One of the most controversial aspects of teacher education concerns how much clinical practice teacher candidates need in authentic classrooms before they are ready to become effective and confident full-time teachers of record. At one end of the spectrum are alternative teacher education programs in which college graduates with little to no training in education work full-time as lead teachers in underserved schools from the outset of their commitment. At the other end of the spectrum are traditional university-based teacher education programs where teacher candidates typically do not enter the preK-12 classroom until they have finished their content and methods coursework. In this model, candidates engage in unpaid student teaching at the very end of their program, guided by a mentor teacher who may or may not have a relationship with university teacher education faculty. Both models have been heavily critiqued in research on teacher education (Ball & Forzani, 2009), leaving many teacher educators wishing for a middle ground.
In our extensive research on teacher education at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), we found compelling examples of how to more effectively bridge university-based learning with classroom-based practice (Ginsberg, Gasman, & Samayoa, 2023). These include university-school partnerships, teacher residency programs, volunteer student tutoring programs, and mandatory school and community service.
Successful models
In the BLOCKS program at New Mexico State University (a Hispanic Serving Institution), for example, teacher education professors hold their courses at a local school site. Teacher education candidates can spend the morning working in the preK-12 classroom and the afternoon in a content or methods course. In the courses, candidates collaboratively reflect on their classroom experiences and confirm that what they are learning in their courses has practical applications. Activities and assignments from the university-level seminars are fully integrated within the candidates’ fieldwork, and teacher candidates have opportunities to participate in lesson planning and student assessment.
In just two semesters, BLOCKs students log more than 360 hours of contact with children, teachers, staff, and the classroom and school culture before they make the transition to full-day student teaching. As one candidate shared:
We’re here at 7:30 a.m. in the morning when school starts and we’re with the students until they go to lunch. It is very helpful to see what your day is going to be like when you do become a teacher and have your own classroom. I enjoy it because it has opened my eyes to what real life is going to be like after college.
Another BLOCKs candidate noted similarly:
One thing I really enjoyed about my experience is it showed me how to be a flexible teacher, because obviously you have one plan in mind, and sometimes the students have another plan. . . . It shows you how to be flexible, how to go with the flow, and how to keep an organized yet fun classroom, so that students can be successful and learn.
California State University, Fresno (a Hispanic Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution) has a rural teacher residency program, in which cohorts of teacher candidates work in a local school for an entire year and receive incentives, such as invitations to participate in districtwide professional development programs and guaranteed employment upon completion of the program. As with the BLOCKs program, university professors teach their courses at the school site, saving many candidates a commute of up to 75 miles.
What is particularly noteworthy about this program is that many of the candidates attended the school site as students or have children or family members currently attending the school. According to the program’s faculty director, “They’ve really chosen to be a part of the program because they are community members.” Likewise, one of the candidates in the program told us, “I can relate to these students. I am excited to become a teacher, and I know I am going to inspire many students.”
Some programs focus on helping teacher candidates connect with students through community service. For example, CSU Fresno is a host site for the California Mini Corps Program, which pairs former migrant students who are learning to be teachers with current migrant students to provide tutoring and academic support and serve as role models, student advocates, and family liaisons. Similarly, Jackson State University, a historically Black institution in Mississippi, hosts the Call Me Mister Program, which is designed to increase the number of Black male teachers. The program requires participants to engage in school and community service.
The benefits
The most obvious benefit of these clinically enriched teacher education programs is that candidates spend more time in the classroom, mirroring education and training in other heavily practice-based fields, such as health care. This is an important addition to any preparation program because, as one recent report explained
Clinical experience — that is, the opportunity to practice the work of teaching in classrooms — is one of the most consequential aspects of teacher preparation for graduate effectiveness and student success. Research has shown, however, that teacher preparation programs across the country provide far fewer clinical opportunities than other practice-based fields, such as health care or trades. (Gibney et al., 2020)
However, it is important to note that it is not just the time candidates spend in schools that makes these programs successful. The close collaboration between university-based teacher educators and classroom-based teacher supervisors enables them to provide a more coherent experience for the candidate and allows for much more meaningful reflection and discussion among candidates about what practices are most effective.
The MSI difference
While many teacher education programs are experimenting with models such as residencies and school partnerships, the design of MSIs helps make these programs successful. Faculty at many research-intensive, predominately white institutions are rarely rewarded (and sometimes penalized) for clinical and community-
based service work because it takes them away from research and publishing. However, faculty at MSIs are hired because they are committed to working in the surrounding community. As one professor in our study shared:
When I started at Fresno, during the interview they were very clear that the expectation for our faculty is to teach out at school sites, is to partner with districts, and to engage in that fieldwork. And if you’re not willing to do that, then this is not the place for you.
This commitment to the local community gives MSI faculty the freedom to form more solid connections with local schools and communities, allowing them to create richer and more meaningful clinical experiences for teacher candidates.
References
Ball, D.L. & Forzani, F.M. (2009). The work of teaching and the challenge for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 60 (5), 497–511.
Gibney, D.T., Rutherford-Quach, S., Hirschboack, K., & White, M.E. (2020) Strengthening the clinical orientation of teacher preparation programs. WestEd & SRI Education.
Ginsberg, A.E., Gasman, M., & Samayoa, A.C. (2023). For the love of teaching: How minority-serving institutions are diversifying and transforming the profession. Teachers College Press.
This article appears in the October 2023 issue of Kappan, Vol. 105, No. 2, p. 66-67.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alice Ginsberg
ALICE E. GINSBERG is a senior research specialist in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. She is a co-author of For the Love of Teaching: How Minority Serving Institutions are Diversifying and Transforming the Profession (Teachers College Press, 2023).
Marybeth Gasman
MARYBETH GASMAN is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. She is a co-author of For the Love of Teaching: How Minority Serving Institutions are Diversifying and Transforming the Profession (Teachers College Press, 2023).
Andrés Castro Samayoa
ANDRÉS CASTRO SAMAYOA is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at Boston College, MA. He is a co-author of For the Love of Teaching: How Minority Serving Institutions are Diversifying and Transforming the Profession (Teachers College Press, 2023).
