Inservice Training Day

Abstract

It seemed everyone was “buzzing” about phonemic awareness. Teachers had read articles in journals; speech pathologists and reading teachers were talking about auditory processing and its connection to reading. Many parents had called teachers to say they were sure their child's problem was “something about phonics.” Other parents had called the principal demanding to know what the school system was doing about implementing a program for phonemic awareness. “We have to keep up!” they had declared. In response, central administrators scheduled a series of all-day inservice training programs for the opening of the new school year. An expert would present “What Every Teacher Needs to Know about Phonemic Awareness,” which all elementary teachers were required to attend the first day back to work. As they drank coffee and ate sticky sweet rolls, teachers alternated their conversations between hearty greetings and complaining about wasting a day when they could be setting up their rooms. A group of outspoken teachers sat together as the program began. Within an hour, the grumbling grew louder. “This sounds like phonics from when I started teaching. What ever happened to phonics?” asked a veteran first-grade teacher. “I'll tell you what happened. `Whole language' happened. Remember that inservice day? It's taken me 5 years to develop a `whole language' program. I hope I won't have to start all over,” muttered a third-grade teacher. “Ever since ‘whole language’ took the schools by storm, my LD kids have been lost,” replied a frustrated special educator. After verbalizing their frustrations to each other, the teachers sat quietly and heard the speaker present the “latest research.” The most vocal teacher finally announced, “That's all I can stand.” She stood up and interrupted the speaker, saying, “I'm not sure if I care what the research says, but I do know I feel frustrated. It seems we go from trend to trend. It takes years to implement the `latest innovations'; all the while I'm wondering if it's really better than what I did before.” The speaker was surprised by the interruption, but realized that this self-appointed spokesperson was voicing the concerns of educators who felt no control over their instructional methods. The speaker seized the opportunity and responded empathetically, “It seems you feel that you have no say about the way you teach, that others are constantly dictating to you what method or program to use, and that it keeps changing.” The teacher nodded and really began to listen. The presenter asked, “Have you found some methods to be effective? Have you noticed that some approaches are better suited for certain students than others?” The teacher replied, “Yes, but I always feel that my principal doesn't care, she's just checking to see if I implement the latest workshop idea!”