As part of the reform of teacher education, field placements for student teachers have been expanded and new forms such as paired field placements implemented into standard programmes. For many years, the single field placement has been the standard model for student teachers, but various forms of paired internships have been introduced. However, little is known about the processes of cooperative learning during field placements and how student teachers benefit from different forms of field placement, such as single versus paired field placements.This qualitative study aims at a deeper understanding of student teachers’ learning in single and paired field placements from student teachers’ perspective. Theoretically, our study is based on the offer-and-use model in field experiences combined with the autonomy-parity pattern. Student teachers (N = 20) from the University of Teacher Education in Bern, Switzerland, were interviewed in depth about their learning gains after completing four paired field placements and one single field placement. Results showed that although student teachers appreciate the work and exchange with a peer, the majority of student teachers prefer single field placements. The desire for autonomy and the ability to work flexibly in single field placements seemed to outweigh the advantages of paired field placements. The majority of students considered single field placements to be closer to reality. The results encourage future discussion and research about student teachers’ attitudes towards field placements and the teaching profession.
Paired field placement is an important element of teacher education where student teachers can acquire professional cooperative skills through team teaching. However, little is known about challenges that student teachers face during team teaching. Also, knowledge about challenges during the team teaching process (e.g. planning, instruction, reflection) is scarce. This study focuses on pre-primary and primary student teachers’ challenges with peer cooperation during team teaching, the problems they face and how they cope with negative experiences. Data was collected from 30 student teachers through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Results reveal various forms of conflict during different phases of peer cooperation in team teaching such as lack of flexibility due to pressure to follow agreements, or unclear roles and responsibilities. Instruction turns out to be the most challenging phase of team teaching, with lack of compatibility with the peer as the most frequent reason for problems. Reflection is rarely used as a cooperative setting. The findings also revealed the frequent use of reactive strategies to cope with challenges, particularly the strategy of avoiding problems.
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