Research has raised fundamental questions about the traditional supervisor-student-class teacher triad of student teaching and the influence of the social context in which it operates. Some alternative approaches to supervision are reviewed and problems of reconceptualizing the supervisor's role are examined. (Author/MT)

This article presents a conceptual framework that relates facts about the student teaching experience to what ought to be learned. Two cases of student teaching illustrate how the relative influence of program, setting, and participant interaction shape opportunities for learning. Suggestions for teacher educators are offered. (Author/MT)

Compared two models of student teaching (traditional versus peer teaching in which two student teachers worked with one cooperating teacher). Case study data indicated that while peer teaching involved some trade-offs, it had a positive impact on children and offered such advantages to student teachers as increased support, ongoing conversation…

Results of this study indicated that university supervisors encouraged their students to participate in post-observation conferences more than cooperating teachers did. Their feedback was evaluative, prompting students to think critically about their teaching. Cooperating teacher feedback focused on events and telling the student teacher how to…

Experienced and new cooperating teachers recorded meetings with their student teachers for two weeks. Protocols were analyzed for the nature of advice statements (teacher versus consultant advice). Although experienced cooperating teachers tended to provide more advice, percentages in the various categories were similar for both new and…

This study was designed to examine the effect of a cooperating teacher trained in supervision of preservice teachers as well as the effect of grade level assigned on the quality of the early field experience. Results are discussed. (MT)

This Australian study investigated student teachers' beliefs about teaching before and after their student teaching experiences. Survey results indicated that the orientations to teaching of most student teachers remained unchanged, through there were significant changes in the beliefs of some students. Supervising teachers' beliefs affected…

A naturalistic investigation was conducted to describe the relationships among participation structures, reading activities, student engagement, and subsequent student achievement in reading lessons taught by student teachers and experienced teachers. Results are presented. (Author/MT)

This qualitative interview study examined mentor and intern relationships in one state-mandated beginning teacher internship program. Interviews with mentors and interns indicated that they jointly constructed their relationships. The relationships were undergirded by mutual respect and trust. Interns needed mentors who mainly supported them as…

Examines the relations of power that shaped one elementary preservice teacher's pedagogical discourse and practice, using a poststructuralist, connectionist framework and data from classroom observations of the student teacher and her cooperating teacher to describe multiple social and discursive relations that interconnected to produce what…

Discusses two student teachers' contrasting stories about their attempts to access experienced teachers' wisdom (via interviews), highlighting the shifting power relations between students and their cooperating teachers. Their stories illustrate how student teachers can be powerful yet powerless and suggest that student teachers can develop a…

This study focused on four novice teachers' failures. Though only one actually failed student teaching, each considered herself a failure, and all four chose alternate careers. The paper examines difficulties they encountered and identifies alternative patterns of supervision that might have allowed them to do more than survive their initial…

A study of five mentors in a K-5 professional development school investigated how mentors talk about their theories of how novices learn to teach, use different sources of knowledge to help novices learn to teach, and model and encourage critical reflection about critical issues in teacher education. (IAH)

Describes a two-year study of preservice mathematics teachers, that investigated how National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards and other reform agendas impacted their thinking and practice. Findings indicated that the preservice teachers affirmed the standards' goals, content, and recommendations, though they felt they lacked…

Interviews with British student teachers examined the nature of support they received in school when making the transition from student to teacher. The success of the transition depended on experiencing various relational conditions, which were largely determined by others, but which served as a crucial context for individual development. (SM)