Experience may influence beliefs and beliefs may influence practices. Following these premises, we investigated teacher candidates' post experience reflections nine months after an international practicum where they taught for three weeks in rural Kenya. Teacher candidates were placed in non-governmental organization (NGO) sponsored schools on the…

Prospective teachers in their third year of a Bachelor of Education degree in secondary teacher education use a journal to respond to a range of questions about their experiences as learners prior to, during and after their first practicum. These stories are used as a source of data to analyze how 14 prospective secondary teachers understand the…

The reflective practices of four student teachers in a Canadian suburb were studied as they undertook an extended practicum. The experiences of one of these students illustrate an alternative way of thinking about the nature of knowledge construction. Central to this alternative is the difference between an incidental and a thematic rendering of…

A proposed model for preservice teacher practicums, the Reflective and Critical Internship Program, is designed to encourage students to voice their concerns and produce their own solutions to classroom issues, particularly in relation to classroom management. Within this model, the problem-solving process is both individual and collective.…

This guide provides teacher educators and staff developers with strategies to enhance the reflective thinking abilities of preservice and inservice educators. Strategies for reflective thinking are approached at three levels: technical, contextual, and dialectical. Within each level, strategies have been field tested with populations of preservice…

The guiding of novices by experienced teachers is a principal component of the practicum in university-based teacher education programs, alternative routes to teacher certification, and programs of teacher induction and professional development. Novices learn by watching an expert teach and by being in turn observed and then receiving feedback on…

A federally-funded 3-year project supported 39 principal certification students at Lehigh University to be trained in leading and managing building-based special education programs with an emphasis on inclusion of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Recruitment for the program was both regional and national. This final report…

This study investigated the practice teaching experiences of Bachelor of Education (Design and Technology) students at the University of Newcastle (Australia) to determine what they saw as successful and unsuccessful events. Eleven second-year students at the University of Newcastle were asked to write about one successful and one unsuccessful…

This paper highlights some emerging trends in rethinking the teacher education practicum in North America. The paper discusses several major obstacles to student teacher learning that persist even in many of the new inquiry-oriented practicums that focus on the development of reflective teaching practice. While teachers praise the value of the…

This paper describes a 1-year post-baccalaureate program for preservice teachers at Brock University (Ontario, Canada). The program emphasizes the relationship between course content and what students see and practice during student teaching. There is strong collaboration among faculty, faculty associates, and students. All participants have an…

Evaluated the effectiveness of instructional information management system (IIMS) technologies within teacher education practicums in facilitating technology-supported supervision, exploring how teacher-generated data, stored within IIMSs might be contemplated by student teachers and supervisors in promoting reflective practice. Results indicated…

This paper reports on a strategy for encouraging preservice teachers to use reflective techniques when developing lesson plans. A focus on reflective practice incorporates and integrates the minimal teaching competencies required by West Virginia State Teacher Certification. Practicum students must provide evidence demonstrating at least minimal…

Professors from Australia's Queensland University introduce the concept of a "practernship" that is a variation of typical internship/apprenticeship programs for preservice teachers. The "practernship" combines practice teaching and internship, encourages collaboration and professional development, and promotes a holistic,…

A university faculty member and a retired elementary principal developed a practicum course for preservice students entering a 1-year post-baccalaureate program. The course included on-campus and in-school experiences. The two professionals met frequently to get to know one another, examine course requirements, and determine what unique knowledge…

Examined changes in teachers' beliefs and practices after using video to enhance self-evaluation and guided reflection within a field-based course. Data from a teaching-belief survey, videotapes of teaching episodes, videotapes of post-teaching episodes, and a videotaped portfolio presentation indicated that participants came to view teaching as a…