Section archive - Programs & Practicum

In this study, the authors sought to understand (a) how their six preservice teachers, who paired together in a pre-student teaching placement, experience and perceive the value of collaboration with a peer and cooperating teacher and (b) what facilitates or inhibits collaboration. Results from two successful and one less than successful placement indicate that mutuality, scaffolding, and the appropriation of skills and resources facilitate productive collaboration and promote professional learning. Recommendations are provided to guide the implementation or refinement of partner placements.

The purpose of this article is to describe a university-community collaborative initiative that provided an interdisciplinary approach to personnel preparation. Twelve students from various academic disciplines participated in early intervention coursework and practical experiences. Specifically, students were prepared to provide early intervention to infants/toddlers who were premature/medically fragile and their families. Outcome measures indicated increased knowledge and acquisition of skills related to early intervention, and intervention specific to the high-risk population. Employment outcomes and increased opportunities for professional collaboration are also described. Implications are discussed.

Pre-service teacher education in England has been essentially school-based since 1992. The current paper offers a critique of this design from the perspective of a practitioner and researcher working in one of its most influential schemes. The fundamental problem described concerns an impoverished understanding of experience that underpins how beginning teachers are intended to learn in schools. The paper suggests that the ontological and epistemological dimensions of experience need to be brought into a dialogue if the potential of experiential learning for pre-service teachers is to be realised.

This article addresses training for teaching English as an Additional Language (EAL) at initial teacher education (ITE) level in Northern Ireland. 15 primary and post-primary teachers participated in this small-scale qualitative study. The study investigates reflections on EAL content in ITE programmes, and the type of difficulties faced when teaching pupils whose first language is not English.