This qualitative study takes place at a regional public university and partner public K-12 school district in the Southwestern United States. The study asked the research question: How have field experiences, in senior block courses, influenced/shaped students' perceptions in the semester before student teaching? Reflective data was collected from…

In spring 2019, senior methods teacher candidates at Southeastern Louisiana University designed and implemented social emotional learning (SEL) assignments in grades 1-8. This study investigated the usefulness of assignments and impact on classroom environment. Research shows integrating SEL into school curricula reduces disruptive behavior and…

This qualitative study was designed as a single-case study of a small, public, teacher education program in the Midwest. The author conducted a study on the perceived role of a "critical friends group" (CFG) in the development of beginning secondary teacher candidates' understandings and practices of reflective practice. Three main types…

There has been a call for social work programs to better prepare students for field education. This qualitative study examined an innovation titled Practice Fridays developed to enhance competence in MSW students in a classroom setting. Students (N=57) described what they learned through this simulation-based learning activity and the processes…

This article reports findings from a discourse analysis, informed by a discursive psychology (DP) perspective, of pre-service teachers' beliefs about teacher effectiveness as constructed in reflective papers. DP treats beliefs as discursive productions that are occasioned by an interactional task and are made visible through discursive features.…

This paper discusses and examines the effectiveness of course assignments designed to promote reflection processes and critical thinking of pre-service teachers. Specifically, the study explores and identifies the range of students' level of reflectivity and critical examination of their own developing pedagogy, with foci on content knowledge,…

Social work field instructors are responsible for the gatekeeping function of evaluating student performance and determining practice readiness. Yet little empirical literature elucidates how field instructors of graduating BSW students judge competence, suitability, or readiness for practice. This qualitative study reports findings from 6 focus…