My name is David Canales. I’m the Associate Superintendent of Human Resources. We strongly believe that the education prep program, and of course TAFE, is vital to our supply chain for future teachers. As many universities are having difficulty filling candidates into the teaching professions, we recognize that we are going to have to grow. We recognize the importance of building relationships with our TAFE kids, letting them know that we want them the moment they finish, so they can hopefully be part of our team as soon as they graduate.
One good thing about the TAFE program, as well as other programs we have in our school district, is that it gives students an opportunity to figure out if this is really what they want to do. It helps parents save money, as opposed to students going to college, deciding on a career, and then changing their minds in their junior or senior year. This program gives them a taste of going to elementary schools, learning how to teach, and being the teacher of the day, monitored by the teacher of record at the school. It allows them to start building the skill sets they will need at the university level.
At the university level, a lot of it is theory, but what matters most, especially in your first year as a teacher, are the experiences. It’s learning how to connect with kids, deliver lessons, and understand the pitfalls when your plan A doesn’t work, so you might need a plan B. If your plan A fails and you don’t have a plan B, you’ll know next time to have one.
When you repeat a lesson, you learn from those experiences. You may feel something makes sense, but for the students you’re teaching, you might have to find other ways to make it clear to them. You learn to anticipate where the pitfalls are going to be, and you plan for that.