Mr. Miller has been at the Uni­versity of Hawaii since 1961 as Auista11t Professor of Edu,ation and Supervisor of Mathematics a11d Sdmu at the University High s,hoo/. He received his M.Ed. degree aJ Harvard U11iver-1ily in 1957 and is 'urrently a do(tOra/ (a11diJa/e ill sdettce edu­(atio11 there. Duri11g 1962-3, he was the Teacher Training Coor­dinator for the Peace Corps Train­ing Project (Philippi11e1 VIII and IX) in Hilo, Hawaii.

During the fall of 1962, the Peace Corps Training Project in Hawaii was assigned a group of volunteer trainees for a training program which would prepare them for ser· vice in the Philippines.

Before the project began, the na­ture of the program changed from training teachers' aides of mathema· tics and science for high schools to training teachers' aides with back­grounds in science and mathematics for elementary schools in the Philip­pines. The change-over was accom­plished in slightly over a week and reflected two key ideas behind the project, flexibility and adaptability.

The trainees were a highly select group of young men and women, who, contrary to the writer's initial fears, were not misfits of our culture looking for an existence in some other culture. Their academic back-

The Peace Corps and

Teacher Education

James W. Miller

ground and the work experience were varied. A majority had mini­mum training in science and almost no one had had a course in modem algebra (Table I). In one group 0£ 108, 69 were college graduates; all but two had had some college work (Table II). Of this group, '84 had had six months or less experience working with children, and 67 had not taught at all (Table III).

It had almost seemed that an ad· ministrative error had been made in the selection of the trainees, since their academic backgrounds seemed so inadequate for teaching science and mathematics in the elementary schools. However, what they lacked in academic background, the trainees made up with a high degree of mo­tivation, persistence, and willingness to learn.

The Training Project included six major parts: (a) World Affairs, Communism, and Asian Studies; (b) Language Training in Appropriate Dialects; ( c) Physical Training; (d) Health and First Aid; (e) So­ciological Studies of the Philippines; (f) Technical Training - Teacher Training.

This paper describes the last part, teaching training, and represents one man's point of view, and not neces· sarily that of the Peace Corps nor of the Director of the Project in Hawaii, Dr. John Stalker.

The objective of the teacher train­ing program was to provide the aca­demic and pedagogic training for teachers' aides for service in elemen­tary schools in the Philippines. Un­fortunately, the term "teacher's aide" had no operational definition and no

TABLE I CoLLECE CREDITS IN MATHEMATICS AND S CIENCE

Su~ject Number of Crediu 0 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 Over 20

Bio, Sci. 34 28 36 2 5 3 Chemistry 77 10 15 3 2 l Astronomy 98 8 2 0 0 0 Sci. Survey 75 16 12 3 1 l Physics 88 8 7 4 0 l Earth Sci. 57 25 13 7 l 5 Math 4S 28 23 8 2 2

Modern Algebra? YES = 7; NO = 101

EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

TABLE II ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

ltt:m Deiru: H.S. l Yr. 2 Yr. 3 Yr. Coll. Grad. Ma.ster's

Diploma Coll. Coll. Coll. B.A. Study Degree

Degree~ Held 2 4 25 3 69 1 4

TABLE Ill EXPERIENCE

Item

Years of Teaching Experience Years of Exp. with Children

uniform job description. Still, sev· eral hundred Peace Corps Volun· leers (PCV's) were operating as teachers' aides in rural schools in the Philippines. They followed a practical approach: self-definition of the role and follow-through with the skill of experienced diplomats. The teacher training program similarly followed a practical approach -identifying the persons who could operate under self -defined roles and fortifying them with es many of the essentials for teaching as time per· milted.

FOUR SECTIONS IN TEACHER TRAINING

To meet the academic and peda­gogic essentials, the teacher training program included four distinct sec· tions: Teaching English as a Second Language, General Science, Mathe· matics, and Education. To identify the self-reliant persons, a committee of four staff members rated subjec· lively each trainee.

The TESL Program ( 1) was de· signed as an intensive program cov­ering a technical linguistic analysis of English and lectures on the methods of teaching English as a second language using this ap· proach. Additional time was allotted to the practical application of these methods through actual teaching ex· periences with bilingual adult slu· dents in the Hilo Community School.

MAY, 1964

YearJ

0 .5 1·5 6·10 20&over

67 17 21 1 2 38 46 21 2 1

A more specific breakdown of the individual activities is as follows: (a) an inquiry into the nature of language and how it is learned; (b) lectures and drill on the sound slruc· ture of English; a contrasted analy­sis between English and the Ian· guages of the prospective Philippine school children (Cebuano and Ilo­cano) ; ( c) lectures and practice in teaching English sounds lo elemen· tary school children in the Philip­pines; (d) lectures and drill on the grammatical structure of English with some concentration on the most serious structural conflicts between English and the Filipino dialects; ( e) lectures and practice in teaching English syntax to elementary school children in the Philippines; (f) practice in teaching and conferences.

The program was organized and conducted on the assumption that a somewhat formal, technical study of the structure of English must pre· cede any consideration of pedagogy. Hence, the "How to Teach" section of the program was postponed until after the technical information had been mastered. The technical study focused on the aspects of English of which a native speaker remains un­conscious but which are critical in the teaching of English lo non­speakers.

The formal lectures on English structure were, whenever time al­lowed, supplemented by films, drills

and quizzes. In addition to the lec­tures and demonstrations of peda­gogical techniques, each trainee was given the opportunity to practice­teach in two different situations.

TRAINEES PARTICIPATE IN TEACHING SESSIONS

A mock classroom was set up in which the trainees themselves served as a class of elementary school chil­dren, while individuals took turns at presenting a selected sound end/or structural lesson. Each presentation of a lesson was followed by a criti­cal discussion period during which the trainees evaluated the efforts of each other. Through the cooperation of the adult division of the Hilo Community School, each trainee had an opportunity to work in English classes for non-English speakers, mostly elderly Japanese and fj]i. pinos. After a period of observation and consultation with the regular teacher of the class, each trainee was assigned to teach a lesson ranging from thirty minutes lo one hour. There were eight of these participat· ing classes; thus, each trainee could teach at least one period. The expe­rience of actually working with non· English speaking students was con­sidered extremely useful by both staff and trainees.

BANDUNG THE SCIENCES: CONCENTRATION ON

BIOLOGY

A preliminary survey of the aca· demic backgrounds of the trainees had indicated a general weakness in preparation in science. A decision was made to select one area for thorough treatment instead of at­tempting general coverage of many areas. Because of the anticipated nature of the rural communities of the Philippines, the area selected for more detailed study was biology (2) .

Some time was devoted to the physical sciences, mostly in short

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laboratory periods on the basic units dealing with measurement of time, distance, and length in the physical sciences. For a study of earth sciences, a two-day field trip in geol­ogy was conducted by Dr. Gordon MacDonald, a senior geologist at the University of Hawaii.

Instruction in biological science centered in the laboratory, with a minimum of time devoted to lecture, the purpose of the laboratory being to provide a general background in botany and zoology.

A laboratory and information guide and an orientation lecture ex· plaining terminology and apparatus were prepared for each of the Jabo­r atory exercises. Five two-hour labo­ratory sessions provided the trainees with at least the background of a good high school or college fresh~ man course in both botany and zoology.

In addition to these five lab-lee· tures, three consultants delivered lec­tures on the latest developments in their respective areas of study: trop· ical plants, marine biology, and genetics.

The mathematics program directed by Mrs. Mary Matayoshi included extensive work with the Cuisenaire Rods and the Dienes' Multibasic Arithmetic Blocks for teaching math· ematics to young children. Dr. Zol· tan Dienes, consultant in mathema­tics from the University of Adelaide, combined the practical and the theo­retical from an original text prepared specifically for the training project.

The mathematics laboratory was set up so that each trainee could ex· plore and improve according to his own background and progress at his own learning pace. Many trainees commented that, through work in the math laboratory, for the first time; they were able to understand the processes of arithmetic. Laboratory sessions were exciting for these trainees, since they made discoveries on their own. Some became quite ad-

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venturous and devised mathematical games which grew in complexity and were useful in their practice teach· ing. Because of the growth in them· selves, the trainees saw the value of insightful mathematics learning by children- these experiences in the laboratory should help the trainees make intelligent choices in selecting materials and in teaching mathema· tics.

It was a revelation for some to see children in a demonstration situa­tion learn so quickly and progress more rapidly than the trainees them­selves. The trainees learned not to underestimate the abilities of chil· dren working with materials and ideas which were meaningful to them.

TEACHER TRAINING MEETS MANY REQUffiEMENTS

The education section of the teach­er training program included an orientation to teaching, educational psychology, American education and some of its fundamental principles, and practice in teaching. The major part of this section was spent in practice in teaching. So seriously was this phase regarded by the Proj­ect Staff that it received top priority, se::ond only to the requirements of the Medical Coordinator.

Each trainee spent three hours per day for two weeks in the classroom, working closely with both teacher and students.

Practice in teaching had several purposes. Through it, the trainees hopefully were to receive a favorable emotional experience in the class· room. They were to have an oppor· tunity to establish two levels of rap­port required of them in the Philip· pines - rapport with a group of young children and rapport with the designated authority, the teacher of the class, The trainees were to gain experience with the dynamics, me· chanics, and organization of the classroom. Finally, the trainees were

to find out the difference between teaching for exposition and teaching for discovery.

Initial supervisory help was pro­vided by a staff of four master teach· ers. in addition to the cooperating teacher. There was no prescribed success pattern that either trainees or cooperating teacher could follow.

Planning for a concentrated short· term training program in teacher education required a severe study of personal biases of the training co­ordinator gained over several years of service in teaching and teacher education. Certain biases, neverthe· Jess. prevailed:

1. The teaching personality is a key to success( ul teaching. Per· sonality includes such basic attri· butes as the ability to relate to other people, children and adults; the possession of confidence in oneself and one's ability to do an honest job of teaching; and the ability to establish a role and rap· port with a strange group. College courses designed specifically for education majors presumably fos· ter the teaching personality; how· ever, it is quite possible that such a personality can exist quite apart from such courses.

2. The individual's attitude to­ward himself, other persons, and problem situations will play a major role in the activities of a self-reliant teacher. Since it was obvious that the training program could not cover all the desired areas in teacher-education, a deci­sion was made to concentrate on the finding of evidence of initia­tive and self-reliance among trainees and to place high value on such traits.

3. Contact with pupils during the training period, considered essen· tial, was obtained through practice teaching in the public schools in the city of Hilo. During this pe· riod, the trainees had first-hand

EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

TABLE IV RATINGS RECEIVED BY TRAINEES

(5-excellent ; I- failure. Entries are number of trainees.)

Subject

B. S. Grade

Math Grade

TOUS Grade

Educ. Grade

Gen. Sci. Grade

Academic Rating

by stalf

Prac. Teach.

Grade

General Rating

by stalf

s 4

10 29

29 21

16 33

7 29

24 17

20 19

17 53

6 38

experiences with establishing rap· port in the classroom, in gaining an understanding of child psy· chology, and experiencing the emotional charge that teachers feel when working with children.

4. As important as these factors may be, because a teacher must have technical competence in some chosen field, academic classes were conducted with the intent of reaching a technical level at least of college freshmen competence in one area.

The approach used with one group was a theoretical to practical one. To economize on time, the two parts were kept separate and distinct. This approach failed from a morale point of view when the program was un­able to relate the two parts early enough for the trainees to grasp the total plan. In a second group, where the approach was reversed, it still failed from a morale point of view because the practicum lacked aca· demic substance. The final determi· nation of the success of the program

MAY, 1964

Ratin1 No 3 2 1 Rating

39 5 0 25

12 16 5 25

25 9 0 25

47 0 0 25

42 0 0 25

32 10 2 25

13 0 0 25

31 5 3 25

must wait upon performance in the field.

The morale problem, however, did not seem to deter the performances of the trainees in academic areas. The ratings of performance were so high, considering the initial mini· mum academic backgrounds of the trainees, that the teacher training staff seriously challenged its own rating system. To gain a wider dis· tribution of ratings, the staff resorted to quintiles for the general rating (Table IV) . The resulting distribu­tion was still skewed toward higher ratings, since several trainees occu· pied the some ranking positions. The conclusion reached by the staff was that the trainees' high level of moti· vation put all reasonable tasks with· in their reach. The effect of such motivation cannot be overestimated. Performance in teaching was simi· )orly skewed toward high ratings although the situations were not al­ways comparable or uniform. In the meetings with teachers who later served as host teachers, the training

coordinator emphasized that his pri­mary interest was to find classrooms in which the trainees could gain first· hand experience with teaching, either through observation or participa­tion. Most teachers, however, had the trainees serve as resource persons and permitted them to assume an active role under close supervision. The rapport between trainees and teachers became such that, on occa­sions of last-minute modifications in schedule, each group sharply criti­cized the teacher-training coordina­tor for the shabby treatment of the other.

Probably the two most revealing parts of the program for the writer were the high degree to which moti· vation can influence achievement (a principle studied but not fully com­prehended) and the possibility that some of the prescribed programs for educating teachers can he reduced either in time or in degree of com· prehensiveness, without loss. The lat­ter seems somewhat heretical hut is based on the observation that, for some people, an eight-week training program beyond the degree of bach­elor of arts may be sufficient to pre­pare fairly competent teachers. Such a conclusion, however, must remain speculative because the pertinent data on trainees in the Peace Corps are confidential and will remain so. Furthermore, the test of field per· formance cannot he readily eval­uated. In any case, an interesting problem has been posed for those who are currently preparing college students to become teachers.

NOTES

l. This part of the Teacher Training Program was directed by Roy Collier (Philippines Project VIII) and by Don Topping (Philippines IX), both of the English Language Institute of the University of Hawaii.

2. Mrs. Taeko Nakamoto, a biology teach· er on leave Crom the Department of Education, State of Hawaii, directed this program.

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