The educational workforce is changing, and going through a global pandemic only heightened and accelerated those changes. Today, we’ll talk about the kinds of changes that are happening in schools and classrooms and how the workforce is adapting and evolving along with the classrooms.
Melia Slinger, the ECE Program Director at Waldorf University, and Dr. Freda Barnett-Braddock, the Program Director of Graduate Education join Marnetta today to discuss what they see happening in schools and how the educational field is changing. They’ll discuss what was missing from education during the pandemic, as well as some silver linings, how higher education is changing to better support teachers, and what the future of teacher preparation looks like.
Topics Discussed in This Episode
- [00:01:25] Melia’s background
- [00:02:40] Dr. Barnett-Braddock’s background
- [00:05:38] The centrality of connections and relationship-building
- [00:06:50] Changes in the workforce since Melia and Freda entered the workforce
- [00:09:10] How the pandemic affected the changing workforce
- [00:15:50] The educational elements that were missing during the pandemic
- [00:18:56] How higher education is evolving to support teachers
- [00:24:16] Technological and financial struggles for teachers
- [00:27:30] Changes in family dynamics
- [00:28:15] Using heightened awareness to better educate teachers and drive solutions for families
- [00:30:48] What’s being done to recruit teachers and give them training to support students
- [00:35:04] How higher education evolved to support the accessibility of learning in relation to cost
- [00:38:29] Burnout and turnover, especially in areas like special ed
- [00:39:45] The future of teacher prep programs
Resources
Marnetta Larrimer
Melia Slinger
Dr. Freda Barnett-Braddock
