ASU dean: Effective teaching requires learned skills, practice

The year was 1967, and having recently graduated with a degree in English literature, Mari Koerner needed a job. It was a radio ad that led her to a career in teaching.

In a Nov. 19 op-ed for Zócalo Public Square, Koerner, now dean of Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, explores what it takes to succeed in the profession.

“I had not been in a second grade classroom since I had been in second grade,” Koerner shares of going into her first teaching position. “I did not have the skills to teach children how to read, write, and do math. When I stepped into my classroom – which was actually a mobile trailer in the playground – I quite literally did not know what to teach or how to teach it.”

After more than seven years in the classroom, Koerner realized it takes preparation and commitment to be effective in the teaching profession. Since then, she has dedicated much of her career to helping other teachers succeed.

Koerner notes that effective teaching requires “learned skills that have to be practiced,” and novice teachers benefit from having mentors to guide their development.

“At ASU, we have developed a yearlong student teaching residency, iTeachAZ, where 20 to 25 students are placed in high-needs schools or districts and supervised by a full-time, on-site ASU clinical faculty member,” she says. “Our teacher candidates co-teach with mentor teachers who have had special online training. Teacher candidates also take methods classes, taught by our faculty, in the school – allowing them to practice what they’ve learned immediately.”

She adds that ASU’s Teachers College has focused on making its programs more rigorous to “draw more, and perhaps, better academically prepared students into our program.” That rigor has been advanced through more math and science content courses, as well as a greater integration of educational theory and research with practice.

“As a dean, the students I graduate are far better classroom teachers than I was even after years of practice,” Koerner writes. “But I also know – from firsthand experience – that educators at all levels can grow and learn – but it helps if they have good teachers themselves.”

Hear more of Koerner’s thoughts about effective teacher preparation on Nov. 20, in Los Angeles, at the Zócalo event, “How Do You Make a Great Teacher?”