Early Field Experience in Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Methods Courses

"Lived-In": Embedding Teacher Education in Middle & Secondary Classrooms

“…c. Consistently reflecting on the quality of instruction, with their peers, cooperating teacher, and university methods professor, provided to middle/high school students, and adjusting their instruction and interactions where and when necessary to meet the needs of students. Knowing that subject specific methods courses are at the core of advancing essential pedagogical content knowledge [9][10][11][12], we believe that a lived-in model to methods courses help pre-service teachers experience supportive, relevant, authentic, and rewarding field experience in real classrooms working with academically vulnerable youth. Methods courses often come before pre-service teachers progress into full-time student teaching, and lay an important foundation of pedagogical content knowledge [13].…”

“…It is essential for pre-service candidates enrolled in methods courses to engage in supportive, relevant, authentic, and rewarding field experience in real classrooms [9][10][11][12]. Subject specific field experiences attached to and/or embedded in methods courses can play a significant role in laying an important foundation of pedagogical content knowledge before students move into full-time student teaching [13].…”

“…As a result, university method teachings are "washed clean" or discredited by pre-service teachers as they advanced in their program. In order to avoid this washout and to better connect theory and best-practice, it was essential the methods professor spend significant time on-site delivering instruction, have a direct, supportive, and trusting relationship with the cooperating teacher, and that methods students and faculty be embedded for sustained periods of time in the Pk-12 classroom [5,9,10]. For all of these reasons, a lived-in model for teacher preparation was implemented in the spring of 2012 in Maguth's social studies methods courses, and Daviso soon followed with his implementation in the fall of 2016 in his special education methods course.…”

“…Evolving out of the notion that subject-specific methods courses and their adjoining field placements, which usually come before student teaching, could do more to get students in supportive, sustained, and mutually beneficial field placements, we worked to locate models of teacher preparation that promoted strong collaboration and partnerships between schools and university teacher preparation programs. In addition, these placements would provide a rigorous, relevant, and differentiated curriculum to Pk-12 students [9,10]. It was essential for this model to allow university methods professors to deliver semester long on-site instruction and coaching to methods students, and to facilitate clear communication and interaction with cooperating teachers.…”

A “Lived-In Model” to Teacher Education: The Impact of Embedding Pre-Service Teacher Education on Secondary Student Learning

“…week practicum experience, could do more to get methods students in supportive, sustained, and mutually beneficial field placements (Kenyon, 2013;Passe 1994), and in turn could afford a rigorous, relevant, and differentiated curriculum to PK-12 students, Brad Maguth (Author 1) worked to locate models of teacher preparation that promoted strong collaboration and partnerships between schools and university teacher preparation programs. It was essential for this model to allow university methods professors to deliver on-site instruction and coaching to methods students, and to facilitate clear communication and interaction with cooperating teachers.…”