Learning to Teach

August 29, 2008 4:38 PM

I need a good overview in recent Secondary Educational theory. Whatever is currently in fashion in Academia. Any books to recommend? Any journals that are especially helpful? I'm new to this field and not sure where to start.

I'm taking a senior level pre requisite class for a Master's in Teaching. This could be my second career. I wanted to teach High School English when I was (much) younger (before my many years detour into Systems Engineering). I do have a Master's in English. I haven't been in school in over 14 years. I can't actually start in freshman classes--it's a money thing at the very least. I also have a family to care for and a step parent in hospice--so four or five years in school isn't a go. But school is something for me, something I really want to do and I have already put it off a couple of years. I need to find out finally if this is what I want to do.

I've been tossed into the deep end of the pool and need to spend some of my off hours reading about this "scholar practitioner" model and other assorted buzzwords I'm unfamiliar with. Any guidance on the praxis II English Subject tests would rock too, but hey I'll take anything I can get.

posted by pywacket to Education (2 answers total)

I've taken and passed the Praxis High School English test. It's difficult because the content is a mile wide AND a mile deep. It's hard to know what authors or works to study. There were questions based on overall themes of works and then there were questions based on specific characters or quotes. I used the PDF guide from the test site itself to narrow things down a little and also bought a study guide, which I believed helped a lot. I visited Sparknotes.com to get main ideas of books and plays and to refresh my memory. I think that helped too. I think the best strategy is to know a little about as much as you can and pray for luck on the detail questions.

As for the theory part of your question, I wish I could help more. A lot of the terms I use I've also used at the elementary level, so I don't know if that's answering your question. Some of these terms are scaffolding, project based learning, outcome based learning and differentiated instruction.

Also, High Schools That Work is a great resource too.
posted by NoraCharles at 5:22 PM on August 29, 2008

In terms of theory, are you looking for academic content theory or theory about learning (e.g. how certain groups learn most effectively)? If it's the latter, psychology and social science databases are full of that stuff. You should be able to access them through a public library but your best bet would be through an academic library. You're probably allowed to use the one at a local state school even if you're not enrolled. "PsychInfo" is a good database to start with. Google Scholar is also great but 95% of the articles are not accessible to the public. You can see abstracts though and then search for the articles you like once you have institutional access. Good luck!
posted by ShadePlant at 7:18 AM on August 30, 2008