5 minute read
Protecting the Joy of Teaching
Protecting the Joy of Teaching
By Koyen Parikh Shah, Program Director of HB’s University of Pennsylvania Fellowship
Laura Owsiany
Laura Owsiany knew what she was looking for when she was introduced to HB. Amidst a broader culture that is draining talent from the teaching profession, Owsiany began a search for a way to deepen her understanding of innovation in schools. She was seeking opportunities to build a reflective teaching practice at a school that takes teaching seriously. A graduate of Georgetown University who had been working as a program manager at Writopia Lab, a nonprofit that teaches writing workshops to youth ages eight to 18, she developed a sense for the ways social-emotional learning and care for the whole student integrate with a person’s intellectual development.
“At Hathaway Brown, I believe I can become the kind of teacher I want to be,” she explained as she joined us in fall 2021 to teach Upper School English.
In 2019, Hathaway Brown was selected for a groundbreaking collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania and approximately 20 leading independent schools around the country with the goal of identifying and nurturing new teachers like Owsiany. Through a unique two-year fellowship modeled after medical residencies for aspiring doctors, HB hosts candidates who are pursuing a Master of Science in Education from Penn’s Graduate School of Education (GSE), the nation’s topranked education school. The Penn Fellows program partners emerging teachers with established leaders and mentors at HB. Thus far, HB has hosted five fellows in the English, Math, and Computer Science departments.
Owsiany is partnered with Marty Frazier, a talented teacher who is also the Upper School English Department Chair and Dean of Faculty. She is the second fellow Frazier has elected to mentor. Frazier brings unique strengths in course design and extensive teaching experience to his work at HB. He believes that collaboration with emerging teachers sparks ongoing positive, productive conversation and says there is no doubt that having fresh eyes on the English curriculum has helped to reshape courses with new texts and new approaches.
Owsiany’s passion and expertise in English is matched with a desire to design innovative and creative assessments and projects that stoke an authentic, intrinsic love of literature and writing. She is currently working on an extensive project to examine how discussion in class can lead students to a more profound and collaborative understanding of literature. As part of the faculty, she has sparked countless energizing conversations among colleagues. Those involved with HB’s teacher residencies use the words refreshing, invigorating, supportive, valuable, and fun to describe their experiences.
As a Penn Fellow at Hathaway Brown, Laura Owsiany teaches Upper School classes such as Critical Reading and Writing, as well as American Literature.
This teacher residency has influenced our search and implementation of new strategies to encourage reflection and goal setting by teachers. Frazier has been instrumental in bringing Folio Collaborative to our teams. Folio is a tool that helps teachers set and align goals with broader strategic initiatives and also encourages teachers to share insights and best practices with one another. Several schools in the UPenn consortium use the same platform.
These teacher partnerships undergird a culture that makes reflection and innovation possible. As it turns out, teacher residencies at HB are creating a hub for examination of thoughtful, creative, and effective teaching and learning practices. Penn GSE offers resources that fuel ongoing exploration.
Right now, we are fielding a national conversation about why teachers are leaving the profession and what can be done to help students and teachers thrive. Some would argue that the complexities of teaching work have always been undervalued, and yet new challenges are emerging.
A March 2022, Education Week article shares that between the 2008-09 and the 2018-19 academic years, the number of people completing a teacher-education program declined by almost a third, and the pandemic likely accelerated the trend. A nationwide survey conducted in May 2022 of 830 teachers shows that more than three quarters considered leaving their profession during that academic year. Research from the field suggests that morale, mental health, and exhaustion will affect the talent pipeline. Finding targeted solutions to the shortages flagged by recent headlines will require examination of localized data. The current teacher shortage is a nuanced and complex issue that calls for multiple solutions. HB is committed to nurturing a culture of teaching that effectively responds to these environmental pressures.
A long held priority at the school centers efforts to attract and nurture creative, diverse teaching talent at HB. This program through the University of Pennsylvania creates
new pathways for teachers to share practices that are effective, relevant, and dynamic. We are looking for unconventional solutions to invite diverse, creative talent to the profession, and the partnership with the University of Pennsylvania is an intentional step that supports and celebrates what teachers do every single day.
This initiative with the University of Pennsylvania GSE helps make HB a place where excellence in teaching is studied and intentionally fueled. “HB has exceeded my expectations of an environment that nurtures teachers. As I start the second year of this teaching fellowship, I do see myself becoming the kind of teacher I want to be,” Owsiany said.
