UH Hilo’s School of Education celebrates 19 grad students on their way to becoming teachers
Having just completed their first year of grad school, each member of the master of arts in teaching cohort are ready to apply for teacher licensure.
By Susan Enright.
Nineteen graduate students in the master of arts in teaching program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo were honored May 9 at an event to commemorate the completion of their first year of the two-year program. The students, who have completed three semesters of studies and field work, are now ready to apply for teacher licensure and for teaching positions across the state.
“Most of the cohort will continue on to year two of our program and earn a master’s degree while they are in their first year of teaching,” says Tobias Irish, associate professor and director of the School of Education.
The event happens annually and is a family-oriented celebration with ʻohana of the students attending along with cooperating teachers from the community who are participating in the students’ training (some of whom are former UH Hilo graduate students themselves), field supervisors, K-12 school principals, and School of Education faculty members.
UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael Bitter attended.
Seventeen of the cohort had the licensure year of their program paid for by “Grow Our Own” tuition stipends provided by the state. The “Grow Our Own Teachers Initiative” gives future educators an opportunity to qualify for stipends in Hawaiʻi Department of Education areas.
The licensure year
Called the “licensure year,” this first year of the two-year teaching program is a milestone for the grad students because with the completion of their teacher-preparation coursework, field work, and student teaching, they are now eligible to apply for teacher licensure through the Hawaiʻi Teacher Standards Board, interview for teaching positions, and begin their first year of teaching in their own classrooms in August.
Through their coursework over the past school year, each member of the cohort learned about child development, classroom management, lesson planning, instructional strategies, educational technology, assessment for learning, educator ethics, and more.
What comes next
During their second year of the program, this cohort will sharpen their teaching skills through action research, which is a form of research that enables them to establish baseline data on student performance, teach their students in specific content areas, and measure student progress, as well as their own teaching effectiveness, over time.
The next cohort, number 12 of the program, starts their two years of studies this summer.
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
