There is nothing more valuable than a great teacher. This is the lesson education majors at Miami University are learning through the Miami urban teaching cohort, a program designed to create driven teachers who are both active in the school with the students and in the community.
To help prepare these students for their future professions, Miami has developed a program this year to assist them in completing these goals. Miami's urban teaching cohort immerses students into the life of the students they are teaching, enabling them to both live among the children and teach them.
During the cohort over the summer, students stay within the community among the students and their families.
They are able to not only teach the children, but also learn from them.
The program is called Over the Rhine, which students can participate in their junior year, according to Tammy Schwartz, director of the cohort.
Living among the children, the program allows Miami students to engage in a culture with which they may not be familiar. Through this program, the students participate in community activities and engage with the children on a level that goes beyond teaching, Schwartz said.
This cohort is only in its first year, and already it is extremely competitive, she said.
"There are 18 students in the program, all of whom went through a long application and interview process," Schwartz said.
After students complete the application and interviews, they take a course that helps to prepare the students for the social and cultural issues of urban education, Schwartz said.
Miami's program focuses on urban education at the Rothenberg Preparatory Academy in Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati.
For Sierra Hughes, a member of this program and part of its advisory board, the urban experience is rewarding.
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"This program is different from the regular education cohort because it concentrates more on what you need as teachers and less about passing the program," Hughes said.
Schwartz said student teachers need to immerse themselves in the community before they are able to properly teach the students.
"We want our teachers to experience the challengesin the community because these challenges are also present in the school system," Schwartz said.
Hughes said being a part of the program reminded her how much she loves what she's doing. She got the most out of a retreat she attended and discussing how rewarding the experience was with the fellow members of the cohort.
"Everyone shared what was most important to them, and everyone agreed that the work we were doing far surpassed any studies," Hughes said.
Through this program, the students are experiencing more than just teaching in a classroom, they are also engaging in a community and within a social situation to which they may not be accustomed.
"We want teachers that are connected to the community and serious about making a difference in more than just the classroom," Schwartz said.
The students who participate in this program are extremely dedicated and competitive. However, through participating in retreats and spending so much time together they develop a bond that revolves around teaching and the children.
"It's great to be in a room with other students that share the same passion for teaching and the children as you do," Hughes said. "It is a lot of fun."
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