Field Experiences: Standard
V
Swarthmore College Education > State Review
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The courses in the certification sequence provide a series of field experiences related to the acquisition and demonstration of the role competencies specified in the Topics in the Professional Sequence document. (See Appendix A) The first course in the sequence, Introduction to Education, is typically taken no later than the sophomore year. Students meet for three hours a week of class, usually a combination of lecture/demonstrations and class discussions and exercises that deal with assigned readings. In addition to the campus-based component of the course, all students are assigned to a field placement for one-half day a week for a minimum of eight weeks. During the first class session, placement options are described and students state their preferences for a school type, grade level and subject area. The options include public elementary and secondary schools, both urban and suburban; schools for students with special needs; private schools, including Quaker, Catholic and independent schools. Thus, a wide variety of settings is available, reflecting different community settings, educational philosophies and student characteristics. In the field placements, students do systematic observation, and often combine observation with tutoring, small group work or whole class instruction, at the teacherŐs request. Students keep a weekly journal of their field experience in which they demonstrate the ability to document classroom practice as well as to analyze and interpret it in light of course readings. See Appendix G for a copy of the Observation handout, which prepares students for observing in Introduction to Education and whose guidelines are used for participating in subsequent field placements as well.) Students in Introduction to Education submit their journals to their instructor at least twice during the semester for feedback and written comments. At the end of the semester, Cooperating Teachers complete an evaluation form providing information regarding the performance and attitude of the Swarthmore student assigned to them and assessing, to the degree they are able, his/her suitability as a prospective teacher.
Prior to student teaching, the majority of other courses offered by the Education Program require some field-based observation, research or practice. In Educational Psychology, students work at the School in Rose Valley, a school founded by Progressive educators. The school includes a variety of tuition-paying and scholarship students and also has a substantial number of special needs students. In this course, each certification student is required to tutor a student and develop learning strategies to meet the needs of a child throughout the term. The Swarthmore students analyze the studentsŐ approaches to learning, including doing a tape of one of the tutoring sessions and then write a paper in which they analyze aspects of the studentŐs learning style and their efforts to meet the needs of the particular student. They also help the student design a research project of their choice, often using the Internet, and at the conclusion of the semester help the child develop a presentation of their research to the school community and parents. In Urban Education students are placed as observers/teachers aides in schools in Philadelphia or Chester one-half day a week. As part of these placements they are required to keep field notes and to consider their experiences in light of course topics and readings. At the mid-point of the semester they discuss their field notes with the professor and identify a topic for writing an informal ethnography, based on their placement. In other elective courses students also do field placements. In Special Education, students work as teacherŐs aides in a resource room or special educational setting. In Environmental Education, students facilitate environmental projects with pupils in a variety of school settings. In Gender and Education and School and Society, students complete an action research project in which they develop curriculum or conduct a study for a teacher of the classroom or school in which they are placed. In Teaching the Young Learner, students work on a weekly basis with selected primary grade students in the areas of beginning literacy and math. In Literacies and Social Identities, students work one-on-one with a college staff person in an adult lifelong literacy and learning program. In the Child Psychology and Practice seminar, students are involved in conducting an evaluation of a local project (e.g. they have worked in an after-school program in a housing project and observed in the school that the students attend and addressed project personnelŐs questions based on research literature and their observations.) In the Social and Cultural Perspectives seminar, students develop projects in collaboration with a school or teacher. They provide their host with a detailed report of their work in which they analyze their experience using both the methodological and substantive materials read and discussed in the seminar. In the Educational Policy seminar, students (often in pairs) do a research internship in an educational policy organization, an educational foundation, or some other type of education related organization. In this internship they undertake research on a topic or problem that has been requested by the organization. The research is jointly designed with the internship sponsors, but much of the actual data collection and/or writing is done independently by the student.
The field placements requirements for each of these courses are included in the syllabi for each Education course (available in the Documents Room). In each of these courses, the structure and requirements of the field placement facilitates the integration of theory, research and practice regarding educational issues and approaches. Students document their experiences in the variety of field placements and research settings through research reports, field journals, papers, and presentations, including reports to the faculty in the schools in which they have worked. In all classes, some class time is devoted to a discussion of field experiences, either on a weekly basis or at specific points during the semester when discussion of field placements is relevant to particular topics..
During practice teaching all students are in their school assignment on a full-time basis for at least twelve weeks and often more. For the first one to two weeks, student teachers mainly observe in their assigned classes as well as in the classes of other teachers both within and outside their subject area and in a variety of grade levels. By the end of the first two weeks, secondary student teachers assume responsibility for teaching two classes, and by the third month of student teaching they take on responsibility for teaching a third class. Occasionally student teachers take over a whole roster of classes, but this is not required. They also continue to observe in their Cooperating TeachersŐ classes throughout the term. Most practice teachers teach at least two different preparations during the semester, and in some cases, teach three different preparations. They also often teach different levels of the same course. During practice teaching students are responsible, among other things, for lesson planning, development of materials and methods, presentation of subject matter, student assessment, and classroom management. In addition to their classroom responsibilities, practice teachers are expected to participate in other aspects of the professional teacherŐs role, such as faculty and department meetings, extra-curricular activities, parent conferences, homeroom duties, etc. (For additional detail about the student teaching placement process and requirements, see Standard VI.)
