Focus on Elementary Education

• Educating the Future
• Changing the World
• Focus on Mike Davis
• Focus on Ashley Richardella

Educating the Future

Penn State Altoona began offering a four-year degree in Elementary and Kindergarten Education in 2003; prior to this time, Penn State Altoona students were required to complete the final year of their degree at another campus. In 2003, Tim Slekar, Leigh Ann Haefner, and Brad Slonaker were hired as the first faculty to deliver the fourth year of this degree program.

While both Slekar and Haefner have been in higher education for several years, they both started in the public schools—Slekar in elementary and Haefner in a secondary setting. Their reasons for leaving that world and entering higher education were two-fold: frustration with the current state and future of public education and the desire to motivate, educate, and empower the next generation of teachers.

Challenges

A lot has been said, written, and debated about the No Child Left Behind Act, a federal law governing public education that was signed by President Bush in 2002. While Slekar and Haefner have their own opinions about the Act, both recognize that this is the reality in which their students ultimately will work. Their job, then, is to best prepare their students to effectively teach within this system while empowering them to work toward positive changes for the future.

"We don't want them to be angry with the system; we want to empower them," states Haefner. "We're trying to teach them to stand up for the voice of the teacher, to be advocates for their profession, and to say 'I went to school for this, I'm the expert.' We want them to educate [our elected officials] so that the best decisions will be made."

Slekar has a social studies background, a subject matter he sees potentially being neglected under the Act, as it is not a main focus of the mandated standardized testing being conducted in the schools. "The only way social studies is getting into the curriculum in schools is if it's integrated with other subjects," notes Slekar. "So I spend a lot of time in my course challenging my students to think of ways that they might work social studies into their curriculum, as well as how they can convince administrators that it is important information. There are teachers who are doing it, and I tell my students that they can do it too."

Coming from a science perspective, Haefner is excited about a new state initiative affecting the science curriculum in schools. Working with the Spring Cove School District, Haefner is assisting the elementary school with the implementation of this initiative.

"It's a whole different approach," notes Haefner. "It's about being able to understand the nature of science and how science is done. It takes time and it's meaningful. If all of our kids were learning science this way, they would love it."

She explains that "where science has been very much about definitions or explaining how things work, this is much more hands-on and conceptually-based." Concurs Slekar, "It's supportive of the idea of creative thinking."

Haefner does note one potential pitfall of the initiative. "It does not set [the students] up to take a recall test. It is on a collision course with the PSSA's."

"They want to change the world, and they want to do it through our kids."
-Leigh Ann Haefner

Their students already recognize the challenges that they will face in the classroom due to No Child Left Behind and the ever-present standardized testing, but still remain optimistic. States senior Amanda Shomo, "There are different ways to reach the standards that are on the PSSA's—not just reading from a book. I think that is one of the most important things to realize. You still have to reach your standards, but the methods can differentiate so that you are not just teaching them the test. It all has to do with your methods."

Senior Brady Waltz agrees with this optimistic viewpoint. "We have requirements that we have to go through, and it's going to be hard to reach all those requirements that they expect us to have, but I think it's going to be positive."

But the challenges do not begin and end with the requirements of standardized testing. "I think my biggest challenge will be how to reach every child and deal with the difficulties of the different academic levels in the classroom and the different needs of the children," notes Shomo. "There are more and more children at higher academic levels and at lower ones, so the challenge is how to reach every single child and teach what you need to be teaching."

Given all of the challenges and constraints currently facing teachers, one might wonder what motivates these students to enter the profession. States Haefner, "They want to change the world, and they want to do it through our kids."

Slekar posed this specific question to his students; the answers he received are inspiring.

I want to teach because I want to make a difference in the lives of my students. I want them to remember me because I taught them not only about the world, but about themselves.
—Mandy Fluke

I was blessed to have a teacher that was passionate about his job and passionate about making a difference in the lives of students. His example inspired me to be that kind of teacher.
—Lindsay Reese

… it's so amazing to me that you could be teaching the next President of the United States, the next amazing doctor or even another great teacher. In my eyes, it takes a great teacher to make the world's other great people.
—Melinda (Mindy) Smith

The enthusiasm of these students evokes optimism in Haefner and Slekar, and is a source of pride for them. States Slekar, "They are passionate. They are the most hard-working kids you ever want to see."