by Rachel Stengel '14, '20
Dr. Kathleen Pierce is ready for the next phase of education. While the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly forced education into a mainly virtual environment, it also provided a catalyst to challenge the way educators think about engaging their students.
“The idea of ‘sage on the stage’ and ‘the teacher as transmitter of knowledge’ — it took a pandemic for people to see that really doesn’t work,” she says.
As a professor in Rider’s post-baccalaureate teacher certification and Master of Arts in Teaching programs, Pierce specializes in preparing career changers to become K-12 teachers. Throughout the pandemic, she has witnessed the immense dedication and creativity the next wave
of teachers is bringing to the profession. One of her students called her kindergarteners on the phone to coach them in math because they didn’t have computers. Another led her students through the creation of a full-length radio play.
Collaboration and creation are at the heart of Pierce’s personal pedagogy. Learning is not about memorization or mimicking; it is most effective when students create something original, she believes. Since 2015, Pierce’s graduate students have been working with Amanda Schott’s ’16 eighth graders. Each fall, the Rider students mentor the eighth graders using Google Drive to produce a final compilation of creative writing.
“They learn so much about listening to and working with students,” Pierce says. “It’s not just about teaching seven subjects. It’s about knowing your kids and being able to help them learn by creating a space where it’s OK to be themselves and express themselves.”
I teach because it’s immensely exciting and fulfilling to be a part of others’ growth and help them find their own voice.
What has it been like preparing career changers to become teachers during a pandemic?
Some of our students lost their day jobs, had to move back in with parents or they have children of their own, so there were heavy and various pressures on them. The state hasn’t lessened any of the requirements for being a teacher, so it’s been hard and incessant work. This past year, we’ve all been first-year teachers as we navigate challenging constraints.
I’ve learned so much from my students. We’re constantly trading tips and strategies to really engage in this virtual environment.
How will the dramatic shift from the typical in-person classroom set up impact the field of education moving forward?
There are many of us interested in transforming education at every level and this was an opportunity to do so. In the panic, the first reaction was to give out worksheets to keep people busy. That’s not engaging work in the online environment or in physical classrooms. The pandemic has really challenged us to find ways to make the learning transformative for students in a remote environment, but this is not about Zoom. For learning to be transformative, we have to ask good questions and create our own knowledge and agency, rather than simply saying, “I know this. I know that.”
When I was trained in undergrad for English, it was all about the content. There was no way I could really learn to be a teacher until I was in the classroom. Students come to our program to learn how to strategize so their students can grapple and learn something new and make original work of it. Having students create a book of writing or a group project that has some substance allows them to grow and make use of their own knowledge, not just acquire facts.
What does it mean to be a teacher in 2021 and beyond?
It’s about people and pedagogy. Prior to the pandemic, some thought that technology had the answers for transforming education, but we have seen technology has its profound drawbacks and surprising opportunities. You have to care for people as human beings to help them learn something new and develop their own agency. I’m introducing my beginning teachers into the world of schooling and diverse kids and how much an adult who listens can make a difference. You have to be interested in who students are rather than just what the curriculum dictates. A thoughtful teacher can blend student playfulness and learning with the curriculum.
What’s in your (home) office, professor?
Logan, my 4-year-old dog
Logan has become the neighborhood therapy dog, always accepting belly rubs on our walks. He’s usually announcing every person or delivery truck that passes by, when he’s not napping under my desk.
Writing partnership collection
Since we could not meet in person for this year’s writing partnership as we typically do, we compiled a digital version thanks to my student Sophia Brana. This year’s theme was ‘grit.’