By Matt Kurnick
"I feel like we're given the freedom to exercise our professional wings and figure out how to make what we're doing better." — Adrian Lyde, coordinator of Clinical Experiences and Certification Processes
(February 9, 2009) Adrian Lyde, coordinator of Clinical Experiences and Certification Processes in the Cecilia J. Lauby Teacher Education Center at Illinois State University, has a great appreciation for the teacher preparation process.
As a former middle school and college health instructor and coordinator at a federally funded preschool program, Lyde's unique perspective on and experiences in education have helped to cultivate her commitment to teacher education.
"I am a teacher, I was trained as a teacher, I'm committed to teacher preparation in every sense of the word," Lyde said.
Lyde's commitment shows most through her responsibility for finding traditional middle level student teaching placements. Lyde acts as a liaison between Middle Level Education professors at Illinois State, principals and teachers throughout Illinois, and students when needed.
Although the process of finding ISU students' placements does not always go as smooth as she might like, for Lyde, it is always special to see students in their placements teaching and gaining the necessary experiences they need to become excellent teachers.
Placements aren't as simple as matching up a student with a school. Lyde must take into consideration the wishes of the professors to ensure the students are gaining the right kind of experience. A newer twist on her responsibility is ensuring that students gain experience with a wide breadth of different learners.
Lyde's firm belief in gaining clinical experience in diverse settings with diverse learners is something she cemented when she was coordinator at Heartland Head Start, a preschool in central Illinois for children from low income families.
"If you grow up in a suburban place and most of the people around you are like you, and you have an intact family with all of your needs met, and you never have any interaction with people who aren't like you, it's going to make it much more difficult to transition into a year of teaching students who's problems you've never thought about," Lyde said.
"Clinical experiences with diverse learners are important because teachers are going to have all types of learners in their classroom. They need practice in interacting with them. P-12 students are from different cultures, speak different languages, and have different learning abilities. The more exposure we can give candidates to as many types of learners as possible, the better teachers they'll be."
Before Lyde can nail down a placement she must take into consideration what the ISU professor wants the clinical experience to be for his or her students. Then she must articulate that to the cooperating principals and make the arrangements in a timely manner.
Lyde has faced scenarios where timing has created difficulties in placing students. One situation in particular limited Lyde's time to find a placement and even limited the ISU student's time to complete the placement. Of course Lyde came through.
"It all happened," Lyde said. "I didn't know if it was going to but it did. Everybody came through. All the communication that needed to happen did."
Lyde's hard work resulted in a "very complimentary letter from the cooperating teacher explaining that she didn't know if it was going to happen but she was so happy with the work the students did." For Lyde her work paid off.
"It makes me feel good because, first of all, my priority is the ISU teacher candidates," Lyde said. "That they are having good learning experiences with quality teachers. It is that priority that makes me feel good ... knowing we accomplished that task. A bonus is that it was a good experience for the cooperating teachers, and their students."
Lyde's breadth of educational experience has groomed her for administrative work in the ISU teacher preparation program, and as much as she appreciates that process, she appreciates ISU just as much.
"I feel so fortunate to work with the people I work with," Lyde said. "I truly feel like this environment is a healthy environment to work in, people look out for each other. I'm treated as a professional. I'm allowed to do my job in a way that nurtures my creativity and helps me develop my professional life.
"I feel like we're given the freedom to exercise our professional wings and figure out how to make what we're doing better."
© 2009 Illinois State University • An equal opportunity/affirmative action university encouraging diversity • Privacy Statement • Contact Us • Check COE faculty and staff e-mail
