This intro course is a lesson in teaching and community

By Haley Tenore

As Kendra Johnson teaches a new generation of teachers, she relies on lessons from her own front-of-the-classroom experience.

The Richmond native initially taught elementary school in New Orleans, where she noticed that many early-career teachers were unprepared, with some even deciding to leave the profession.

"I just recognized a strong need for mentorship and support in a way that wasn't true of my experience. I don't say that negatively - but as an opportunity to do things better," said Johnson, Ph.D., now an assistant professor of teaching and learning in Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Education. "I taught for a good number of years, and then there came a point of really wanting to pay it forward to other teachers."

Reflecting that commitment, Johnson developed a service-learning course - TEDU 101: Introduction to Teaching - that pairs educator training at VCU with community engagement. The course aligns with VCU's emphasis on transformative learning experiences.

Students must complete 20 service hours with the Connect program of Henrico Area Prevention Services, which offers after-school activities for elementary students in eastern Henrico County. In addition to academic skills, the youths develop personal and leadership skills to support strong life choices.

"My belief is that pre-service teachers should be ready not only to instruct, but to lead in classrooms and build strong, supportive communities from day one," Johnson said.

A foundation of service

Most of Johnson's VCU students are in the first or second year of their program, which Johnson said helps establish service-learning as crucial exposure to realities of teaching.

Charlene Brown, prevention clinician with Henrico Area Mental Health & Development Services, said that the presence and efforts of the VCU students helped to provide a better ratio of adults to children and gave the children more social-emotional support, as well as additional individual support for homework and other educational activities. She said the children "build their confidence up because of the relationships that they have built with the VCU students," who serve as role models to them.

She noted how the service-learning work benefited both the children and the VCU students.

"We have college students who make a very positive impression on our children, and so now our children look at them and ask them questions about what colleges are like," Brown said. "The impact on the university students is that they gain real-world, practical teaching experiences. They develop classroom management skills. They have a better understanding of urban communities. They have been developing lesson plans that they have been implementing in the classroom, and they get that experience and build a stronger relationship with diverse learners."

Sophomore Laura Clark took TEDU 101 after transferring to VCU. She thought the course touched on important topics that education majors may not learn in other programs.

"I really enjoyed it. I think Dr. Johnson is incredible," Clark said. "I think a lot about the main points of the class - I found things I didn't know I was passionate about. That also speaks to the elementary education program at VCU. You must understand the life experiences of your students to be a good teacher. And I feel like Dr. Johnson really put a lot of importance on that."

Opening up students' perspectives

Rather than written homework assignments, TEDU 101 focuses more on discussions and experiences. While students are on site, they document their experiences to share. They also create lesson plans to present to the elementary students toward the end of the semester.

Sydney Johns took TEDU 101 during her sophomore year and now, as a junior, is a teaching assistant for the course. She said it allows future teachers to be exposed to, and not simply be aware of, how schools can have wide variations in demographics and resources.

"Just opening up our perspective to how different worlds can be, that's very eye-opening for students," Johns said. "When you go into education, you really do need to understand that there is going to be this unbalanced system."

She also believes it offers a good introduction to what it's like to work with students.

"I think it's a very good dipping-your-toes-in-the-water type thing, because sometimes teaching can be really overwhelming if it's all done at once," Johns said.

'It really felt like a community'

While completing service-learning, students are expected to reflect on their time at the community centers and create a series of projects that directly reflect how they can apply their knowledge learned in the classroom and apply it to a real-world setting. Their service-learning is also tied to multiple projects completed over the course of the semester that push students to reflect and understand how to be culturally responsive in the classroom.

Haneen Gafar, an elementary education major who serves as a TA for the course, added that TEDU 101 allows students to embrace their commitment to the field and to their peers.

"It really pushed me to lock in and be serious as a future educator," she said. "It was a very open community class. It really felt like a community."

For Johnson, those perspectives reflect the mission of TEDU 101.

"You start to see this sort of beautiful shift. I think it brings about maturity in the students, in a way that we're not just talking about theory but we're applying the things that we talk about in class to students in real time," she said.