Class is in session: IU-led teacher apprenticeship program marks first semester
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Most of Inelda Southerly-Ramos’ day revolves around children. Being a mother of four keeps her busy enough, but she also works as an instructional assistant with the public school district in Frankfort.
The 34-year-old’s goal is to be a full-time teacher—ideally instructing fifth or sixth graders—but finding a certificate program that allowed her to keep working through the process took some effort.
Now, Southerly-Ramos is one of six participants who are almost done with their first semester as teaching apprentices thanks to a new program run by Indiana University.
The registered teaching apprenticeship program aims to make a dent in Indiana’s nearly 2,000 classroom vacancies by giving participants paid, on-the-job training while they complete online coursework.
“I can see the whole layout of how it’s going to be. I have advisors working with me side-by-side. It’s not something where I feel I’m doing it all on my own,” Southerly-Ramos said.
IU got approval from the U.S. Department of Labor a few years ago to serve as a group sponsor for the new initiative. Classes are offered through IU’s regional campuses as they already have relationships with nearby K-12 districts willing to take on the apprentices.
So far, IU Kokomo is the only campus offering the program in partnership with Community Schools of Frankfort. But IU Assistant Vice President for School Partnerships Leah Nellis said she hopes to see 75-85 teaching apprentices beginning classes at IU campuses over the next year.
For Nellis, thinking about future teachers as apprentices is a big step in the education world as the term “apprentice” is usually reserved for the construction trades. The program being dubbed an apprenticeship also helps participating districts gain access to federal funding.
“They want to learn the book side but they want that hands-on experience, because quite frankly, that’s where most of us learn best. I do see it as the future of…educator preparation,” Nellis said.
Southerly-Ramos said the classroom training is vital for her even just a semester in. She enjoys doing lessons with the children and then hearing what the lessons are meant to impart and talking about why they did or didn’t go well. One recent example touched on how to use physical objects—known as manipulatives—to help children understand abstract concepts in adding and subtracting.
“I’ve learned a lot of learning strategies to help the students,” Southerly-Ramos said. “It’s nice because a lot of these courses are discussion-based, so you’re able to use your daily work as examples to what you’re learning about.”
In Nellis’ mind, Southerly-Ramos represents the ideal candidate for the apprenticeship program—someone who’s already working in a school district as an instructional assistant. Upskilling instructional assistants and other aides can help understaffed school districts around the edges, but Nellis acknowledges the current apprenticeship model is only one of many avenues the state must explore to address the overall shortage of teachers.
“This program is meant to fill some of those hard-to-fill positions,” said Nellis. “Or where you maybe have folks who are already working in your schools as an instructional assistant and they want to be a teacher. But they can’t quit working because they need a job. This kind of program is beautifully designed for that type of individual. It’s never going to solve all of the teacher shortage issues our districts have.”