Connections: Substitute Teaching

To Substitute, or Not to Substitute?

Katie Nash was just months shy from graduating from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, when she reported to one of the city’s middle schools for a substitute teaching assignment.

Despite her college training, as well as former careers in both the military and the business world, Nash was nervous and unaware of what to expect. The teacher she was filling in for had left vague lesson plans, but no clear instructions on what to do. The students were watching Nash’s every move for any sign of weakness.

“I was disoriented at first,” she recalls. “I wanted to run out the door. But then I realized I had the skills to do what I needed to do.”

Nash quickly employed the classroom management techniques she learned in college to take control of the classroom and develop a rapport with students. But the experience left a burning question in her mind: How can people substitute without some kind of education background or training?

“I got the call to substitute just one day after completing a district orientation session, which included filling out the necessary administrative paperwork,” she says. “There was no one-on-one interview, and no training. The district considered the time spent filling out forms as their ‘orientation.’ It made me so thankful for what I learned in college.”

This quick-hire approach is common, as school districts across the country are finding it increasingly difficult to find and retain sufficient numbers of qualified substitute teachers. A wave of retiring teachers, a booming economy that siphons off candidates, and the push for smaller class sizes have reduced the number of certified teachers in the substitute pool.

In a recent national survey by the Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University, 56 percent of district officials said substitute availability was a “serious problem.” What does this mean to you? That you’ll be welcomed with open arms into the substitute pool.

Adriana Novekosky says substitute teaching has been a blessing. After graduating from Geneva College in Pennsylvania, she spent a full year substitute teaching. Unable to find a full-time teaching job and unwilling to relocate out of state, she averaged three job offers a day, subbing nearly every day throughout five different districts.

“It’s a great learning experience,” she says. “I get to see what the different schools are like, and where I might get a job.”

But Karen Rodland, a senior at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, says those wanting to capitalize on the substitute shortage should be cautious.

Recent graduates often get caught in the substitute mill, says Rodland, where they do the teaching and planning but don’t get paid accordingly.

?That’s why from California to Connecticut, substitutes are uniting to advocate for better pay, benefits, grievance procedures, and training. In some states, substitutes are part of their NEA local. And in July 2000, more than 60 substitute teachers convened the newly formed National Substitute Teachers Alliance. One of the hottest topics discussed: the need for more training.

“At the very least, substitutes should be trained in how to read lesson plans and what to do on those awful days when they arrive and find no lesson plan at all,” says Rodland.

Ultimately, each individual has to decide whether or not he’s ready. “It’s a wonderful experience,” says Nash. “But it isn’t something to rush into. You just have to know in your heart that it’s something you want to do.”