Meeting the challenge
To build the Next Education Workforce, Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College works with schools and other partners to
- provide all students with deeper and personalized learning by building teams of educators with distributed expertise, and
- empower educators by developing better ways to enter the profession, specialize and advance.
Instead of asking all educators to be all things to all learners at all times, we need to unpack the tasks we ask each professional to do and reallocate those tasks, sustainably, across teams. An effective education workforce made up of professionals with diverse expertise requires meaningful opportunities for educators to acquire expert depth, explore functional breadth and have opportunities for advancement that don’t necessarily require leaving the classroom.
Professional educators
Collective impact is good. Isolation is bad.
Learning environments should be staffed by a range of professionals, including novices, experienced teachers and specialists who work together to meet the needs of all learners.
Novice teachers should join the profession as members of teams, not left to figure it out alone. They should have the opportunity to work with and learn from a range of experienced colleagues with diverse areas of expertise.
Areas of expertise should include content specialization, the ability to build relationships with students and their families, the pedagogical skills to guide deeper and personalized learning and much more.
Educational leaders
Teams need leadership.
We need to create leadership roles that do not necessarily remove educators from instructional roles and direct contact with learners.
We need teacher-leaders whose responsibilities require both instructional expertise and management acumen as they direct the work of teams.
We also need organization leaders who know how to build systems, empower educator teams and work with community stakeholders to identify and meet school and community learning needs.
Community educators
Context matters.
Schools don’t exist on org charts. They live in communities.
Our communities are rich in experienced adults who have knowledge and expertise but may lack the instructional skills of career teachers. Let’s integrate them into learning environments and prepare them.
Community educators should not be one-day volunteers or guest speakers. They should be crucial complements to professional educators. Some could play instructional roles. Others would provide complementary services that address the needs of the whole child.
Paraeducators
Education requires collaboration.
Just as other professions include a diverse range of professionals with varying levels of knowledge and skill, paraeducators work to complement the work of professional educators. Paraeducators support students with special needs, managing classroom dynamics and providing individualized attention. They should be given opportunities to collaborate closely with professional educators, sharing their insights and learning from each other’s experiences.
Expertise in education extends beyond academic content. It encompasses the ability to forge strong relationships with students and their families, understanding the nuances of classroom management and the skills to facilitate deeper, personalized learning. Paraeducators often excel in these areas, bringing empathy, patience and practical skills to their work.
Deeper and personalized learning for learners
When students learn in deeper and personalized ways, they engage in authentic tasks; have opportunities for collaboration and creative problem-solving; have voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn; and more. Education research has shown that this sort of learning is associated with positive outcomes for students and professional satisfaction for educators.
Facilitating deeper and personalized learning for every student, every day is extremely difficult. It is almost impossible for a single teacher to do. Building teams of educators with distributed expertise is a sustainable way to deliver deeper and personalized learning to all students.
Rewarding advancement pathways for educators
An effective education workforce made up of professionals with diverse expertise requires meaningful opportunities for educators to acquire expert depth, explore functional breadth and develop into team and organization leaders.
It also requires accessible on-ramps for career switchers and others to enter the profession. Ultimately, that likely means pathways to education careers in addition to traditional undergraduate and graduate degrees. We should explore stackable certificates and a regimen of credentials that allows people to acquire the skills to deliver the services learners need.
Join us in building the Next Education Workforce.
View resources for educators and school leaders, or explore schools anchored in the elements of the Next Education Workforce.