Jun

3

Whose lead?

June 3, 2008 |  Tagged , , |

It has come up in a few other blogs I’ve read as well as in comments to previous posts on my blog (see New Tricks). It seems many schools want to depend on younger teachers to take the lead in technology integration since, supposedly, they have more experience using it. However, I wonder if this is a tenable position. Can younger, less experienced teachers really be put into this kind of leadership position as they are still learning how to do the job for themselves, let alone lead or mentor other teachers? I’m a little removed from my undergrad program so I’m wondering how technology integration is approached in teacher prep programs today. While I certainly believe that teachers can and should work together and teach each other, placing the bulk of technology integration shouldn’t be on their shoulders alone. One possible solution…as part of a complete professional development program create a mentorship program between younger and veteran teachers with the intention that both are going to teach the other at some point. This can provide some level of on-going support for both teachers. What about other ideas? How do we support beginning teachers in the integration of technology within the classroom?


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1 Comment so far

  1.    Tina Coffey on June 6, 2008 12:19 pm

    I think with anything, this is a case by case basis…some newer teachers can handle it and it allows them to reciprocate the assistance they are receiving from more experienced teachers in other areas. I don’t think we should ever assume, though, that new teachers are more comfortable with technology than older teachers. While this is sometimes true, it’s not always the case. It really has more to do with a person’s willingness to learn and to make mistakes. But that’s true about most anything, isn’t it?

    Great blog you have here…glad to have found it. I love your W.O.W. resources!

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