The Ideal Partnership Between Schools and Higher Education, Essay Example

After reading chapter 14, select one of the models or develop your own model and explain why this model would be the ideal partnership between schools and higher education.

While there are many models that help increase the partnership that exists between schools and higher education, the best model is exemplified by many alternative education training programs. These programs recruit individuals that already have experience in their field of expertise and provide them professional development sessions in addition to a customized graduate program to help promote learning. An example is the NYC Teaching Fellows (NYC Teaching Fellows, n.d.). Because these individuals are in graduate training as they work as full time teachers, they are able to directly apply their graduate education to what is being presented in the classroom.

Why have colleges of education in research universities struggled to balance their research focus and their commitment to education preparedness?

It is difficult to balance the research focus and commitment to education preparedness because there is limited resources available in terms of time and funds. Furthermore, to help students develop both of these skills, a lot of effort needs to be invested to ensure that all students gain an adequate understanding of both aspects of the field. Since this requires high level thinking, this is often difficult to facilitate for individuals who have had no previous research experience. However, both aspects of training are necessary because even individuals who do not wish to conduct research on a large scale must understand to how, at minimum, understand student data within their classroom.

What were three of the problems/challenges faced by the faculty/administration at the University of Washington as they attempt to complete renewal? How would you help the faculty to overcome these challenges?

As the University of Washington attempted to complete renewal, it was essential for the program to determine how to best balance the training that the students were receiving. This can be done by determining success statistics of teachers based on course offerings and altering the program based on what is the most helpful. In addition, faculty had difficulty determining how to best make the link between graduate education and the classroom strong. To do so, it would be helpful for the faculty to frequent classrooms for observations of their students. Lastly, the faculty had a difficult time in determining how to motivate students, which could be solved by demonstrating the real world application of this material.

References

NYC Teaching Fellows. (n.d.). About. Retrieved from https://www.nycteachingfellows.org/becomeafellow/Apply%20Now.asp

Sirotnik KA, Soder R. (1989). The Beat of a Different Drummer: Essays on Educational Renewal in Honor of John I. Goodlad. Peter Lang.