School of Education Aims to Diversify Teaching Profession
04/05/2023
By Marlon Pitter
Aiming to fortify and diversify the teaching profession, the School of Education is partnering with Lawrence Public Schools to create pathways for high school students to become educators in their community.
College of Fine Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Assoc. Dean Stacy Szczesiul and School of Education Asst. Prof. Robai Werunga were awarded a $394,764 grant by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to provide resources for teacher candidates from Lawrence High School to earn their bachelor’s degrees in education at UMass Lowell and ultimately to work in classrooms in Lawrence.
The money from this grant will expand the “Grow Your Own” teacher pathway program, a UML partnership with Lowell High School that allows students to take dual-enrollment classes to prepare for careers in education.
The students will have access to these courses along with financial support for tuition and fees, mentoring from the state Office of Educator Licensure, professional development, peer support from other UMass Lowell teacher candidates and assistance with acquiring professional attire.
These measures are designed to bring more diverse candidates into teaching and to improve the education of future students in Lawrence, Szczesiul says.
“The benefits include student engagement rates that are higher, better attendance, lower rates of discipline referrals and exclusionary discipline, access to AP courses, more trusting relationships, a better sense of belonging and the likelihood that teachers will have high expectations for them,” she says.
In Massachusetts, about 41% of pupils are students of color, while almost 91% of teachers are white. Nationwide, about 50% of children enrolled in public schools are students of color, while only 21% of educators are non-white. Szczesiul says it is crucial to even out these demographics.
“It's going to take until 2060 to make these proportions if we don't do anything,” she says. “That's a long time to wait, and by that time, the percentage of students of color will be around 66% of the (national) student population.”
In another effort to diversify the ranks of the teaching profession, the School of Education recently partnered with Educators Rising, an organization focused on training and creating pathways for teacher candidates, to host the Educators Rising Conference. Two hundred students from 12 Massachusetts high schools attended the conference, which was the first hosted by the organization in the state.
The event featured “Becoming Your Own Teacher” and “Mindset of an Educator” workshops, campus tours, student competitions and informational sessions with teachers, administrators, UMass Lowell faculty and staff.
“I already had plans of being a teacher, but this definitely backed up what I wanted,” says Alexis Mills, a senior at Chelmsford High School. “Talking with other teachers and seeing how passionate they are, it definitely drives you to want to be like that and have those kinds of passions for the future.”
Educators Rising Massachusetts State and Regional Coordinator Miriam Morgenstern worked with Szczesiul to contact local schools and establish a presence in the state over the past year. She says working with the School of Education to host the event was an ideal collaboration.
“Because I had taught at Lowell High School and I'm very familiar with UMass Lowell, I thought UMass Lowell would be a great partner,” Morgenstern says. “I contacted the School of Education, and right away there was a response of, ‘Yes, we're excited to do this,’ so we put our heads together and came up with this conference.”
Morgenstern now looks to inspire high school students to become teachers.
“We want to encourage young people … of diverse backgrounds to really consider a career in education,” she says. “But we want everyone to consider it, and I can't think of a better career.”