The following is a list of several "hot topics" in education. These topics give prospective teachers some ideas about innovative efforts that are happening in education today.
Social and Emotional Learning is about the important role of positive relationships and emotional connections between students and teachers. SEL helps students develop many skills that they need for school and life.
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When a child experiences a traumatic event in their life, learning at school can be difficult. In the U.S., nearly two out of every three children experience a potentially traumatic event by the age of sixteen, which impacts their mental health. Trauma can impact a child’s school performance, impair learning, and cause physical and emotional distress. There are specific resources and training available to help teachers understand how to support their students who have experienced trauma.
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As a part of teacher preparation, new teachers learn about how to support a positive learning environment. It is important because it helps us keep students in school and hold them accountable. Research on student engagement, academic success, dropout and graduation rates has shown the need to replace punitive discipline practices with more proactive behavior management.
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Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a way to support everyone – especially students with disabilities – to create the kinds of schools where all students are successful.
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As a part of teacher preparation training, new teachers learn about the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP). These standards help teachers assess their teaching skills. While the CSTPs have existed for years, they are currently being updated or "refreshed." These updates include the areas of social-emotional learning, emphasis on cultural awareness, equity, and inclusion. The updates also address ways to teach in a classroom and via virtual learning.
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Ensuring equity for an increasingly diverse student population relies on today’s educators viewing student differences as assets and not deficits. Teachers need to acknowledge the diversity that students bring to the classroom, including culture, language, disability, socio-economic status, immigration status, and sexuality as characteristics that add value and strength to classrooms and communities.
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It is important to have a diverse educator workforce. Having diversity among teachers benefits all students and advances educational equity. "Regular exposure to and interactions with individuals from a variety of races and ethnic groups, especially during childhood, combat stereotypes, strengthen students’ abilities to become comfortable with peers from different backgrounds, reduce unconscious implicit biases inside and outside the classroom, and lead to innovative and greater social cohesion" (Warner & Duncan, 2019).
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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced a new, multifaceted "Education to End Hate" initiative designed to empower educators and students to confront the hate, bigotry, and racism rising in communities across the state and nation. Under a new effort outlined during a virtual press conference, the State Superintendent said that the California Department of Education (CDE) will lead a series of strategies—including educator training grants, partnerships with community leaders, and virtual classroom sessions—that leverage the power of education to create a more just society.
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Multilingual education teaches academic content in multiple languages. There is a high demand and many job opportunities for multilingual teachers. There is a large effort to prepare students for twenty-first century careers and college, recognizing that multilingualism is an essential skill.
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The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) consists of traditional defined benefit, cash balance and voluntary defined contribution plans. According to the CalSTRS website, as a member, your income in retirement is a shared responsibility between CalSTRS and you. Every month you, your employer and the State of California contribute a percentage of your salary to CalSTRS and in return you will receive a guaranteed monthly payment for the rest of your life.
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Career Technical Education, also known as vocational education, is designed to teach students job skills. Employment prospects for vocational education teachers are very strong. Over the next decade, California is projected to need more trained people in the areas of career technical, trade or vocational courses. Examples of CTE programs are Agriculture and Natural Resources, Building and Construction Trades, Business and Finance, Education, Energy, Engineering and Architecture.
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A growth mindset, as conceived by psychologist Carol Dweck and colleagues, is the belief that a person's capacities and talents can be improved over time. People with a growth mindset will be more oriented toward self-improvement and more likely to persist in the face of challenges and failures because they will treat them as opportunities to grow rather than signs that their abilities are inadequate. Students thrive in a learning environment that promotes a growth mindset.
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