The Cooperating Teacher I's: Effective Mid-Lesson Responses to Student Teachers' Critical Teaching Incidents

Abstract

When student teachers experience difficulty during lesson implementation, seasoned cooperating teachers choose among 6 alternative strategies by which to assist. Collectively called cooperating teacher I'S, the strategies are as follows: ignore, intervene, interject, interact, interrupt, and intercept. Appropriate use of these strategies can be taught directly or made more explicit to cooperating teachers as a means to facilitate quick resolution of problems; maintenance of student teacher confidence, self-esteem, and classroom authority; cooperating teacher confidence in the mentor role; and active or passive choices as they may be appropriate to specific circumstances. Included is a brief summary of research about cooperating teachers and their feedback practices, a description of behaviors that generally prove to be ineffective in response to these situations, detailed descriptions of the 6 cooperating teacher 1's that appear to be effective, and a discussion of general observations and implications.Consider for a moment this common scenario: The student teacher is delivering a lesson carefully developed in collaboration with her cooperating teacher (CT).' The CT believes that extensive counsel provided during lesson development will ensure the student teacher's success, and current student teacher behaviors suggest confidence about an ability to implement the lesson exactly as it was planned. Then, suddenly, things begin to go awry. An unexpected student question, an incorrect statement by the student teacher, a misstep in the lesson sequence, escalating student confusion, malfunctioning equipment, disruptive student behaviors, or any number of unanticipated incidents befall, and the lesson begins to disintegrate at alarming speed. Within seconds, the CT faces a critical decision point: Is intervention appropriate at this time? If so, what form should that intervention take?In teaching, occurrences of this type are called critical incidents (Tripp, 1993) for good reason: If ignored or poorly handled by the student or CT, actual lesson outcomes nearly always veer away significantly from expected outcomes-sometimes with dangerous consequences. Additionally, student teachers may lose face in front of the very individuals they work so diligently to impress. The ideal, of course, is to avoid critical incidents of this type at all cost; the reality is that student teachers face such incidents many times during their culminating field experience. It is na'ive to expect otherwise because, developmentally speaking, learning to teach is akin to learning any other skill: It takes practice; there 62 DONNA M. POST are challenges to overcome; and mistakes are part of the learning process. Rather than expect student teachers to avoid critical teaching incidents, logic directs C T s and university supervisors toward research findings that explain how best to proceed when such incidents occur. Yet, little is written about typical CT behaviors during student teachers' critical incidents, how effectively CT behaviors resolve th...

Reflections from the room where it happens: examining mentoring in the moment

“…While important to the development of mentors and the growth of student teachers, these practices do not reveal what educative mentors do to provide intentional learning experiences for their student teachers "inside the action" of teaching, when students are present (Schwille, 2008, p. 155). Moreover, examples of mentoring that happen "inside" teaching often highlight instances of mentor teachers taking action during a novice teacher's classroom instruction, such as providing "subtle interventions" or "quick interjections" (Gardiner, 2017, p. 65;Post, 2007), often to guide, or redirect, the students ( Jaspers et al, 2018). Such examples provide valuable insights into mentoring that happens between mentor and novice teachers, yet fall short of considering how educative mentoring extends into mentoring inside the action that occurs in the room where it happens.…”

“…Specifically, Travis appeared to enact characteristics of educative mentoring different from how we considered mentoring "inside" teaching. Rather than provide "subtle interventions" or "quick interjections" (Gardiner, 2017, p. 65;Post, 2007), Travis described intentionally making visible his thoughts and decision-making processes during lessons he taught and co-taught with Erick. To better understand these educative mentoring moves made in the moment of teaching, we invited Travis and Erick to participate in a research study that would probe these educative mentoring exchanges taking place in the unique context of their shared classroom.…”

Perceptions of Cooperating Teachers Concerning the Student Teaching Field Experience

“…According to Post (2007), the task to help cooperating teachers mentor more effectively falls on the shoulders of the university supervisors. Here again, cooperating teachers' needs may vary according to their prior preparation and experience.…”

“…-Nemser (2001) observed that supervisors need to work closely with cooperating teachers and student teachers, and when they do not, there is no sharing of expertise. Horton and Harvey (1979), Post (2007), and Smith (2007) also believe that university supervisors can assist cooperating teachers in the various approaches to planning and teaching. However, it is vital to acknowledge the importance of the university supervisor in this complex triad.…”

Mentor teachers in primary education: The delicate balance between their mentor and teacher roles

“…The second challenge was deciding whether to intervene during STs' lessons. This last challenge has been described to some extent by Post (2007). She described six effective mid-lesson interventions of MTs, namely ignore, intervene, interject, interact, interrupt and intercept.…”