Advancing Supervision In Clinically Based Teacher Education

Supervision in teacher education is entering an exciting time. In the last decade, national reports calling for the transformation of teacher preparation have advocated for greater school-university collaboration and increased clinical preparation of teachers (AACTE, 2018; NCATE, 2010). Thus, institutions with teacher preparation should be increasingly concerned with the clinical component of their teacher certification programs (AACTE, 2010; 2018; NCATE, 2001; NEA, 2014). However, supervision in teacher preparation has historically been held in low regard, (Beck & Kosnik, 2002; Feiman-Nemser, 2001; The Holmes Group, 1986; Hoover, O’Shea, & Carroll, 1988; Soder & Sirotnik, 1990) even though research has shown that high-quality supervision promotes teacher candidate learning (Bates, Drits, & Ramirez, 2011; Burns, Jacobs, & Yendol-Hoppey, 2016; Darling-Hammond, 2014; Gimbert & Nolan, 2003; Lee, 2011). In fact, university supervisors “may be the most undervalued actors in the entire teacher preparation equation when one considers the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they must have to teach about teaching in the field” (Burns & Badiali, 2016, p. 156). Despite this research, the function of supervision has often been relegated to adjunct faculty or even removed the university-based supervisor altogether in some colleges/schools of education (McIntyre & McIntyre, 2020; NCATE, 2010; Slick, 1998; Zeichner, 1992, 2005). These practices are incredibly problematic for actualizing clinically based teacher education. Thus, the road to transforming teacher education must involve addressing such long standing misperceptions about what supervision is, what purpose it serves, and how it can be renewed from an afterthought to become the driving engine of high quality teacher preparation. Advancing Supervision in Clinically Based Teacher Education: Advances, Opportunities, and Explorations aims to elevate supervision and supervisors, as undervalued actors, by disseminating high-quality manuscripts on this critical area of study. The chapters in this book tackle the persistent issue of devaluing and marginalizing supervision in some institutions of higher education by sharing current research, illuminating challenges of supervising in the current high stakes accountability climate, and offering innovative ideas that can improve supervision in clinically based teacher education.

The student teaching experience is often considered one of the most influential aspects of teacher preparation. Key in the success of student teaching is the university supervisor. During the student teaching experience, the university supervisor is mainly responsible for helping pre-service teachers relate university coursework with the situated experiences in schools. However, much like the various other spaces and places in teacher education, facilitating teacher learning is an incredibly complex endeavor. This edited volume addresses the complexities of supervising student teachers from three distinct vantage points. First, salient issues regarding the supervision of student teachers such as the preparation of novice supervisors, negotiating power in the student teaching triad, and the low status of clinical teacher education are examined. Second, different pedagogical frameworks for the work of supervision are provided such as care theory, teacher education for democracy, and social justice. Finally, future directions for field-based teacher education are discussed, such as a call to reconsider where supervision takes place, the necessity to develop a pedagogy of supervision, 21st century trends facing clinical teacher education, and the value added by university supervisors to teacher development. Each of these chapters engage the supervision of student teachers through a mix of research, theory, and personal stories from the field. As such, this edited volume is designed for new supervisors, veteran supervisors, and supervision scholars.

Teacher education in the United States is changing to meet new policy demands for centering clinical practice and developing robust school-university partnerships to better prepare high-quality teachers for tomorrow’s schools. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS (PDSs) have recently been cited in national reports as exemplars of high-quality school-university partnerships in the clinical preparation of teachers. According to the National Association for Professional Development Schools, PDSs have Nine Essentials that distinguish them from other school-university collaborations. But even with that guidance, working across the boundaries of schools and universities remains messy, complex, and, quite frankly, hard. That’s why, perhaps, there is such diversity in school-university partnerships. For the last thirty years, educators have been fascinated yet puzzled with how to build PDSs. Clinically Based Teacher Education in Action: Cases from PDSs addresses that perplexity by providing images of the possible in school-university collaboration. Each chapter closely examines one of the NAPDS Nine Essentials and then provides three cases from PDSs that target that particular essential. In this way, readers can see how different PDSs from across the globe are innovating to actualize that essential in PDS development. The editors provide commentary, addressing themes across the three cases. Each chapter ends with questions to start collaborative conversations and a field-based activity meant to propel your PDS work forward.

A significant trend in teacher education is that of providing more clinical experiences for prospective teachers than was formerly the case, and offering them earlier in teacher preparation programs. This will help teacher educators acquire an understanding of the dimensions of clinical experiences and develop the ability to implement them in their unique situations. To facilitate this objective, the material included in this book combines significant research findings with current thinking regarding effective practice. This combination provides a base from which participants in clinical experiences can approach this important effort with competence and confidence.

Known as the most practical text in the field, Clinical Supervision and Teacher Development, 6th edition provides clear, hands-on guidance for supervising teachers and encouraging their professional growth. Updated throughout to reflect the latest in research and theory, the text presents a widely accepted and flexible model of clinical supervision as well as numerous research-based and field-tested strategies. The concepts and techniques covered will help supervising teachers improve in the classroom.

"This practical book is for instructional leaders who want to embrace their role as equity leaders and actively work to dismantle harmful educational practices. It shows how to establish diverse and representative supervision teams that provide formative feedback to support teachers on their journey toward becoming culturally responsive practitioners"--

For decades teacher education researchers, organizations, and policy makers have called for improving teacher education by creating clinically based preparation programs (e.g. CAEP, 2013; Goodlad, 1990; Holmes, 1986, 1995; National Association for Professional Development Schools, 2008; National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Educators, 2001, 2010; Zeichner, 1990). According to the NCATE Blue Ribbon Report (2010), this approach requires extensive opportunities for prospective teachers to connect and apply what they learn from school and university based teacher educators. Similar to preparing medical professionals, clinical practice in teacher education requires the complex and time intensive work of supporting teacher candidate ability to link theory, research, and practice as well as on-going inquiry into best pedagogical practices. Therefore, clinically intensive programs expect prospective teachers to blend practitioner and academic knowledge throughout their programs as "they learn by doing" (NCATE, 2010, p.ii). However, most of the literature to date on clinical practice has been conceptual and often relies on describing program design. The purpose of this book is move past description to study and understand what teacher education programs are learning from research about innovative clinical models of teacher education. Each book chapter highlights research about how programs are studying a variety of outcomes of clinical practice. After an introductory chapter that helps to define and situate clinical practice in teacher education, the book is organized into four sections: (1) Outcomes of New Roles, (2) Outcomes of New Practices, (3) Outcomes of New Coursework/Fieldwork Configurations, and (4) Outcomes of New Program Configurations. The book wraps up with a discussion that looks across the chapters to find common themes, share implications for teacher educators, and set the course for future research.

Offering an in-depth examination of field supervision and the role of the university supervisors in preparing teachers, this book addresses the challenges of providing novice teachers with quality supervision through the support and guidance of teacher education programs. Through a research-based lens, Bates and Burbank discuss the role, responsibilities, and opportunities of the university supervisor. Critically examining the supervisor as an agent of change who is positioned to empower early career teachers, the authors dissect the necessary preparation and support new teachers need in contemporary K-12 classrooms.