Partnership Synergy Gains Momentum in a Research-Supported Structured Field Experiences of Teacher Candidates
This university and school partnership practice emerged from the UTS K-12 School Turnaround Partnership Project. The College of Education and P-16 Integration’s secondary teacher education program launched a research-supported clinical experiences at Juarez Lincoln High School in spring 2019. Preparing teacher candidates through a research-supported, structured field experiences, placements in K-12 classrooms remains a vital and highly valued component of developing professional practice. Research in teacher education illuminates the effectiveness and significance of practice-based models delivered through high quality field experiences as a key element in teacher preparation (Zeichner and Bier, 2015).
“The overarching goal of the project was simple--Juarez Lincoln High School teachers and university teacher candidates partnered as teaching teams for the purpose of serving JLHS students. We preceded with care as we recognized the enormous pressure challenging leaders, teachers and especially students in the school. We wanted to support the academic needs of the students,” Dr. Criselda Garcia, Associate Dean for Initial Preparation Program and Academic Affairs noted. Leaders across the university and school envisioned a mutually beneficial endeavor for developing new teachers in authentic classroom settings through the strategic placement of teacher candidates in content-area classrooms during the spring semester for a period of seven weeks. Here, teacher candidates were paired with some of the best and most experienced cooperating teachers of the school. The research-based structured field experiences project was slated to meet multipurpose university and school goals. Sixteen teacher candidates and university liaisons, including an assistant professor, received a brief orientation including a profile of the school along with student demographic information prior to beginning placements.
The high needs school context was complicated as teacher candidates had limited experiences in working in this environment. Field experiences in high-needs schools pose special challenges but tremendous learning opportunities that should be embraced in the process of developing new teachers for the realities and complexity of the profession. These complicated school contexts operate under a myriad of pressures and constraints with high demands on instructional time and singular foci on test-based curricula.
Juarez Lincoln High School (JLHS) content-area teachers opened their classrooms to the university teacher candidates with the purpose of increasing instructional assistance for JLHS students as they prepare for STAAR end-of-course exams and benchmarks while meeting the learning objectives of the EDUC 3303 Evidence-Based Learning Environments and EDUC 3304 Instruction and Assessment courses and key assessments in the teacher education program. Navigating these rough terrains proved difficult, but a necessary initial step for continuing the new way to partner.
While school leaders welcomed teacher candidates with great enthusiasm, a nervous fervor vibrated amongst the future teachers. With looming benchmarks, state assessments filling the calendar, the spring semester is fast-paced and overwhelming for school leaders and teachers.
Preparing the teacher candidates to work with students involved supplying an orientation in TELPAS training and focus on use of technologies to support instruction and assessment in the classes. On the first day of orientation, school leaders and master teachers greeted the teacher candidates and dived into a training on the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) to assess the English language progress of English learners. With test administration around the corner, school leaders wanted to provide teacher candidates this professional development so they would be able to assist cooperating teachers in the classrooms.
The process was difficult. Although teacher candidates had a constant source of support through a faculty liaison, a university assistant professor who was present each day of the field experiences at Juarez-Lincoln High School, they often felt “lost” in the experience. A number of them experienced conflicting messages from the school and university educational leaders. Several struggled with not having enough time with students in the classrooms or ongoing change of placements, and conflicting instructional practices promoted in university classrooms versus preferred teaching models in the “real” classrooms. Research shows that there is common disjuncture between university and school teaching practices (Anagnostopoulos, Smith & Basmadjian, 2007). Typically, universities promote constructivist teaching and learning practices while K-12 classrooms may apply more transmissive instructional practices (2007). These moments of discord offer tremendous windows of opportunity for the college of education faculty in expanding research to improve and strengthen pre-service education at the university, and especially so in a context where teacher candidates struggled to meet the learning goals of the university courses and key assessments amidst fulfilling the needs of the school.
The faculty liaison, in turn, used the window as a prospect for developing professional dispositional resilience. “The unfinished and open-ended realities that teacher candidates encountered in the field, while several logistical details pertaining to the experience were being negotiated and resolved, held valuable opportunity for learning and growth. Here, in situ experiences of chaos and complexity could be utilized to problem solve, further explore, and develop alternative avenues for action. In effect, this was a way of encouraging teacher candidates to strategize solutions relative to whatever professional and relational resources they had at their disposal – a hands-on way for teacher candidates to further develop the kind of dispositional resilience they will require once they enter the classroom as certified teachers”, reflects Dr. Pauli Badenhorst regarding a key innovation that will be elaborated on further at the end of this write-up.
According to Ledoux and McHenry (2008), common partnership pitfalls include lack of communicated expectations, mismatch of curriculum and failure to strongly connect the experiential learning to classroom preparation, theory and reflection. For university faculty, if the goal is to expand research to better prepare teacher candidates, appropriate dispositional orientation must precede all else. Engaging in conversations of teacher dispositions especially those toward teaching in high needs schools needs to be a focus of the teacher education program (2008). Additionally, valuable is establishing clear communication prior to placements and as ongoing between university and school partners.
In retrospect, the university and school partnership endeavor hold tremendous promise but more planning before its next implementation. An important consideration is the selection of cooperating teacher for teacher candidates prior to beginning placements so there’s an opportunity to build relationship, discuss teaching styles, students, and curriculum specific for the duration of the field experiences. To maximize these as learning experiences for all, universities and schools must co-construct expectations and instructional goals. Through careful reflection of these experiences for both cooperating teachers and teacher candidates, there is a need to develop specific expectations and roles. Another consideration is to expect the unexpected. Partnerships may result in unintended, sometimes negative consequences but capitalize on these.
Using the data received from the pilot project and reflecting on the experiences of all role-players will inform decisions for the next cohort of teacher candidates to join JLHS teachers in classrooms in the fall 2019. Equally important is mutually establishing metrics to irradiate success in the schools. University-school partnerships take time and intense pre-planning in order to reach intended outcomes for both parties. Investment in time and planning will ensue to strengthen this partnership practice so that these collaborative efforts produce mutual gains and positive outcomes.
In late spring 2019, a co-construction and planning of professional development activities will ensue to strengthen instruction in culturally-sustaining pedagogies including literacy strategies with concentration on special populations of English learners and students with special needs. Based on student and campus data collected during the academic year, series of tailored-made teacher professional development activities will be delivered in the summer 2019.
References
Anagnostopoulos, D., Smith, E. R., & Basmadjian, K. G. (2007). Bridging the university-school divide: Horizontal expertise and the “two-worlds pitfall.” Journal of Teacher Education, 58, 138-152.
Ledoux, M. W. & McHenry, N. (2008). Pitfalls of school-university partnerships. The Clearing House, 81, 155-160.
Zeichner, K. & Bier, M. (2015). Opportunities and pitfalls in the turn toward clinical experience in U.S. teacher education. In Rethinking field experiences in preservice teacher preparation: Meeting new challenges for accountability, ed. E. R. Hollins, 20-46. New York, NY: Routledge.