I worked as a Grow Your Own (GYO) Field Supervisor and Observational Coach for the Fall semester, and, honestly, I had a whole host of reactions to this work as the semester unfolded. First of all, I should acknowledge that this is my first go-around working with the state-created program designed to fast track parapros, secretaries and the like for certification as teachers. The GYO program was designed, from my understanding, to more quickly fill teaching positions left empty by the teacher shortage in Michigan. After hearing about the program and discussing my role as a field supervisor with the coordinator at WMU, I was excited to be a part of this endeavor to bring more teachers to our public schools.
The initial excitement I felt was replaced quickly with a bit of confusion. The virtual orientation meeting gave an overview of the class at Western that the GYO participants are taking in conjunction with their participation in a classroom once a week. I thought I generally understood the experience because I remembered doing something quite similar during my own undergraduate work at Western. I had not anticipated, however, how much additional record keeping and correspondence I would be required to complete as a field supervisor. In this way, my experience over 30 years ago with this course misinformed my understanding of the field supervisor’s role. My observational coach (not called that at the time) simply came to the school, observed, completed an observation evaluation and exited stage left. Based on this experience, I had not anticipated the close contact I would have with the 14 teacher interns assigned to me. A part of me relished the close contact I had with these beginning teachers as we built relationships through email correspondence, school visits, and cohort meetings. And then there was the other part of me who asked, “What have I gotten myself into?” It was a lot!
That said, there were many unexpected benefits of my time spent in this new role. One of those benefits was the richer understanding I’ve gained about the very obvious differences in school settings in just West Michigan. I taught in this area for over 30 years, but all of my teaching was done in one school system and in one school building, a middle school. It was eye-opening to see the range of experiences/facilities in the schools I’ve visited for observations.
The first school in which I observed had what I would coin a “state of the art” kindergarten facility with a large community space. The classrooms all opened up to it for use with small groups or whole grade meetings and activities. The furniture was new, modern, and appeared easy to reconfigure for varying uses. The second school I visited was most like the one in which I taught during my time as a full-time teacher. The school campus had poor signage and once inside the furnishings were old and mismatched, the flooring was worn, and the low ceilings added to a tight, closed-in feeling. Finally, the third school in which I observed was, by far, the most bedraggled in appearance. The school appeared to have had many additions haphazardly added to its original building. The additions made the campus so labyrinth-y that the teacher intern had to escort me to her classroom from the office. All the furnishings were old and worn.
These three public school settings created wildly differing first impressions. When I first started teaching in 1992, I remember all the buzz about Proposal A recently passing to ensure equity among school districts. Whatever gains were made at that time in low income communities appear to have been lost as the differences between facilities was marked. All of that aside, I was struck by how the teachers and the sense of community in the schools was what truly made all the difference, especially in those lacking in welcoming, modern facilities. As I left the last school, I said to the secretary while signing out,”What a happy school! The students seem so at home here!” She smiled and told me they all love it–they’re one big family. I walked out and thought about how amazing it is for a community to create that for their children even if it does look a little shabby. Working in the GYO program has afforded me the opportunity to understand more fully the range of facilities our students experience in our public school system. In addition, it has reinforced my belief that a strong school staff is the real hallmark of a thriving school.
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