It was all about secondary teachers-in-training last Friday at the University of Central Arkansas? first Secondary Education Conference.
More than 50 senior-level students studying to become secondary teachers, often referred to as pre-service teachers, attended the one-day conference at Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center. The group represented nine different disciplines including English, math, social studies, art, business education and foreign language.
Pre-service teachers spent the day in a variety of workshops learning about issues important to secondary teachers.
?We chose topic the students had expressed an interest in such as nutrition and how to eat healthy during those 20-minutes lunch breaks and fitness in preparation of standing up for six hours a day teaching,? said Sherry Roberts, a UCA faculty member and co-director of the conference.
The conference also included sessions with school board members and principals to talk about teacher relationships with these different bodies. ?Our secondary students needed to learn about issues that were specifically related to their role in education, but we did not have time to cover much of this in the classroom, so we decided to have a conference instead,? Roberts said.
UCA President Lu Hardin welcomed students to the conference that morning telling students ?you?re the reason we?re here,? and inviting them to return to UCA for in-service training.
Dr. Kenneth James, director of the Arkansas Department of Education, gave the keynote address, which highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of secondary education in Arkansas and encouraged pre-service teachers about the profession they have chosen.
?We have an enormous opportunity before us,? he said. ?Moving kids to that higher level of learning is what it?s all about.?
Roberts said she hopes the conference can expand next year to include students from surrounding colleges and universities. This year the conference was funded through a grant from the UCA Foundation.
-Jennifer Boyett
