Better Now - Demanding Literacy & Numeracy in Teacher Education - Professional Piece

Joslyn Hunscher-Young
July 2016
The World Before 1492, The World Since 1492, United States to 1865, United States 1865-Present,
Introduction to Political Theory, Introduction to American Politics, Introduction to Comparative
Politics, American Political Processes, Principles of Economics I, Principles of Economics II,
Introduction to International Studies, Introduction to Environmental Science & Geography, Doing
History, Teaching Social Studies in the Secondary School. This is list of required courses for those
completing a comprehensive major in social studies from the School of Education at the University
of Michigan. That list is composed of 14 courses focused on the vast amount of content that social
studies teachers could, one day, maybe, end up teaching to middle or high school students.
In addition, the School of Education outlines the following courses for undergraduates seeking
secondary teacher certification: Practicum in Teaching Methods I, Educational Foundations in a
Multicultural Society, Reading and Writing in Content Areas, Practicum in Teaching Methods II,
Methods for Social Studies, Educational Psychology and Human Development, Methods for
History, Directed Teaching in the Secondary School, Seminar: Problems and Principles in the
Secondary School, Teaching with Digital Technologies, and Students with Exceptionalities. That is
another 11 courses in which to learn about all the other parts that go into the actual teaching new
teachers will eventually provide to students in grades 6-12.
Only one of these 25 courses explicitly mentions the teaching of literacy skills in the discipline. Most
major colleges and universities seem to follow this trend - just one semester focused on how to
teach reading, writing, and other literacy skills to students in your content area. Sometimes, they do
not even require that much.
If all teachers are literacy teachers as been emphasized and reiterated by leaders, legislators, and
others, then why is it that this important focus, this goal for our teachers is only given one semester
of preparation? When we have 66% of Michigan 8th graders testing below proficient in reading in
2015, and when that might be considered acceptable because it is roughly the same as the national
average, why are our teacher education programs not focusing on this obvious need?
And the same can be said for our shocking lack numeracy skills and nonchalant acceptance of that
failure. For some reason, it has become acceptable to freely and proudly admit, I dont get math.
Or to say, Oh, that math is too hard. I give up. When students (and their parents) struggle with a
basic numeracy concept, it is accepted because math is hard, but if a student were to give up on
learning to read or write, it would be an outrage. In 2015, 71% of Michigan 8th graders tested below
proficient in math, which is below the national average. And yet, there is no proclamation that all
teachers are numeracy teachers even when this problem may be even bigger and more challenging
than our need for literacy teaching development. Furthermore, teacher education programs do not
include a course called, Teaching Numeracy in the Content Areas - not even one semester of it.
WHY?

As a young social studies teacher constantly striving to be better, I find myself wondering why. Why
didnt I get more training and focus in teaching literacy throughout my social studies courses? Why
didnt I even consider teaching numeracy skills until talking with my math teacher/statistician
husband? Why arent these essential skills taught explicitly, emphasized consistently, and discussed
frequently?
I wonder why, and yet, as a young social studies teacher, I also vividly remember the overwhelming
feeling of the existing expectations of undergraduate work and teacher certification programs. The
long list of required courses is daunting and leaves minimal options for other electives or
exploratory classes that make college engaging and fun. Adding something to this existing list of
demands for students training to be secondary students does not seem feasible or fair. Furthermore,
we cannot take away the current requirements because that leaves new teachers at a disadvantage
because they may not be marketable for the job market. For example, if you cut out the geography
course, but a new teacher wants to apply to a geography position, he may miss out because he is not
as prepared as others applicants.
Because we cannot realistically add to or take away from the existing requirements, I argue that we
should be shifting our focus throughout teacher preparation programs and professional
development opportunities. The importance of teaching literacy and numeracy in all courses must be
emphasized early and often for teachers. Even more critically, there must be training in how to use
those skills within and across disciplines and how to effectively teach those same skills to students.
Some universities and teacher preparation programs are already doing this, but we need more. We
need more opportunities to learn about literacy
and
numeracy across the disciplines, more examples
of how these skills are already intertwined into the content we teach, and more time to think
through what skills were teaching and how were teaching them to our students. We need to be
better for our students now, and we need to step up and demand this training, focus, and time now.
Sources
Bachelor's secondary teacher certification requirements.
School of Education at the University of
Michigan.
Accessed from
http://www.soe.umich.edu/academics/bachelors_degree_programs/uste/uste_requirement
s/
Requirements for the bachelor of arts degree in history education.
Office of the Registrar, Michigan
State University.
Accessed from
https://reg.msu.edu/AcademicPrograms/Text.asp?Section=129#s10181
Secondary education social studies/history comprehensive major.
Eastern Michigan University.
Accessed from
http://catalog.emich.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=20&poid=10400&returnto=4194
Michigans 2015 NAEP scores.
Students First MI.
Accessed from
https://www.studentsfirst.org/state/michigan/pages/michigan%E2%80%99s-2015-naep-sc
ores