Cooperating Teachers' Perspectives Under Scrutiny: A comparative analysis of Australia and Canada

The ways in which cooperating teachers give shape and meaning to their work in practicum settings is one of the most critical elements of initial teacher education. This international comparison draws upon surveys of Australian and Canadian cooperating teachers. The global contrast highlights taken‐for‐granted assumptions in local settings that in some instances are cause for celebration and in other instances concern. The comparison of the two settings illustrates, among other things: some striking similarities in the profiles of cooperating teachers; important differences with respect to the cooperating teachers' preparation and remuneration for their role in practicum settings; and deeper complexities regarding the relationship between schools and universities.     

LEARNING LESSONS ABOUT DIVERSITY: FIELD EXPERIENCES IN THE PREPARATION OF TEACHERS

Abstract

This article describes one way in which teacher educators can gain a new perspective on integrating theory and practice. By accompanying teachers and student teachers on field trips, teacher educators have the opportunity to enhance their understanding of the day‐to‐day life of a classroom teacher and become a part of the school community.

Participating in a field trip offers a chance to observe classroom management strategies; engage in informal interactions with children, teachers, and parents; develop trust among classroom practitioners; witness emergent curriculum; and participate in authentic assessment.

The author documents a visit to the zoo with kindergarten students, teachers, student teachers, and parents from an urban school and how the visit impacted on her working relationship with cooperating teachers, student teachers, and kindergartners.     

The influence of student teachers on the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction

Much attention has been given to the impact of cooperative teachers on the pedagogical behaviour of student teachers. In many cases, however, cooperating teachers gain as much from the student teacher as the student teacher acquires from them. This study was designed to elicit answers to the following two questions: (1) What are the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction in the Jordanian context? and (2) Does the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers engaging in early reading instruction change as a result of working with student teachers? The study targeted a sample of 25 cooperating teachers and 28 student teachers who participated in the study by completing a questionnaire, and follow-up interviews were also conducted with 13 cooperating teachers. Results of this study indicate that cooperating teachers endorse the phonics method more than the whole language (WL) approach. Unlike past research, the results of this study revealed that (1) the student teaching experience had no effect on the perspective of cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction and (b) the perspectives of cooperating teachers do not become similar to those of their student teachers who were WL-oriented. The results have implications for early childhood teacher education programmes and professional development for kindergarten teachers.     

Cultivating relationships with school placement stakeholders: the perspective of the cooperating teacher

The aim of this paper is to analyse Irish school placement cooperating teachers’ supervisory experiences when involved in various structures of communities and explore factors which enabled or challenged them in cultivating relationships with school placement stakeholders where there is no formal system of supervision established in schools in the Republic of Ireland. Describing learning as a social process, research implies the significance of the development of relationships, membership within communities and identity construction. Using a qualitative approach, it was found that by formally engaging in a supervisory process, cooperating teachers experienced each of these characteristics to varying extents resulting in different supervisory experiences. The different configurations of membership allowed cooperating teachers to contribute towards school placement collaboration.     

Global citizenship education in context: teacher perceptions at an international school and a local Israeli school

We apply semi-structured interviews to conceptualise perceptions of global citizenship among teachers at an international school and teachers at a local public school in Israel, revealing discrepancies between theory and practice in global citizenship education (GCE). We find that teachers perceive global citizenship differently along three major axes: boundaries of global citizenship, practical aspects of GCE, and through the effect of Israel’s context. This study offers a comparative perspective that discerns the differing impacts of school context and student background on teacher perceptions at different kinds of schools and highlights the importance of teacher agency in GCE.     

School experiences and teacher socialization: A longitudinal study of pupils who grew up to be teachers

In this paper it is argued that experiences as a pupil are of importance for socialization into the teaching profession. Schooling experiences of pupils that turned to the teaching professions are compared with their school fellows who turned to other careers. Our data are based on a longitudinal study carried out in a Swedish medium-sized community where pupils were followed from the school start (at age 7) into adulthood (to age 23). Out of 671 pupils 34 later turned to teacher careers. During primary school the group of pupils who later became teachers were more well-adjusted and stimulated students compared to the other pupils. And as adults they have specific perspectives of schooling close to those predominant in middle-class positions and distant from those frequent in working-class positions, according to our data. Based on these findings it is argued that teachers and student teachers have to reflect upon and to analyze their own school experiences in order to understand differences in experiences and rationalities among their own students.     

Development and evaluation of a screening instrument for cooperating teachers

Abstract

In order to recruit, retain, and train quality cooperating teachers, a 35‐item instrument was devised to screen for attitudes toward systematic supervisory behavior, perceptions of factors that impact supervision, and beliefs about preferences for and styles of supervision. After pilot testing, the instrument was completed by 76 physical education cooperating teachers who supervised various field‐practicum students for a large southwestern university. Employing MANOVA followed by ANOVA, differences between groups of cooperating teachers were noted for one subscale: cooperating teachers who coached, taught at the high school level, or did not possess a postgraduate degree had less favorable attitudes toward systematic supervisory behavior. Gender and experience supervising did not differentiate subscale responses. Explanations for noted differences are presented as functions of teacher/coach role conflict, exposure to supervisory training, and the status of secondary physical education. Suggestions for refining the measurement instrument and using it to screen potential cooperating teachers are offered.     

Educational renewal in an alternative teacher education program: Evolution of a school-university partnership

Can the discontinuities inherent in school university partnerships become generative sources of educational change? The purpose of this study was to analyze how participants viewed an evolving collaboration and the ways in which discontinuities between school and university agendas were negotiated. Findings over the 3-year period from interview, questionnaire, and journal data indicate patterns of changing roles and relationships between and among university faculty, cooperating teachers, and student interns. The findings indicate that as participants negotiated a common agenda for teaching and curricular improvement, a spiralling process of educational renewal in schools and university emerged.     

Emotions and the practicum: the cooperating teachers’ perspective

The paper reports some of the findings of a qualitative case study that examined the perceptions of the role of cooperating teachers as they supported pre‐service teacher colleagues. The study revealed a number of significant issues related to professional learning and teachers’ ‘ways of knowing’. One of the most significant results to emerge was the emotional dimension of the role of the cooperating teachers. Previous studies related to education per se have identified an ‘emotional dimension’ for the students and teachers, respectively. However, there has been limited research that identifies this important aspect of pre‐service teacher education programmes for the school‐based teacher educator. This paper explores issues related to the emotional intensity of the role through the ‘voices’ of the cooperating teachers as they describe the roller‐coaster ride of emotions that the practicum generates. Discussion will address the implications of such findings in light of the increasing demands of teachers’ work and the complexity of their workplace.     

Knocking on the door to the teaching profession? Modeling the entry of prospective teachers into the workforce

We use a unique longitudinal sample of student teachers (“interns”) from six Washington state teacher training institutions to investigate patterns of entry into the teaching workforce. We estimate split population models that simultaneously estimate the impact of individual characteristics and student teaching experiences on the timing and probability of initial hiring as a public school teacher. Not surprisingly, we find that interns endorsed to teach in “difficult-to-staff” areas are more likely to find employment as public school teachers than interns endorsed in other areas. Younger interns, white interns, and interns who completed their student teaching in suburban schools are also more likely to find a teaching job, all else equal. Prospective teachers who do their internships at schools that have more teacher turnover are more likely to find employment, often at those schools. On the other hand, few of the characteristics of an intern's cooperating teacher are predictive of workforce entry. Finally, interns with higher credential exam scores are more likely to be hired by the school where they did their student teaching.     

Financial Delegation: its effect on the school and the role of the head

At the end of a decade of enhanced marketisation in schools, this article considers the subjective meanings attached to educational marketing by school teachers and the ways they construct and interpret teachers' 'idealised' and 'actual' involvement and contribution to school marketing. Through semi-structured interviews with 12 secondary school teachers from the south of England, the study revealed teachers' perceptions of and attitudes towards competition, marketing and education, their awareness of the marketing activities of their schools, the teachers' role in marketing the school and the perceived impact of the market upon teachers' well being. The results show that there is no coherent, organised view of education marketing among teachers in the study but rather that there are a number of inchoate voices amongst teachers concerning their role in school marketing. Broadly, two voices are revealed that reflect a cognitive dissonance which may exist among school teachers in the era of marketisation. This dissonance may stem from teachers' ideology-based difficulty in perceiving marketing as part of school life, while at the same time, they are aware of its importance to the school's success.     

Teaching practices prior and subsequent to 1998 in Turkey: Gazi University Vocational Education Faculty case

This study aimed to compare teaching practice before and after 1998 in Turkey. Participants were 10 academics from the Department of Educational Sciences, Vocational Education Faculty, Gazi University and nine vocational high school cooperating teachers. Semi‐structured interviews were analysed by using content analysis. The most significant findings were that the preparation, practice, observation, counselling and evaluation processes were more efficient before 1998 due to the smaller number of preservice teachers. After 1998, the cooperating teachers were legally included in the process and took more responsibility. A new model which combines the positive aspects of both practices is suggested in the article.     

How student teaching in an urban setting affects teacher candidates' career motivations

This is a qualitative study to determine changes in the motivation of senior student teachers to teach (at the elementary, early childhood, and secondary levels) in an urban setting during the student teaching internship in an urban public school. Emerging themes include roles of classroom teachers, discouragement from tenured teachers, school bureaucracy, views of students, relationships with cooperating teachers, candidates' views about subject matter, and their views about themselves. The findings indicate that motivation to teach changed during student teaching. This cohorts' experiences strengthened their confidence and commitment to teach in culturally diverse urban public schools rather than discouraging them. This research supports a contextual approach to understanding motivation and challenges educators to reflect on several issues of preservice training as well as collaboration with teacher practitioners. With a knowledge of what attracts teachers to the occupation and an understanding of how that attraction is influenced by field experiences in urban schools, programs which prepare teachers may be better able to educate teachers who want to teach in urban schools and can perform successfully in that setting.     

小学教师对学生课堂问题行为的知觉

采用访谈法和问卷法,以来自27所学校的550名小学教师为被试,考察教师对学生课堂问题行为的知觉。结果表明:(1)小学教师知觉到的学生课堂问题行为主要包括10个类别,其中,教师认为发生最为普遍的行为依次是走神、随便说话、多动、不跟随任务和不参与合作。(2)农村教师知觉到的课堂问题行为与城市教师存在显著差异。(3)教师倾向于认为指向他人的问题行为更为严重。(4)教师对课堂问题行为严重性的知觉存在着性别刻板印象。     

Social Relationships and School Readiness

Definitions of school readiness tend to focus on social and academic competencies that children are presumed to need to start school ready to learn. However, a child-focused definition of school readiness is limited because it neither identifies processes that lead children to acquire these competencies, nor does it recognize children's dependence on opportunities within settings that support development of these competencies. The model of school readiness presented in this article broadly defines school readiness as a function of an organized system of interactions and transactions among people (children, teachers, parents, and other caregivers), settings (home, school, and child care), and institutions (communities, neighborhoods, and governments). We propose that the primary mechanisms through which children acquire readiness-related competencies are social relationships children form with peers, parents, and teachers. This perspective on school readiness, emphasizing the mediating role of relational processes, offers guidance for designing interventions to improve school readiness through strengthening relationships between parents and children, parents and teachers, and teachers and children.     

Exploring a triad model of student teaching: Pre-service teacher and cooperating teacher perceptions

In the student teaching triad model adopted in this study, pairs of pre-service teachers worked collaboratively with cooperating teachers during a 12-week field experience. The main objectives of the study were to document the benefits and challenges for pre-service teachers and cooperating teachers who participate in a triad model and to describe the co-teaching models that would emerge during this experience. Pre-service teachers and their cooperating teachers reported several strengths of the triad model in the following areas—learning from each other, professional support, outcomes for K-12 students, comprehensive feedback about teaching and classroom practice, and pre-service teacher confidence. Limitations and concerns identified by both groups included dependency, confusion with classroom management issues, loss of individuality, and competition between the pre-service teachers.     

构建师生合作的中学英语教学系统

中学英语教学并非是单纯老师讲授、学生听讲的单线式灌输,而是由教师和学生共同组成的动态合作式学习系统。在此系统中,教师应该以学生为中心,扮演组织者和协助者的角色,辅助学生学习,实行各种合作学习的教学形式,在知识互动的同时也要积极促进自身和学生两方知识库的储备更新并对教学中的情感因素加以关注,做到真正的动态资源共享,从而使整个学习系统的效益达到最大化。     

Measuring Value Consensus Among Teachers in Respect of Special Educational Needs

Previous educational research has argued that consensus upon values and goals among teachers within a school is a necessary condition for the successful development of provision for pupils with special educational needs. This paper describes a study designed to investigate this assertion empirically. Questionnaires were administered to a crosssection of teachers in five English secondary schools which belonged to a consortium dedicated to the development of special educational needs provision. On each of four different dimensions, teachers were asked to rank five alternatives in order of importance. The strength of consensus in the sample as a whole, and within each school, was measured using Kendall's coefficient of concordance (W). A novel clustering technique was then applied, which succeeded in identifying groups of teachers who shared a stronger consensus than obtained in the whole sample or within each school. The findings suggest that other factors, such as the teacher's position in the school, amount of teaching experience, gender and type of subject taught, may be more important in the production of consensus than which school a teacher belongs to.     

Pre-service teachers in mathematics: Struggling with the Standards

The purpose of this paper is to describe a two-year investigation of pre-service teachers in mathematics. Of particular interest is the degree to which the NCTM (1989) Curriculum and evaluation standards for school mathematics, the NCTM (1991) Professional standards for teaching mathematics, and other reform agendas impact pre-service teachers' thinking and practices. The beliefs, perceptions, philosophies, and classroom actions of four cohorts of student teachers (n = 44) were examined throughout this 2year study. Of particular interest were the pressure student teachers felt to implement the Standards in their teaching, their perceptions of their own teaching with respect to the Standards, the content of their lessons, and the impact of cooperating teachers on the development of the student teachers. Data was collected through a variety of sources, organized and analyzed in the spirit of ethnographic work. Data was generated through classroom observations, pre- and post-lesson conferences, lesson plans, seminar sessions, survey questionnaires, and informal conversations. A minimum of four classroom observations were made for each participant. Analysis of the data revealed general agreement among the student teachers in their regard for the Standards. Although they appeared to affirm the goals, content and recommendations contained therein, they almost uniformly suggest that they lack the tools to implement the Standards appropriately in the classroom. The consistency in the types and content of lessons observed appeared to validate this concern. An overwhelming majority of the lessons observed bore little or no resemblance to the values so highly espoused by the student teachers. Student teachers perceived notable pressure from the education program to include the Standards in their teaching practices, while feeling little pressure from cooperating teachers. They also point to cooperating teachers as the most significant influence on their teaching.