International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
Data sources include:
Hiring data
Mentor evaluations of interns
Parent feedback
Intern interviews
Administrator interviews
Feedback via surveys from local teachers who received training from interns
FINDINGS
Is the TDP effective?
Interns were interviewed and asked if the TDP was effective. One intern stated: “When I was hired at
KAUST, I thought teaching was easy and now I am good. But I learned that here, the way of thinking is how can
I be better, be the best, or improve? That has completely changed my personality.” Another stated: “What I learn
in the TDP is things like when I covered bus duty for another Saudi last week. She told me thank you since she
had to come late because she had to drop her kids off at day care. I told her I, also, had to drop my kids off at day
care but I did it first and then covered her bus duty.”
Most comments were about work ethic and how they learned that they must be at school on time and
stay until, at least, 4:00. Quantitative data on attendance indicated a significant increase in attendance for interns
in their 2 nd semester (from an average of 5 absences to 2). Time management was a challenge to some interns
who learned not to wait until the night before to do lesson planning. However, some interns began the TDP with
perfect attendance and excellent time management so they were able to move right into advanced skills such as
curriculum development. No matter what skills the interns began with, they improve on target areas due to
constant monitoring and support. There are several building coordinators available to work with interns in
addition to Mentors.
Hiring is a measure of effectiveness as successful interns may be offered jobs at TKS. Several TDP graduates
have taken fulltime positions at TKS. One intern chose to exit the TDP to go into a different career field. One
intern was exited from the program due to lack of success.
The interns conducted training for 40 teachers from the schools just outside of KAUST. The Mentors
prepared the materials with the interns so the interns could present in Arabic. Feedback, via evaluation forms,
from the attending teachers was overwhelmingly positive. Several teachers told the interns that they “couldn’t
believe you are interns.”
Do students benefit?
Mentor teachers stated the benefits for students of having an intern in the classroom. The most common
responses were related to being able to give individual students more attention while the intern worked with
small groups. One Mentor was able to work with her class while the intern worked with a high needs student
one-on-one. This benefited all students.
Parent comments and email messages show the benefits for students. One intern, in particular, has several
email messages, from a variety of parents, thanking her for teaching Arabic to their English-speaking children.
One parent told the Coordinator that one of the benefits of working at KAUST was that his daughter is learning
Arabic. Several elementary students, being taught by a TDP intern, state that they love learning and speaking
Arabic. Another parent shared how she loved her child’s teacher and had just learned that the teacher was a TDP
intern.
Do interns benefit?
The level of training and experience results in the interns becoming highly qualified teachers. A principal and a
department chair stated that the interns were more qualified than some current teachers. The interns have
received much more training than some current teachers so their knowledge of pedagogy far surpasses that of
teachers without degrees or experience in education. With one of the goals (and benefits) of the TDP being
opportunities for leadership, the interns are trained to go above and beyond classroom teaching. For example,
interns have conducted teacher training, are developing curriculum for Islamic Studies, and assessments for IB
Arabic. These activities benefit the interns, in terms of experience and career building.
Several interns discuss their experiences of culture shock, even though they are in their home country. One
expressed her surprise when she arrived at TKS and saw powerful technology used in every class, students who
were actually excited to learn, and groups of teachers that collaborated on lessons daily. No interns mention any
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