Teacher educators worry about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted what and how teacher candidates are able to learn in P-12 field experiences; yet it is possible to view this period as one of opportunity rather than limitation. This commentary argues for a conception of field experience as practice rather than context. When applied across…

The middle-grades program at a state university recently underwent a program redesign in an effort to ensure that teacher candidates are well prepared to teach in today's contemporary middle schools while maintaining the principles and standards established by the Association of Middle Level Educators. The purpose of this article is to explain the…

Background/Context: The article examines how international field experiences promote cross-cultural awareness in U.S. American preservice teachers through experiential learning. The findings presented here are based on a 6-year study of a short-term study abroad program in Honduras that included an international field experience component and took…

This article examines a variety of work currently going on across the country in newly created hybrid spaces to more closely connect campus courses and field experiences in university-based preservice teacher education. It is argued that the old paradigm of university-based teacher education where academic knowledge is viewed as the authoritative…

When an instructor reframed the social studies methods course to include a service-learning project, both education certification students and a museum's outreach program benefited. University students gained practical teaching experience leading a children's summer class about local prairie dogs, and the museum gained quality teachers.…

This study investigated the journey of four Thai pre-service chemistry teachers as they sought to develop their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) throughout a PCK-based chemistry methods course and field experience. In an interpretive case study approach we drew upon classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, chemistry content knowledge…

Although in the long run, neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed. This article sketches what teacher education in the US can do to advance equity and democracy in five areas: recruitment and admission, early fieldwork,…

An experiment was conducted to test the feasibility of offering education courses concomitantly with directed observations and student teaching experiences in a public school setting. The conclusion is that this course of action is likely to result in a more relevant and productive teacher education program. (Author/KC)

Field experience for prospective teachers contributes to both image-building and learning to teach. Negative and positive outcomes are discussed, as well as issues related to designing educational field experiences. (IAH)

Educational and practical experience are both essential to teacher education, and prospective teachers require a carefully planned curriculum integrating realistic practice in all the activities of teaching with theory and research in pedagogy. (Author/MSE)

Results of a study of 204 elementary education majors who had taken a junior year clinical experience (either a four week half-day or a three week full-day format) suggest that a full-day clinical experience is preferred by students. Students expressed concern for more organization and coordination of learning experiences. (IAH)

A detailed description is given of the Early Childhood Teacher Education Program at Idaho State University. This program consists of five phases: (1) early field experience; (2) observing and participating in a diversity of early childhood programs as teacher-initiates and teacher-assistants; (3) examining and reflecting upon their teaching and…

Two recent trends in teacher education are designed to improve the practical skills of the teacher. One is the internship, the other is the provision of college level activities (such as microteaching) that require competency in particular classroom skills. Both provide valuable and necessary experiences; however, these experiences count for…

This paper discusses the need for and importance of field-based experiences in the training of prospective second language teachers prior to student teaching. Several types of field-based experiences are described: (1) experiences actually based on schools, including observation and participation; (2) teaching experiences based on the college or…