Nancy A. Place

Complex Interactions in Student Teaching: Lost Opportunities for Learning

Student teaching is a cornerstone of teacher preparation, yet it remains one of the most difficult experiences to understand. Calls for an ecological approach to research on student teaching prompted this study in which the experience is examined from the perspective of the three key triad members. Using activity theory, this study explores how their interactions in specific contexts shaped opportunities for student teachers to learn to teach language arts. The findings reveal that all members of the triad were simultaneously operating in multiple settings and facing competing demands that shaped their actions and stances. Consequently, there were numerous instances of lost opportunities for student teachers to learn to teach, including sparse feedback on teaching subject matter and few links to methods courses, plus limited opportunities to develop identities as teachers. The structures that frame student teaching and its participants have deep roots in the cultures of universities and schools that must be considered if student teaching is to maximize its potential.

Curriculum Materials for Elementary Reading: Shackles and Scaffolds for Four Beginning Teachers

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to learn how beginning elementary teachers understood and used curriculum materials for teaching reading, and how, in turn, these materials shaped teachers’ instruction. We followed 4 teachers who worked in markedly different school situations and were provided a variety of curriculum materials, ranging from scripted reading programs to supplemental materials without teaching guides. Data were gathered through classroom observations, interviews, and curriculum artifacts over the teachers’ first 3 years on the job. Our analysis suggested that curriculum materials interacted with teachers’ knowledge of reading and reading instruction, and with the contexts in which they worked. As a result, curriculum materials both fostered and inhibited teachers’ on‐the‐job learning. We found that the 2 teachers with weak knowledge or more restrictive materials and environments learned the least and were least able to adapt instruction to meet the needs of their students. The 2 teachers with stronger knowledge, access to multiple materials, and support for decision making regarding materials and instructional strategies learned the most and were most able to adapt instruction. Furthermore, early experiences with specific curriculum materials had effects 2 years later on these teachers’ instructional practices. Implications for curriculum mandates, material selection, and professional development are discussed.

Students and Teachers Learning to See: Part 1: Using Visual Images in the College Classroom to Promote Students' Capacities and Skills

This interdisciplinary analysis examines the use of visual images in the college classroom. The three authors—a community psychologist, a literacy specialist, and a mathematician—share examples and critical reflections that illuminate the strengths and challenges in using this medium to meet teaching and learning goals. The authors highlight one dimension of their work with visual images, promoting student capacities and skills.

Fostering Teaching and Learning Through an Inquiry-Based Literacy Methods Course

This study describes a teacher certification literacy methods course taught in an elementary school setting and featuring a classroom practicum, integrated with course sessions, that focuses on work with individual children. It examines the influence of an inquiry approach, promoted in this course model, on teacher candidate development. Drawn from the analysis of field notes, teacher candidate written reflections, and formal course projects, the results of this study suggest the inquiry-based practicum encourages teacher candidate understanding of individual children, motivates engagement in the assessment-instruction-reflection cycle and facilitates development of pedagogical content knowledge as an element of effective teaching.