A Holistic Educational Approach for Offsite Teacher Education Programs

Abstract

This paper examines the cultural impacts on off-campus school-based teacher-training programs. These programs offer teacher candidates to experience a real world understanding of the culture of a school. The study concludes that teacher candidates benefit from immersion in the school environment. This allows teacher candidates to experience first-hand knowledge, which does not occur with textbook. Furthermore, off-campus teacher-training programs encourage the teacher candidates to celebrate the demographics of a school. In summary, the cultural impacts may help change attitude, clear biases, remove barriers, and assist in creating a holistic approach in modifying and adapting appropriate instructional strategies to each individual student. This paper focuses on an off-campus approach to teacher education.