News & Events
Professor Nwoke Shepherds City Tech Through Accreditation Process
Photo credit: Michele Forsten
“This accreditation puts us on equal footing with other, better-known teacher education programs, because we all have to go through the same process and meet the same standards," says Dr. Godfrey Nwoke, chair of New York City College of Techology's (City Tech) career and technology teacher education department.
Nwoke shepherded the College's bachelor degree programs in career and technology teacher education through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education's (NCATE) grueling four-year accreditation process. "Even though we are relatively small, covering only two areas, the quality of our programs is the same as that of Hunter, Columbia Teachers College, and other, much bigger programs," he explains.
NCATE also recognized the College's Teacher Education Conceptual Framework as one of six national models and it is on the NCATE website. This is a significant honor, according to Nwoke, who oversaw its development, as there are 614 NCATE-accredited colleges of education in the country, annually graduating more than two-thirds of new teachers. (See www.ncate.org/Institutions/Resources/InstitutionalSamples/SampleConceptualFramework.)
Nwoke's work was lauded by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which last February bestowed on him its Special Recognition Award for Dedication and Professional Excellence in the Support and Training of Technical Teachers.
City Tech's career and technology teacher education programs will not stay small for long, if Nwoke has anything to do with it. He plans to step up marketing to high school and community college students considering teaching careers. The current student enrollment of about 100 is “only a drop in the bucket, compared to the strong demand for teachers both in career and technology education,” he says, “and we have the capacity to accommodate almost twice as many students.”
Originally based at City College of New York (CCNY), where Nwoke became a visiting assistant professor in 1990, the teacher education programs transferred to City Tech in 1996 and Nwoke became program coordinator. “I was a one-man department,” he laughs. “I taught everything from design and drafting to manufacturing systems and from curriculum development to methods of teaching. The second person to join the faculty came two semesters later; now we have four faculty members.”
In fall 2003, the programs became a full-fledged department, and Nwoke was made chair; in June 2006 he was re-elected to a second term. Currently he teaches a professional development seminar course for graduating students and a course in coordination of work-based learning programs. He is also involved in programming, curriculum development and instructional staff recruitment, as well as student recruitment, advisement and field experience supervision.
Nwoke came to understand the need for technology teachers as an undergraduate at the University of Nigeria, studying vocational industrial education. The University didn’t offer a graduate program in his subject, so Nwoke emigrated to the U.S. He attended CCNY as a participant in an exchange program and earned his master's degree in industrial arts education. The University of Nigeria sponsored two years of full-time study at Iowa State University, where he earned his doctorate in industrial education and technology. Nwoke then returned to Nigeria to teach for three years in the department from which he had graduated.
The experience of relocating alone from Africa to attend CCNY remains vivid in his mind. In 1983, Nwoke arrived in the U.S. to live at International House, where foreign students were housed. “It’s difficult to describe the culture shock of moving from a rural town in Nigeria to New York City,” he says. “One thing that sticks in my mind is the food: you go to a restaurant and don’t know what to order; you just point at it.”
The subway was even more daunting. “The first time I went to the CUNY Research Foundation, I boarded the #1 train downtown. Afterwards, I got back into the subway and took the first train that came. After an hour it didn’t seem to me I was going back the way I came. Then I saw a sign that said ‘Jamaica’-- I could have been in the West Indies, for all I knew. I had ended up in Queens!”
Nwoke’s three teenage children now experience reverse culture shock. The Williamsbridge, Bronx-based family travels regularly to Nigeria, and visits Nwoke’s parents in Obowu, his home town. “They love it,” he says, “but the food and the streets are so different from what they are used to. People there try to be hospitable, sometimes to a fault, and they get spoiled.”
Closer to home, the teacher education program at City Tech will enjoy a respite from the demands of proving itself until NCATE’s next visit in 2010, when the department must prepare for a second accreditation, and then repeat the renewal process every seven years.
The importance of NCATE accreditation cannot be overestimated. While New York State requires teacher education programs be accredited by one of three agencies, The City University of New York requires its teacher education programs to have the NCATE credential.
Says Nwoke, “It’s the same accreditation process, but it gets more rigorous and standards change, which means more work.” But it’s also clear that Nwoke, having mastered the city’s subway system, is more than up for the challenge.
The largest public college of technology in New York State, New York City College of Technology enrolls more than 13,000 students in 57 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs. Another 14,300 students enroll annually in adult education and workforce development programs, many of which lead to licensure and certification. Located at 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, City Tech is at the MetroTech Center academic and commercial complex.
1/10/07
