ERIC Number: ED444987
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2000-Apr
Pages: 9
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
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Available Date: N/A
Group Seminars: Dialogues To Enhance Professional Development and Reflection.
Wiltz, Nancy W.
Group seminars, or small discussion groups, support cooperative reflection between teachers, expose interns to new perspectives, help them develop professional relationships, and allow time for them to expand and deepen their reflective analysis of everyday occurrences. A group of 15 student teachers in an early childhood program at one university attended bi-weekly group seminars during the student teaching semester. The interns themselves suggested topics for discussion at most of the sessions. The group shared their impressions of teaching, discussed elements of instruction, analyzed classroom management approaches, assessed progress toward knowledge-based competencies and standards, and developed and shared their professional portfolios. Four primary topics emerged from these discussions: discipline and classroom management, pedagogy, conflicts between pedagogy and practice, and employment. On the semester's final evaluation form, few students ranked the seminars as the most valuable requirement during student teaching, but most students valued the guest speakers who were experts in the field and appreciated the chance to vent, communicate, and share with other student teachers. They also valued the support and flexibility of the supervisor. (Contains 21 references.) (SM)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A