The traditional model of teacher preparation, which focuses on content and methods courses in a college or university, can create a gap between university faculty and school practitioners. This article describes a series of clinical practice workshops as a viable means to bridge the gap between a university and its partner middle schools in the…

The author shares the challenges faced in her social studies methods class due to the constraints of NCLB. By incorporating the jackdaw kit project within her social studies methods course, her candidates were able to connect what they were talking about in methods and apply it to their students teaching situations where there was little time for…

Coteaching as a form of situated learning supports early induction into science teaching. A coteaching model for secondary science methods students and what has been learned from this model is described. Secondary science methods students in pairs were placed with a science teacher to begin teaching as peripheral participants. A cooperative…

A description is given of the design, implementation, and outcomes of a combination methods course and field experience for preservice reading teachers. The program involved cooperating teachers in a collaborative manner assisting elementary children with reading problems, and increased both cooperating and student teachers' knowledge of reading…

A secondary science teacher education program at University of Iowa is outlined. The three required methods courses and the student teaching component are described, as well as supervision of preservice teachers by cooperating teachers and university faculty. (IAH)

Research on teacher learning consistently documents the disjuncture between the practices beginning teachers encounter in university teacher preparation courses and those they reencounter in the K-12 classrooms in which they learn to teach. As preservice teachers enter teaching, they gravitate toward conventional K-12 practices, dismissing those…

Key features of an intensive one-semester clinical program for preservice teachers are: (1) concurrent methods courses and fieldwork (student teaching); (2) dual roles (instructor and fieldwork supervisor) for core faculty; (3) teaming of core faculty; (4) peer group support--because students are placed in clusters of 3-10 at a school. (IAH)

Teacher education students placed in clinical settings for methods coursework need adequate guidance in order to make the most of their experiences. Guidance in terms of teaching, reflections, clinical settings, and other related activities offers these candidates a realistic view of teacher, teaching, and learning. Oftentimes, the clinical…

The development of a field-based teacher education program is described. Following a brief outline of the current status of the program and obligations to be met by the prospective teachers involved, the problems faced by the program implementors are discussed. The major problems were originally organizational and administrative. In the course of…

TAPE, Theory and Practicum--Elementary, was founded on the assumption that the integration of theory and practice is vital to a preservice education program. This is a 24-semester-hour, field-based, preservice teacher training option of the Elementary Education program at Texas Tech University. Integrated with a student teaching component, it…

The collaborative innovation described in this paper, the use of cooperating teachers in instructing methods courses, is an integral part of a thorough revision of the student teaching program in secondary social studies at the University of Alberta. This innovation was the response to multiple problems with the student teaching program.…

In this paper, Luther College and the Decorah (Iowa) Public Schools suggest that a clinical model for field experience offers a better approach to the problem of teacher empowerment. The model, which shifts instructional methods and student teaching to a public school that consciously identifies itself as a teacher training institution, enhances…

This handbook offers guidelines for the university supervisor, methods instructor, and cooperating teacher in providing a productive clinical experience for elementary school education majors at Lewis University (Illinois). Procedures and responsibilities of each of the triad's members are outlined. General guidelines are presented on elements…

This handbook offers guidelines for the university supervisor, methods instructor, and cooperating teacher in providing a productive clinical experience for secondary school education majors at Lewis University (Illinois). General guidelines are presented on elements that pertain to all clinical experiences, such as classroom observation; planning…

A rationale is presented for including a prestudent teaching field experience component for future teachers of elementary school mathematics. Problems are discussed and arguments in the program's favor are given. Indiana University's Mathematics Methods Program is described. (PP)