The landscape of learning is constantly shifting, compelling colleges and universities to find innovative ways to position students for career success. At Texas A&M University–Central Texas in Killeen, a new Alternative Teacher Certification Program takes the evolving needs of students and shifting pandemic challenges into account to result in a unique course of study.
“Before COVID-19, our classes were fully face-to-face for both undergrads and graduate students,” said Elizabeth Casey, curriculum and instruction department chair. “We moved online quickly when COVID-19 hit and since that time, many of our courses have remained online. It really benefits the students who continue to enroll; many actually prefer the online course offerings.”
Pandemic-related uncertainties have created a lingering sense of anxiety, something teachers in training deal with personally and are taught to address within their own classrooms.
“We’re more aware now of our students’ needs, and we work closely with them when they aren’t feeling comfortable,” Casey said. “We want to make sure everyone feels heard and safe in their learning environments.”
For example, faculty members now accompany undergraduate students during service-learning courses when they go out into regional K-12 classrooms. That encouragement trickles down to inform the prospective teachers’ interactions with elementary and high school pupils.
“K-12 students need to hear positive feedback about themselves, and they need to know how to offer positive comments to their own peers,” Casey said. “Social and emotional learning factors have been added into some of our courses so that our students will be prepared to support them in this way.”
Technology is another area in which innovation is occurring at lightning speed with artificial intelligence leading current discussions.
“We’re still trying to figure out how AI impacts courses in our department and across the university, and what’s going to happen with it,” Casey noted. “Some classes are using generative AI tools that let students do research and prepare papers, and then have conversations with their instructors around that.”
Thanks to expanded video-conferencing capabilities, student teachers now have more opportunity than ever to put these advanced technologies to use in the classroom.
“Innovative ed-tech is only going to continue to grow,” Casey pointed out. “We’re making sure our students are comfortable using it, so that if we do have to pivot exclusively back to online learning again at some point, they’ll be prepared.”
Another plus: A&M–Central Texas’ Alternative Teacher Certification Program offers flexible course offerings to accommodate career changers and nontraditional students. Courses are online, and students have the option to take one or two classes in 8 week increments, depending on how quickly they would like to move through the program requirements. After taking four classes and passing state exams, students are able to apply for a teaching position at a district in the central Texas area.
The A&M–Central Texas’ BS in Education also has flexibility built in. Courses are offered online, hybrid and face-to-face as students move through the program. In the past, clinical teachers have been expected to spend their last semester working in a classroom under a mentor teacher without pay, aligning their schedule to a typical K-12 teaching day and amounting to around 40 hours per week.
“Now, we’re moving toward a yearlong residency model where students are in the classroom three days a week during the fall and spring semesters with a mentor teacher,” Casey said. “They have Mondays and Fridays off to earn money through substitute teaching and hone pedagogical skills at their placement school if they choose.”
For more information about A&M–Central Texas’ Alternative Teacher Certification Program, call 254.519.5438 or visit tamuct.edu/teach.
