Learning from the Best

Beverley Bell says her arrival to Holy Cross early in the academic year felt sort of like a homecoming.

The newly appointed director of the College’s Teacher Education Program attended a Catholic elementary school in Eastern Cape in South Africa, and reading about Holy Cross’ commitment toward social justice — which she has made a part of her life’s work — resonated.

Despite the perfect match, Bell’s path to Holy Cross was circuitous. A high school teacher in Africa for 15 years, she moved to the United States in 1997 when her husband was pursuing a graduate degree. While here, she took classes at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, earning her own master’s in higher education administration with a focus on social justice and multicultural education.

After another stint teaching in Africa, she moved back to Massachusetts and plans to receive a doctor of education from UMass this spring. In the past several years, she worked at Mount Holyoke College’s teacher education program and served as coordinator of the teacher licensure program for the Five Colleges consortium, along with holding several other posts.

Those experiences have prepared her well for her new position. Approximately 50 percent of teachers in the United States leave the profession within just five years. Her goal is to see Holy Cross alumni buck that trend by ensuring that the Teacher Education Program readies them for the challenges they will face when they head into the classroom.

The program prepares students for licensure in Massachusetts along with 38 other states in the nation. Students majoring in biology, chemistry, classics, English, French, history, mathematics, physics, Spanish and visual arts are eligible to apply to the program. In addition to taking courses in the major, students enroll in education courses specifically designed to promote excellence in teaching.

“You can’t go into the classroom blindly,” she says. “Unless you’ve given time to study theory and watch a seasoned professional conduct a class, you’re shortchanging the students. Our Teacher Education Program offers students the opportunities to combine theory and research in a very ‘real’ way with incredibly supportive supervising practioners at Burncoat Middle and High Schools.”

Bell says students can’t teach effectively without being aware of global issues. Holy Cross’ program helps them understand and appreciate the complexity of human experience and prepares them to enter an increasingly diverse and internationally interconnected world. Indeed, one of the goals of the program is to allow students to witness the plight and potential of America’s urban schools.

Worcester’s Burncoat Middle and High Schools, where TEP maintains an active relationship, have dozens of nationalities represented among their student bodies, helping the program to foster that global perspective.

“Holy Cross students are bright and when they become leaders they are going to be enacting policy which is going to be affecting the world,” she says. “In order to make educated decisions, these experiences are essential.”

Bell hopes to launch a new internship that will bring students closer to realizing that global perspective. Next May, in conjunction with the Study Abroad program, TEP plans to host a one-month internship in which students will travel to Africa and work in inner-city schools where “education is seen as an absolute privilege not a right,” Bell says.

“It will be an experiential learning opportunity,” she says. “Holy Cross students will have a hands-on opportunity to learn from these students and teachers. When you leave this beautiful campus — where everyone is nurturing and affirming — and you go to a job stripped of those characteristics you experience culture shock. Students will gain empathy in what is going on in the lives of students in Africa.”

Since its inception about a decade ago, 100 students have enrolled in TEP. There are currently 40 students in the program. To accommodate the increasing popularity, Bell has been networking with other institutions in the Worcester Public Schools that she hopes will lead to more partnerships.

To further strengthen the program, Bell would like to connect students with alumni who are working as teachers.

“Students might be going for an interview, and they might want to know general questions like, ‘What should I ask when I go there?’ Students can also better prepare themselves for that first year of teaching by speaking with alums,” she says.

Bell’s past experiences and new ideas have brought in new perspectives that are welcome.

“In the few months that she has been here, Bev has already had a significant impact on our Teacher Education Program,” says Diane Bukatko, chair of the department of education. “She has prompted us to envision new and creative ways to draw on the exceptional talents of the teaching professionals in the Worcester Public Schools and to strengthen our curricular commitments to issues surrounding urban education, all with the goal of achieving a new level of excellence in teacher education. She has also pushed us to think creatively about how to live out our local and global commitments to social justice by working to improve the educational system.”

Related Information:

Education Program Read about the experiences of two students who are in the Teacher Education Program.