Source: Teaching Education, Volume 27, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 57-71
This article examines how a clinical experience in an alternative educational setting impacted both pre-service secondary teachers and the students with whom they worked.
The participants were pre-service secondary teachers completing a clinical experience at a local agency that served a population of students for whom traditional school settings were not effective, as well as students at the agency.
Findings indicate that for the pre-service teachers, the experience allowed them to develop a deeper understanding of learner diversity and the importance of connecting to students. For the agency students, the interactions with the pre-service teachers provided them with additional academic support, as well as resources for post-secondary education. The agency students also recognized that they had the power to show pre-service teachers how to work effectively with students for whom traditional school settings are a challenge.