A qualitative inquiry describes the sociocultural aspects of an urban elementary school serving as the context for a reading/language arts early field experience and examines how the sociocultural factors of this school contribute to the professional development of the preservice teachers who work there and their three supervising teachers. (SLD)

Presents an analysis of seven studies on field-based Canadian teacher-education programs. Describes conflicting views held by multiple participants and their differing perceptions of course work, field experiences, and beliefs about personal professional competence. Underscores the importance of several factors for creating a strong field-based…

A survey of 62 social-work field educators investigated factors associated with effective interorganizational relationships, examining relationships between three categories of agencies and the university on four dimensions: commitment to education; organizational supports/resources; interpersonal relations; and collaborative/reciprocal…

Describes an early field experience program designed to help student teachers develop and enhance reflective thinking skills and value reflections and to model collaborative learning. Data from observations, interviews, and journals indicated that the program enabled student teachers to grapple more effectively with the complexities of the…

Longitudinally examined preservice elementary teachers' attitudes and perceptions following their first field experience teaching physical education. Data from 424 student teachers who answered a list of questions indicated that they appeared to have increased their teaching skill, understanding of children, and awareness of physical education as…

An elementary education professor working in an urban professional development school in New Jersey explains how she helps student teachers apply learned concepts to school settings. PDSs provide ongoing exposure to practices and insights of educators experienced with working with children from diverse populations. The New Jersey PDS breaks down…

A North Carolina school system worked with NASSP and an area university to develop an improved administrator-preparation plan. Created by NASSP to unite key preparation elements, the "Potential Administrator Development Program" stresses field-based experiences via theory-to-practice classroom activities, mentoring opportunities,…

Students profit greatly from seeing geology in the field. Unfortunately, many factors make using the field as a training area difficult. Recommends that teachers participate in field excursions and transmit their learning into the classroom. Describes the GeoVenture concept and a trip to Great Britain. A slide set is available for nonparticipants.…

Uses journals to record perceptions of student teachers of music during a pre-service teaching experience and determines factors that strongly affect perception. Indicates that expectations and evaluations were lower for students teaching at the elementary level when it was their second placement. (CMK)

An innovative preservice teacher education program at the State University of New York, College at Fredonia, provides many highly structured field-based experiences which include students with disabilities; systematic training in specific, validated intervention strategies; direct training in peer collaboration skills; and emphasis on reflective…

This study examined the impact of an early field experience, combined with a methods course, on preservice physical education teachers' conceptions of the teaching-learning process. Results indicated that these preservice teachers were concerned with pupil learning or elements of teaching related to pupil learning, and focused primarily on…

The Special Education Training Program at South Carolina State University offers training for school administrators on both theory and practice in designing, developing, implementing, and supervising programs for students with special needs in least restrictive environments. Each course requires a 10-hour field experience and students must also…

Investigated the understandings of the relationship between caring and teaching brought by elementary student teachers to their first field placements. Data from electronic dialog journals indicated that student teachers believed caring to be an important part of their teaching lives. They had three commonly held understandings of caring:…

Studied six intern teachers' reflections on past and future teaching experiences, noting the need for more emphasis on reflection to help prospective teachers look ahead as well as back. Themes emerging from interns' graphical and verbal descriptions of their internships were: discrepancy between anticipated and actual experience; reliance on…

Introduces a series of seven articles that provide different perspectives on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a field-based teacher-education program at Queen's University of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Explains features of the restructured teacher-education program, the aim and character of evaluating the program, and learning from…