TEP Open House Reflection

This past weekend I had the opportunity and pleasure to answer questions regarding Penn's Teacher Education Program at the Graduate School of Education's open house. Since then, I reflected on a question and thought I share my thought.

Why enroll in a Teacher Education Program?
As I was planning and in the process of applying to graduate school many people asked me why I needed a Masters degree to teach and why attend a private school across the nation (I'm originally from CA). For me, teaching has been a brewing passion. I have had experience in volunteer work and community development abroad. I felt confident in my intellectual skills and the reasons for becoming a teacher. Yet, I was not confident of being able to walk into an urban classroom and be influential. Students in urban classroom struggle with very different and, I argue, much more complex issues to overcome particularly in low-income neighborhoods. I also did not just want to be a good teacher but a great teacher. I think of teaching of much more than transmitting knowledge but an opportunity to empower, challenge, and have students think critically for themselves. I believe it takes much more training to be an effective teacher and for me, that was one the biggest reason to applying to teacher education programs.