In Sweden, although all teacher education programs require the completion of the practicum, little focus has been placed on consistent evaluation of how content knowledge is included and built during practicum lessons, or how lesson planning and teaching are aligned. This article presents a novel method for teacher educators, mentors, and student…

There is a heightened focus within teacher education to centralize clinical experiences and develop strong partnerships between schools and universities. University field supervisors fulfill a critical role within clinical experiences because they are uniquely situated in spaces where they can help preservice teachers and school-based partners…

This study explores the use of critical conversations in a field-based practicum setting to develop dispositions toward, and understandings of, equitable teaching practices. To date, few studies have examined how mentors and mentees use shared reflection to examine issues of equity alongside learning how to teach. Using self-study methods and…

The authors, a team of literacy teacher educators who are focused on extending our own understandings of preservice teacher (PST) learning, conducted a cross-case analysis of how PSTs learned to teach literacy in three concurrent practicum experiences. We draw on Grossman's framework of representations, decompositions, and approximations to…

This qualitative case study investigated the changes in mental models of a group of White, rural and suburban, teacher candidates in a rural midwestern college and their increased capacity to understand race and culture after their short-term practicum experience in Guatemala City. The study used individual written reflections, whole-group…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to propose a framework for the types of practices and ideologies that the most successful clinical-based, early childhood teacher education programs use to prepare their preservice teachers for the profession. Grounded theory methods guided the collection and analysis of data. Participants included…

Research on the student teaching practicum indicates that it is a time of enormous stress. The purpose of this study was to gather information from student teachers regarding their perceptions of stress while in the midst of their practicum. The questions were designed to gather information that could be used to create a less stressful practicum.…

This study investigated characteristics and attributes of the student teaching experience to better understand what makes a quality student teaching experience. This article reflects a holistic approach by addressing the overall context of a quality student teaching experience that includes the environment, characteristics of successful…

International experiences offer new settings for revisiting, revising, and reconstructing currently held images of the child. Specifically, international practicum experiences can provide preservice teachers with opportunities to reflect on their views about children by positioning themselves as "the other." The purpose of this…

The high teacher attrition and early-career exodus of beginning teachers suggest that traditional methods fall short of providing the support needed by beginning teachers. This qualitative study examined the challenges encountered by student teachers during their practicum experience. Findings suggest that the attrition rate may be at least…

This article chronicles the perspectives of two teacher candidates who displayed comfort with cultural issues and teaching for social justice, in contrast with many of their peers in the program who were uncomfortable with diversity. Their field experiences in a piloted urban reading practicum are documented, as part of a partnership with a…

Designed to promote equitable and fair student teacher practicum supervision and evaluation, contextual supervision (CS) can be used by both college and school-based supervisors. This approach is supported by current reforms in teacher education, contemporary supervisory models, and validation in actual practice. (IAH)

This article describes an effort to employ cooperative team learning (CTL), specifically the Jigsaw technique, as a vehicle for helping prospective middle school teachers enrolled in a social studies methods course translate theory into practice. Recommendations are made for broader implementation of CTL in middle school teacher education…

Examined the value of an instructional talk analysis tool (ITAT) in developing teachers' awareness of their instructional talk. Fifteen students from a reading practicum course participated in either ITAT plus debriefing, ITAT only, or alternative tool only. Discourse analyses and written reflections indicated that ITAT plus debriefing teachers…

In addition to describing aspects of a collaborative project with local schools operated by Purdue University, this article outlines three models of collaboration between schools and universities. The Purdue Project is designed to help social studies teachers enhance the thinking processes of their pupils. (IAH)