Teaching Requires Continual Education Says Charter School Principal
Alphonso Evans is the CEO/Principal of the Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School in Southwest Philadelphia. SLA focuses on empowering their students to become community leaders. SLA emphasizes leadership by teaching students skills such as respect, self-awareness, self-control, responsibility, civic engagement, pride and abundant thinking along with basic yet challenging learning requirements.
What is the most challenging aspect of teaching in the classroom environment?
"A child's need in the classroom has dramatically changed over the years. As a result, a number of scholars in each classroom can be years below grade level. In those situations, it can be seemingly impossible to move an entire classroom forward. This creates a challenge in balancing appropriate grade level instruction and teaching in a manner that will infuse rigor in the classroom. Teachers need to be trained to teach multiple grade levels of reading or math while simultaneously evaluating the level of competency in their instruction. Children need consistency, but there is also a need for evaluation, evolution, and modification."
Are continuing education courses beneficial for teachers?
"One of the great resources teachers have is the ability to continue their own education. Having an understanding that their own educational journey does not conclude when they graduate is a vital concept new teachers must embrace and maintain. In addition to continuing education courses, schools need to have a professional development system in place that evaluates teachers and promotes growth. True professional development is planned out beginning to end. These systems clearly define what needs to take place to effectively respond to the diverse challenges of today's classroom environment, how to efficiently manage all aspects of that environment, and how to define and measure success. In the past, teachers have not always kept up with developments in education because for so many years they were taught the same fundamental principles. This has changed and now educators need to grow their skills each year or they will not be able to be successful in a classroom."
Do you feel a Master's in education would be helpful to your day-to-day career?
"Teachers who earn their Master's in Education are able to return to the classroom and share rich concepts and strategies with their students, enforcing the need for continuing education. Continuing education also allows teachers to experience various educational settings from urban to suburban to rural. If anything, one could suggest that the longer one is in the field of education, the more education he or she needs to stay innovative and passionate."
Do you have any advice for people wanting to enter the teaching profession?
"My advice for people who want to become teachers is to have a clear philosophy about teaching that is attached to a genuine passion behind wanting to teach. This philosophy can come from their personal experience, and should drive them to want to give back. Teachers must understand the culture and demographic of the children they teach. Good teachers embrace the community they are a part of and are aware of what is happening around them. They must be willing to reinvent themselves. Education is an ever changing field, and teachers will constantly be challenged to do more with less."
Christina Thompson is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia. She reports on various topics such as: Social Media, Local Events, Entertainment, Food and Drink and more. Her work can be found at http://firstsendmedia.com/