. 2) the curriculum was new to me. While Math and English are never foreign to me, they were taught different from how I learned in Uganda. 3) I had been out of primary and secondary school in a longtime! So, I had to bring myself up to speed, whenever I had to sub all subject areas in elementary, middle, junior high and high school. Sometimes, I did not remember my Geography, or Science, or Biology, Physics or Chemistry. History and Civics, as taught in America are quite different. Hey, I even took up Technical Drawing Classes, Algebra and Special Education, fields I never took in all my schooling.
So, I would plan to get to school at least 20 minutes earlier, so I can read up on the "Lesson for the Day." Then, I would ready myself to teach and have a real conversation with students. Although I was never excellent at Math in school, I found that reading the teacher manuals, and preparing notes allowed me to keep the lesson flowing, and engage my learners. I could also predict some of the questions students may have. Yes, I got complemented on my teaching by both the teachers who's classes I Sub'd in, and my students. I had a student tell me, "You really know your stuff," when we discussed Malbury v. Madison in a civics class. "You are not like other subs [sic]!" I turned tears, and confusions about my accent into class participation. I paid great attention to how I enunciated my words, for American kids to understand.
However, I also learned that, I needed to learn more. Teaching is a profession, not a chore anybody with arms, limbs and time can accomplish. Teaching involves a mastery of classroom and behavioral management, engaging diverse learners, planning and preparing lessons, delivering lesson, and assessing learners. How do you deal with students who are at different levels of comprehension, or learning? How do you manage time, while ensuring the lesson objective is met? Yes, some of these skills come with time, but there is a lot to learn in a teacher preparation program.
Which is why I enroll in a teacher prep program, and it made a difference in how I approached teaching thereafter. Particularly because if I were to teach early childhood and elementary education in my state, I needed a full teaching degree, which is offered at Bachelor's level at my area college. Instead of four full years, I was able to complete my degree in three years with credit transfer (2.5 years, if I was not a dual major). Regardless of all my professional and academic credentials, including a graduate degree from a prestigious US university, I was still required to go "back to basics."
Was I hesitant from enrolling in the program? Not at all! I wanted to teach! I felt the need to teach, and I gained satisfaction from teaching. I am a content and knowledge creator. I am an explorer, adventurous, and an investigator. It is how I approach teaching. I believe in experiential learning. I enjoy the creativity and curiosity of children, and love to partake in that space. I am at my best with children. They are honest performance assessors and evaluators. Children will let you know, when you are not meeting their learning or growth needs. When you connect with them, they show you appreciation, and connect back. When you exceed their expectations, they will give you props for that. Children will allow you to revise and reform your teaching, if it is not working with them.
I am also an advocate, an influencer and an activist. I believe in equal access and attainment for all children. In my neighborhood are many children who are immigrants or of immigrant background. The area has witnessed increasing migration over the last twenty years from neighboring New York City and New Jersey. With increasing number of school from the minority races, in an area where the teacher population remains predominantly white.
I wanted those children, like my son, to have a chance of experiencing a teacher who can relate to their own background. Who might connect with their challenges of: learning a new language or new accent, or acculturating to a new environment. A teacher who might relate to their immigrant background, and who can support such students in language acquisition, or make them feel that it is ok to be different. So, they can proudly say, "I am from Kenya or Colombia or Philippines." or "My parents are from Poland, Russia or Haiti." Or, "I speak Polish, Creole, Swahili, Twi, or ..."
You wonder, why I am puzzled, why Peace Corps are not held to the same standards! The answer, which of course I know, "Prerogatives of Power and National Branding," perturbs me. Countries like mine, Uganda, let in willy nilly, any American who says, they want to teach "African children," without questioning their credentials. If the argument international schools and recruiters for international schools give for the requirement of full-time teaching experience in a K-12 classroom is quality control, how come, that does not relate to their nationals teaching in other places? Moreover, I know US nationals without a teacher ed background who are teaching at international schools abroad. Or those "Teaching English Abroad," without teacher certification, who end up in international schools.
It is tough to prepare oneself for a profession, and still not be good enough. How would one become "good enough," if not given the opportunity to sharpen one's skills.Or utilize applicable skills to enhance the students learning and creativity experience?
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