This study investigated the experiences of preservice teachers within a program of teacher education and considered the interaction of the spaces and discourses therein during a semester of student teaching. The study built on previous research in the field of teacher education by examining multiple contexts, actors, documents, and tools that mediated the learning of student teachers. The investigation specifically addressed questions related to the outcomes of teacher education and the assessment of those outcomes, examining the ways in which they were enacted during various events related to student teaching and what the potential implications were for student teachers.
Data collection occurred throughout the semester under consideration and included observation of program meetings, classroom instruction, and team conferences. Other data sets included interviews with student teachers and artifacts related to the program and the student teachers practices. Two student teacher case studies were identified based on their desire to work in high-need school settings. Using qualitative methods of data analysis, findings were derived and organized according to three areas related to the contradictions and tensions that arose. Specifically, findings related to the lack of systematic focus on P-12 student learning during the student teaching semester, the manner in which the divide between the university and school contexts was exacerbated by aspects of the curriculum, and the crisis regarding the assessment of preservice teachers that indicated a disconnect between the practice of assessing and the actual learning of student teachers.
The study leads to new insights about teacher preparation and student teaching in particular. Given the findings within these three areas, recommendations are made for reconceptualizing the culminating experience of traditional programs of teacher education in order to create a more productively hybrid space that focuses on the learning of P-12 students in classrooms and uses systematic assessment to drive instruction during the experience as a model for preservice teachers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03262009-161249 |
| Date | 30 March 2009 |
| Creators | Furman, Jim Samuel |
| Contributors | Victoria J. Risko, H. Richard Milner, Robert T. Jimenez, Donna Y. Ford |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu//available/etd-03262009-161249/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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