Allison Beale

Nardelli

Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow

March 22, 2021

The Future of Education

In March of 2020, Covid-19 sent every child, teacher, administrator, and staff

member home, causing students to finish the year virtually. The public education system had to

adjust quickly to educate the youth of America. These adjustments were just a step through the

door to an evolved education system for our future.

In the podcast How Teaching is Changing and How to Survive with Troy Podell, Troy

Podell discussed what he viewed as the benefits to education Covid-19 brought upon society. He

saw many opportunities in bettering the education system for students. Podell said, “think long

and hard about providing undergraduates with an experience that requires them to learn

ecological validity. In addition to student teaching internships, make them get an internship at a

place that applies their knowledge that they’re seeking to teach to students.” (Podell 8:04). He

mentioned that teachers should be experts in the field they are teaching in. Students could then

look up to their teachers and visualize a path for their future, alongside fully understanding the

material. They can comfortably grasp the material because they can use it in a real-world

context. I firmly believe that this is how teachers should qualify before teaching a specific area

of study. The teachers I took away the most from had first-hand experiences in science labs and

other prior career fields. Having that first-hand experience made them excited to share their love

of science or history with their students because they understood that some children could see
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themselves in one of those career fields. To truly make a difference as a teacher, one must master

their subject through knowledge and experience.

Dr. Podell also mentioned that the teacher should not be a “know-it-all,” which I

interpreted as a contradiction to what he said regarding teachers being masters in the desired

subject. He believes that teachers and students should have an equal opportunity to struggle. I

disagree with Podell because I think teachers should guide students to a complete comprehension

of the material. If the teacher lacks the knowledge to answer a student’s question, they risk

informing the student of the wrong answer. I think a child’s understanding of the correct answer

is far more salient than having the teacher and student struggle together on the topic. A teacher

who is a master in their subject can effortlessly obtain the student’s thought process to access the

correct answer.

As the education system begins to evolve by adapting and adjusting to the student's

needs, the skillsets the teachers require must develop as well. Teachers have been using the same

methods to teach students that they were a century ago, without acknowledging the rise of

technology in the past decade. Using the resources is not enough to teach effectively. Many

teachers lack the required knowledge to instruct in this new age of technology and connect tools

to their curriculums. They are given the minimum training without being offered and informed

about the number of sites and resources the internet holds. In addition, teachers are copying

assessments word-for-word, ultimately giving students the ability to access the answers. They are

not enforcing students to apply the information they must learn, resulting in students memorizing

information until no longer necessary. Teachers should understand the information students have

access to on the internet and adjust their lesson plans to more applicable activities, such as

projects and problem-based learning, to understand a student's comprehension. Covid-19 has

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pushed this forward because of the numerous children sitting in front of a computer. Many

students sit at home with the entire internet one click of a button away.

Dr. Podell wanted everyone who listened to the podcast to understand that teachers

should continue to be present in a child's life. The mentor relationship between student and

teacher is irreplaceable and very valuable in a child’s development. Children are motivated to

learn and grow by their teachers. They show their students that anything is possible and that they

can be anyone. Education gives students the resources they need to become successful in their

future careers and interactions with others. Our society must allow our education system to grow

and change throughout time to give students the best education possible.
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Work Cited

“How Teaching is Changing and How to Survive with Dr. Troy Podell” The Edmentum Podcast,

20 Nov. 2020,

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8

xMDEyMDY5LnJzcw/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC02MzQ4MjUw?

hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwiH16O0mpTvAhVFHc0KHUNBB_4QjrkEegQIAxAI&ep=6