Positioning Students as Practicum Mentors: Strategies to Support Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Learning
摘要
This chapter positions classroom students as mentors in the teaching practicum. Students are stakeholders in initial teacher education, given that many preparation programs include field-based practice in classroom settings as a certification requirement. As a consequence of their frequent, often daily classroom contact with teacher candidates during field experiences, students are well positioned to play a role in contributing to new teachers’ learn-to-teach experiences (Cook-Sather, Learning from the student’s perspective: a sourcebook for effective teaching. Paradigm Publishers, 2009). This chapter draws on field-based research to offer strategies for teacher candidates to position students as mentors in their professional learning. Strategies include ways to support a mindset for reciprocity in practicum, cultivating a classroom community with students during practicum, inviting students into the practicum experience, and drawing on implicit and explicit student feedback. Subsequently, these approaches might also influence how students (re)position teacher candidates, from stand-ins for their regular teachers, to partners in learning relationships.