Early field experiences (EFEs) are common in teacher education; yet, there is conflicting evidence regarding their value as educative experiences. As the need for preparing prospective teachers for diversity becomes more urgent, research that attends to the context, content, and experiences of preservice teachers in EFEs in diverse schools is necessary. In this study, qualitative case study methodology was used to understand the experiences of preservice teachers, and the meanings they constructed of these experiences, in a reconceptualized EFE in teacher education. The EFE consisted of a team-taught, integrated combination of a general methods course (with a classroom, school, and community-focused field experience), and a foundations of education course, situated in the context of an urban middle/elementary school with a diverse student population. The sample consisted of four preservice teachers: a Mexican-American woman, an American Indian man, and two White women. Data were collected over a period of five months using participant observation, document analysis, interviews, and focus groups. Constant comparison and analytic induction were used to analyze data. Cases of the experiences of the participants revealed three major themes: (a) participation in varied communities; (b) use of multiple literacies to make sense of experience; and, (c) transformations in practices, understandings, and voice. Implications for teacher education from these cases address curriculum and pedagogy in EFEs, experiences that follow EFEs, admissions criteria, and recruitment of members of under-represented groups into teaching.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/288890 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Burant, Theresa Jean, 1958- |
| Contributors | Doyle, Walter |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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