COSTA MESA : OCC Gets Grant to Train Teacher Aides

Orange Coast College has received a grant to help train people who are underrepresented in the classroom to become teachers.

The Early Primary Classroom Aide Certificate Program, funded by the $50,353 grant, targets men, homemakers, minorities and single parents and will serve as a model for colleges throughout the state.

“Traditionally, men are underrepresented in the classroom and traditionally there are difficulties in recruiting teachers of ethnic diversity and language diversity,” said Linda Clark, an early childhood education instructor at Orange Coast College. “We want to tap into those populations.”

Schools must try to reflect the general population so children who come from all cultural and language backgrounds see people like themselves in the classroom, Clark said.

“We have a very diverse population in Orange County and in California, and all children need to see that diversity in their teachers as well as the children that are speaking those languages, and different cultures need to see people of their own languages and cultures there,” she said.

The program will focus on placing these teachers in the primary grades and give them experience in the classroom as teachers’ aides in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Normally, teaching students do not get classroom experience until they have gone through four years of study. By the time they actually get teaching experience, some find they are not suited for the classroom, Clark said.

As they work toward their certificates, students in the program will also receive help in furthering their education at a four-year university to become fully accredited as teachers. The college is working closely with Cal State Fullerton to help students transfer easily into its teaching program, Clark said.

The California Community College Chancellor’s Office awarded the grant.