It Takes a Village to Raise a Teacher

By Julia Dawson

Alternative teacher education programs must continue to focus on best practices for transforming potential educators into master teachers. A unique program in South Carolina, CarolinaCAP, offers one promising model.

Cody¹ is a stocky, eleven-year-old boy with a round face. His brow is furrowed, and he is frowning. It’s the first day of school, and already, he looks angry — my cortisol spikes. As a seasoned teacher, I know the first days of school are critical, as Harry and Rosemary Wong (1991) expertly detail. How I respond to Cody will either awaken his ability to trust me, himself, and others or cause him to shut down and close off.

Poker face. Deep breath. “Good afternoon, sweetheart. My name is Mrs. Dawson. This is sixth grade World History. Find your assigned seat, take this card…” (gently handing it to him).

“I don’t like sitting in the back!” Cody yells before I can finish. I steel my emotions, which are bubbling over like an unattended pot. Another deep breath. I reply calmly, intentionally moving to a more bass register, “Everyone has assigned seats. If your grades and behavior are awesome, in two weeks, you can choose your seat. For today, follow me” (Terada 2023).

Cody’s furrowed brow slackens, and he shrugs his shoulders as if to say, “Okay.” He follows me as I point to lined notecards with thick blue writing taped to each desk. We find his name. He takes his seat.

My initial interaction with Cody was successful because of the village of people who trained me.

Without this village, I wouldn’t have survived my first years in the classroom when I questioned whether I would ever gain competence. Inspired by the administration team and colleagues at my school, the professors of my teacher-training program, community activists, and the films Precious Knowledge, To Sir with Love, and Stand and Deliver — I refused to quit. More importantly, that village of mentors who referred me to those films, books, and transformative professional development workshops refused to give up on me.

There is no single solution to the teacher shortage challenge, but reimagining teacher training in South Carolina (SC) is critical.

In South Carolina, the Carolina Collaborative for Alternative Preparation (CarolinaCAP) provides a promising model. CarolinaCAP is a partnership between SC school districts, the University of South Carolina, and Mira Education (formerly the Center for Teaching Quality). CarolinaCAP aims to provide an alternative pathway into teaching that results in competent teachers who commit to education long-term.

I learned of CarolinaCAP in the summer of 2023 when my school principal invited a group to become CarolinaCAP coaches. From my first moments with CarolinaCAP, I could tell this endeavor differed. The two-day orientation I attended convened coaches (practicing teachers like me) and preservice teachers (residents). As I learned during the workshop, the resident who would eventually be assigned to collaborate with me would be introduced to students as a co-teacher, not a student-teacher. Language matters and the CarolinaCAP training trajectory includes one year of study and one year in residency (a mix of observation and co-teaching). In year three, the resident becomes a full-time classroom teacher.

CarolinaCAP is an effective teacher training pathway for three key reasons: dignity, apprenticeship, and time.

1. Dignity: CarolinaCAP’s approach to teacher education helps restore prestige to the profession. In her 2014 book The Smartest Kids in the World, Amanda Ripley finds countries where public education thrives on ensuring that teacher education is esteemed, akin to preparation for law or medical school. CarolinaCAP understands the importance of better teacher preparation and the need for professional dignity. Thus, the CarolinaCAP training approach treats the preservice teacher like training for medical students (hence the term “resident” vs. “preservice teacher”).
2. Apprenticeship: Standard teacher preparation curricula start with content knowledge and pedagogical skills through undergraduate and graduate-level coursework. In two-year programs, the second year often mixes coursework with student teaching placements, which last an average of two to three months, based on the university calendar. In CarolinaCAP, residents spend an entire school year in one classroom. Thus, the resident becomes an apprentice to the seasoned classroom teacher. The K-12 academic year is markedly different from the university schedule. Residents experience the true time commitment of a K-12 schedule. Furthermore, as a collaboration between three entities, CarolinaCAP builds a village around the residents. The resident who co-taught with me has joined our faculty, where others and I continue supporting him as part of his village. This is another benefit of CarolinaCAP — it seeks schools hit hardest by the teacher shortage yet have robust new teacher support, such as placements for residents, creating a mutually beneficial relationship.
3. Time: CarolinaCAP offers residents the necessary preparation time. In year one, residents focus on content and pedagogy only. In year two, they become residents, observing and co-teaching with a seasoned educator. Finally, in year three, they become first-year teachers. Throughout the process, they are paid a full-time salary, making it easier for them to focus solely on learning the skills of effective teachers. Some alternative certification programs throw adults into classrooms with something other than an undergraduate degree, often with little to no training in pedagogy or child development. Such programs ask potential teachers to build their ships while sailing them. It is no wonder that so many sink. Their first year as teachers is even more grueling by adding academic classes and PRAXIS test preparation to an already daunting list of induction duties. Too often, this sets people up to fail. CarolinaCAP is structured to help qualified alternative certification candidates succeed. Content, pedagogy, first-year teaching, and PRAXIS preparation are separate from a single year. Instead, the pace is reasonable. Residents chunk learning across three years, allowing for a deeper focus on each component of effective pedagogy, and the stipend incentivizes residents to focus full-time on preparing themselves for this highly challenging yet fulfilling, worthwhile career.  

There are dire shortages of competent teachers nationwide. In 1980, 21% of United States college undergraduates earned diplomas in education (National Center for Education Statistics 2016). Today, that figure is less than four percent (Deloitte Center for Government Insights 2024). Among students today who graduate with education majors, 44% leave teaching within five years (Cineas, 2022). Regarding experimental programs like Teach for America (TFA), only 15% of TFA recruits stay in their initial placement schools longer than five years (Backes and Hansen, 2023). Teacher education programs must continue reimagining and retooling themselves to address teacher shortages through initiatives like CarolinaCAP. Pathways like this need support from graduating teachers who can effectively nurture students like Cody.

After our first week of school together, Cody and I built a foundation of trust. The sour-faced child from week one had vanished. Now, each day in history class, Cody raised his hand repeatedly to read aloud, even though he was a struggling reader. He became comfortable announcing, “I don’t know that word!” then looking expectantly at me or Mr. Davis, the CarolinaCAP resident who joined our class in September and who Cody also felt comfortable looking to for help. As the year progressed, so did Cody’s engagement level.

This type of student transformation makes effective teaching vital and profoundly rewarding. The strategies that Mr. Davis and I used to nurture Cody’s academic engagement: setting up the classroom with clear procedures, creating standards-based, culturally relevant, AVID-informed lessons, and using restorative discipline practices — all skills I continue to hone through my teacher education program, the veteran educators in my school, and community groups committed to educational justice. These are the strands of the village that guide me. Similarly, CarolinaCAP is using a unique, reimagined approach to create villages of support for future educators in South Carolina.

Effective teachers are built, not born. We must continue to amplify and expand new, effective alternative teacher education pathways like CarolinaCAP, which build multifaceted villages around potential educators. Villages that refuse to give up on the people, pedagogies, and principles needed to forge great teachers.

¹ pseudonym; student’s name has been changed to protect student’s identity

References

1. Chingos, M. M., & West, M. R. (2023, January 31). Teach For America is shrinking—Is this cause for celebration? Brookings.
   https://www.brookings.edu/articles/teach-for-america-is-shrinking-is-this-cause-for-celebration/
2. Cineas, F. (2022, August 18). Are teachers leaving the classroom en masse? Vox.
   https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/18/23298916/teacher-shortages-debate-local-national
3. Ripley, A. (2013). The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. Simon & Schuster.
4. Terada, Y. (2023, July 26). How tone of voice shapes your classroom culture. Edutopia.
   https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-tone-of-voice-shapes-your-classroom-culture/ [1]
5. Will, M. (2023, August 23). Once a big player, Teach For America tries to regain its footing. Education Week.
   https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/once-a-big-player-teach-for-america-tries-to-regain-its-footing/2023/08
6. Will, M. (2022, April 19). What should culturally relevant teaching look like today? Gloria Ladson-Billings explains. Education Week. Alternative teacher education programs must continue to focus on best practices for transforming potential educators into master teachers. A unique program in South Carolina, CarolinaCAP, offers one promising model.
7. Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (1998). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher (2nd ed.). Mountainview, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.