Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 1988 — Partnership Seeks More Teachers for Āt-Risk Minority Students. [ARTICLE]

Partnership Seeks More Teachers for Āt-Risk Minority Students.

A program aimed at teaching teachers how to work more effectively with Hawaii's educationally at-risk minority students is recruiting prospective teachers for an alternative two-year course of study in the University of Hawai'i College of Education.

PETOM — Pre-service Education for Teachers of Minorities — is a program for aspiring elementary teachers interested in teaching educationally at-risk students from minority cultures — particularly Hawaiian and other Pacific Island groups — whose school achievement does not match their native ability. It is a certified program whieh satisfies College of Education requirements toward a Bachelor's degree in education or a professional diploma.

"We are looking for 16 prospective teachers to enroll in next year's program," said Stephanie Dalton, PETOM administrator. "Especially those who sincerely want to work with at-risk students who have a great need for skilled assistance." The program includes three semesters of classroom instruction with some field experience followed by a fourth semester during whieh PETOM students spend their entire term in DOE or Kamehameha Early Education (KEEP) classrooms. PETOM students receive standard educational methods and theory instruction, but they also study other disciplines. Psychology, language development, culture and anthropology are among their other areas of study. PETOM students also have a Field Experience unit in eaeh other their first three semesters to supplement their classroom learning. Micro-

teaching — a teacher-education technique in whieh the students analyze video tapes of themselves or their peers as they are teaching — is a major part of these units. "Microteaching gives the students a ehanee to practice applying the theories and methods they get from their coursework," explained Dalton. "It also provides them with a very valuable means of assessing their growth as teachers."

Dalton also said the program is designed to encourage the development of good teachers, and applicants should be willing to commit themselves to two years of challenging, stimulating study. "By the end of the program we expect PETOM teachers to have the skills to adapt their teaching to meet the needs of all kinds of students, particularly those of educationally at-risk minority students," she said. "They will bring into their classrooms a heightened awareness of the needs of the at-risk student, as well as an assortment of problem solving skills to help their students achieve in school. In short, I guess we just expect them to be great teachers."

PETOM was started in 1984 and is a member of the T eacher Education T ask Force of the Goodlad School-University Partnership — a national network formed to address specific issues in education — between the University of Hawai'i, the State Department of Education and Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate. It is based at the UH College of Education and shares resources from all three institutions. Interested candidates may eall Dalton at 8323000 or Kekoa Paulsen at 842-8638.