1. What do alternatively certified secondary teachers regard as a meaningful experience in the school assimilation process?
2. What do alternatively certified secondary teachers consider the most frustrating and challenging situations of their first years of teaching? The second theme provides a description of how the participants experienced the components of the Alternative Baccalaureate Certification program. The research questions connect to this theme because the participants revealed meaningful
experiences and challenging situations from their participation in the alternative certification program. The participants expounded on their program experiences in terms of coursework and dual responsibilities. They also expressed the impact the courses had on their classroom practices.
Alternatively certified teachers met the requirements of the program to earn a Class B (bachelor’s degree level) Professional Educator Certificate in the teaching field of the Alternative Baccalaureate Certificate. They completed three full
scholastic years of full time teaching experience in the teaching field of the secondary education courses. They earned credit for the four required areas of postsecondary education coursework. These teachers were required to submit a passing score on the appropriate AECTP Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) test. The teachers were supposed to be assigned a mentor who holds a valid Alabama
Professional Educator Certificate in the teaching field of the alternate route teacher or in a related field and has had at least three full years of full time educational
experience.
Courses. Teachers who earned a certificate through the Alabama Alternative Baccalaureate Certification Program earned credit in four education courses. The current courses are classroom management, the evaluation of teaching and learning,
methods of teaching in the teaching field and at the grade levels for where
certification is sought, and strategies for teaching special needs students in inclusive settings. At the time when these participants entered the program, an instructional technology course was required. The participants were asked which course were the most beneficial, the least beneficial, and the impact the coursework had on their classroom practices.
T1 reflected, “All of the courses contributed to me being a much better teacher. Because when you come from the nontraditional teacher’s program, you don’t have a good understanding of what you should be doing.” A majority of the participants identified the classroom management course as the most beneficial. T1 compared coaching to teaching and mentioned, “the classroom management course really helped me understand how to do it from the teacher’s perspective.” T3 stated, “The classroom management course gave me tips and steps to control my class.” T2 recognized, “the coursework provided a foundation of how to manage my classroom discipline and showed me strategies to use to help my students understand what I wanted them to accomplish.” T6 stated, “the classroom management course helped me with strategies to manage unwanted behavior.”
T6 also recognized the methods course as most beneficial. She stated, “The methods course helped me learn how to develop lesson plans.” T5 identified the strategies for teaching special needs students in inclusive settings to be the most beneficial.
Being a brand new teacher, I found the diversity in the classroom course to be the most beneficial. Even though it was about special education, many of
those students fell in those categories that have not been identified. I applied many of the strategies that were introduced for special education to all of my students. It was very beneficial. I tried things to see if it worked for all my kids.
T1 identified the strategies for teaching special needs students in inclusive settings course as the least beneficial. He shared, “It was limited for me. I did not learn a lot. I did not have any special education students in my classes. The coursework was based on your experiences and I could not relate because my experience was limited.” Other participants identified the instructional technology course as the least beneficial. T4 shared that she “did not have access to the technology on the job.” T5 revealed similar sentiments, “I really didn’t get much out of it. I could not apply the use of the technology introduced in the course. The technology was not available at my school.”
Dual responsibilities. The teachers assumed full responsibilities of a teaching position, attended classes, and studied at night. T4 and T3 agreed that juggling full time teaching responsibilities and taking evening courses was not as difficult for them during their initial years of teaching. When asked what was it like to taking courses while teaching full time, T3 stated, “it was fine. I did not have any problems. I had a good support system. However, I was aware of the struggles of others. I started the program with eight other teachers. Unfortunately, three of them left during the first semester of their first year of teaching.” T4 shared, “I value education therefore I just did what I had to do.”
The other participants’ experiences were different. They found taking courses and teaching full time difficult and hard. T4 was a single mother with a young son during her initial years of teaching. T4 commented, “the coursework was demanding along with grading papers and preparing progress reports for parents. They would give you a reading assignment then throw a quiz on you. You had to critique a lot of articles.” T1 explained,
I was coaching full time, teaching full time, and taking courses. The best thing for me was that I did not operate on a lot of sleep. My days would start about 4:00 a.m. in addition, between classes and coaching I would work until 9:30 p.m. It was pretty rough. After I finished my master’s degree, I thought that I was finished going to school. It was a little frustrating that I had to complete coursework to earn the certificate. I looked at the fact that it would make me more marketable with a professional educator certificate.
T2 and T6 found the dual responsibilities tiring and frustrating due to long drives and long nights. T2 explained,
It was tiring getting off at 3:00 p.m. then hit the highway for a 30-minute drive. I had to make time to grab something to eat before a 5:00 p.m. class. At six o’clock, I was ready to go home. I had to learn to go home and get in the bed. I could not do a lot of things because I had to get homework done and prepare lessons.
T6 expressed, “I had to work all day and drive 45 minutes to take classes and stay up late nights to complete my assignments. I almost had a nervous breakdown. My very first year was very hard.”
Summary. The participants described the alternative certification program in terms of coursework and assignments. The teachers identified the impact the
coursework had on their classroom practices. The descriptions gave insight into the following research question:
What do alternatively certified secondary teachers regard as a meaningful experience in the school assimilation process?
Although a majority of the participants identified the classroom management course as the most beneficial, the teachers shared meaningful experiences about most of the courses. The participants expressed how the classroom management course provided meaningful strategies that they could apply immediately to their daily practices. The teachers expressed appreciation for the content of the methods of teaching course. The participants shared the methods course provided strategies to develop lesson plans, which were applicable to their daily practices. The participants agreed that they learned by trial and error about what to use in their daily practices with the information provided in the courses. The issues of dual responsibilities are related to the following research question: what do alternatively certified secondary teachers consider the most frustrating and challenging situations of their first years of teaching?
Some participants expressed frustration because they perceived some of the required courses as not beneficial. Specifically, some of the participants identified the instructional technology course and the strategies for teaching special needs students in inclusive settings course as least beneficial. Lack of technology in the schools led to the frustration experienced by some of the participant. The teachers shared that
they could not relate to the content of the course or apply the strategies because the technology were not available in their schools.
The majority of the participants expressed that during the initial years it was frustrating and challenging to manage the dual responsibilities of being a teacher and student. Going to classes and completing course assignments caused frustration for these new teachers because they were trying to understand their students, coworkers, what to teach, how to teach, how to evaluate, and participate in school activities. With dual responsibilities, the participants expressed how they had to learn to balance their schedules between work and school. In the end, however, the course component of the program provided the participants with strategies to implement and a network of colleagues and university professors to share ideas with and ask questions.
Theme 3: Frustrating/Challenging Classroom Situations