Responsibilities of College Instructors
Both of us teach future teachers, so we know that the beginning teachers enter the profession with theoretical knowledge of instructional methods, differentiation, assessments, and classroom management strategies. However, when they stand in front of twenty-five real students, knowing Maslow’s hierarchy has little practical value. Theory has scanty meaning until actual teaching commences, and student teaching does not provide future teachers enough time to learn how to teach.
Burdened with inexperience and a deficit of preparation time, beginning teachers have little choice except to teach concepts using the same methods by which they themselves learned. Unfortunately, methods that are successful with highly motivated students in college Latin classes are unlikely to be effective with thirteen and fourteen year olds. Because teachers often emulate their own instructors, one logical place for future Latin teachers to learn how to teach is the college classroom. College instructors who are committed to training future Latin teachers can increase beginning teachers’ probability of success in the classroom by varying their own teaching methods.
A lot of misbehavior in the high school and middle school classroom is the result of frustration on the part of immature teenagers. Teachers who know how to vary strategies and assessments well enough to prevent frustration have few classroom management difficulties. Who is more likely to design effective Latin instruction than the college instructors who have influenced their students to teach Latin? Imagine the advantage for a new teacher who has a storehouse of strategies obtained in four years of personal experience in college Latin classes, versus the disadvantage for the new teacher who must attempt to apply theory learned in education classes from instructors who do not know Latin.
