Utilizing Pre-Service CASE Opportunities
Link to the post: https://communities.naae.org/community/prodev/case/blog/2019/08/30/utilizing-pre-service-case-opportunities
As a pre-service educator, your head is already spinning with new techniques, information, and endless possibilities for your classroom and students. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and not consider student impact with curriculum design. However, through the opportunity to participate in a CASE Institute as a pre-service teacher, you begin your career on a new and bright horizon with an engaging curriculum and added strategies in your toolbox.
For some, it is a matter of self-motivation and funding to sign up for one of the standalone institutes that are offered throughout the country each summer. While some pre-service teachers find the opportunity to go through a CASE Institutions as part of the coursework at their university.
“Getting certified in CASE at the pre-service level greatly benefited me because it allowed me to enter a classroom, provide my students with structured content and understand the intricacies of the curriculum from a student perspective.” said Joshua Troub, current graduate student and CASE TA at The University of Arizona. “I think I was better able to meet the needs of my students because of the thorough understanding I received from the pre-service certification. Also, having the certification and being able to utilize CASE curriculum before entering the classroom alleviated much of the stress I would have had in initiating certification on my own.”
Offering CASE certification at the university level allows pre-service teachers to not only view the curriculum through the eyes of a teacher but as a student as well. This dual view opens up more possibilities and a deeper understanding. As students delve into the CASE curriculum, they experience more inquiry-based teachings, keeping them in-tune with the modern teaching techniques that are demanded in the workforce.
Dr. Amber Rice of The University of Arizona shared how offering CASE certification to pre-service teachers also impacts teacher retention. Rice says “First year teachers are in surviving mode when they take their first job. By already achieving CASE certification, it decreases the amount of time they must spend on planning and developing their own curriculum. This makes the first year of teaching much more manageable and assists with teacher retention from year one to year two.”
CASE certification for pre-service students also gives them the opportunity to feel comfortable while student teaching and while starting their teaching careers. Making the most of their university coursework is an undeniable benefit that CASE has to offer these pre-service teachers, as well as giving them a competitive edge in the opportunities that they provide for their students.