Supervisors of teacher interns play a key role in preparing our new teaching force, yet they often remain the unsung heroes of this essential endeavor. Sorely missing in the teacher education enterprise are opportunities for the professional development of supervisors. We believe university supervisors need a forum to frame, assess, and reframe their role as mediators of clinical experiences. Our learning community — The University Supervisor Group (USG) — addresses this critical need. In this chapter, we share the results of a self-study of our professional practice (Samaras, 2002; Samaras & Freese, 2006).
Our overarching goals for the self-study were to understand our evolution as a learning community and to establish a foundation for furthering our development as teacher educators. We discuss here: (1) our outgrowth and goals; (2) the design of our learning community; (3) our professional inquiries; and (4) the analysis and impact of our collaboration on our professional development and on our teacher education programs. Our self-study provided a venue for understanding how our inquiries were useful in framing and reframing our work with teacher interns. These inquiries brought us together around a shared focus to improve our supervision and to support our development as a learning community (Tate et al., 2005).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Beck, S., Lawlor, A., Blackow, S., & Ramsey, A. (February, 2007). Teacher education supervisors creating and applying knowledge through case writing: Development of a community of learners. Paper presented at the Association of Teacher Educators, San Diego, CA.
Brown, S. & Nagel, L. (2004). Preparing future teachers to respond to stress: Sources and solutions. Action in Teacher Education, 26(1), 34–41.
Clandinin, J. & Connelly, M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. New York: Jossey-Bass.
Dinkelman, T. (2003). Self-study in teacher education: A means and ends tool for promoting reflective teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(1), 6–18.
Dufour, R. (2004). What is a “professional learning community”? Educational Leadership, 61(8), 6–11.
Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Fulwiler, L. (1996). A beggar in both worlds: A supervisor in the schools and the university. Journal of Teacher Education, 47(1), 21–26.
Havelock, R.G., Cox, P., Huberman, A.M., & Levinson, N. (1983). School-university collaboration supporting school improvement, 4. Washington, DC: American University, Knowledge Transfer Institute
Ihrig, K. (2005). An examination of preservice teachers' perceptions of their dispositions toward teaching students with emotional and behavioral disabilities: The effects of integrating intra/ interpersonal concepts in teacher training. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Jarrett, M., Hammonds, S., & Page, L. (April, 2005). Teacher educators writing cases about supervision for standards-based teaching. Paper presented at the Fairfax County Public Schools Teacher-Researcher Conference. Fairfax, VA.
Jenlink, P.M., Kinnucan-Welsch, K., & Odell, S.J. (1996). Designing professional development learning communities. In D. John McIntyre & David M. Byrd (Eds.), Preparing tomorrow's teachers: The field experience (pp. 63–86). CA: Corwin Press.
Lyman, F. (1994, revised). Principle-based teaching/coaching wheels. (Available from Howard County Maryland Public Schools Staff Development Center). College Park, MD: College of Education, University of Maryland.
McTighe, J. & O'Connor, K. (2005). Seven practices for effective teaching. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 10–12.
Merseth, K. (1996). Cases and case methods in teacher education. In J. Silula (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 722–744). New York: MacMillan.
Miles, M. & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: A source book of new methods.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. (Original work published in 1984).
Richardson, V. (1996). The case for formal research and practical inquiry in teacher education. In F.B. Murray (Ed.), The teacher educator's handbook: Building a knowledge base for the preparation of teachers (pp. 715–737). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Samaras, A. P. (2002). Self-study for teacher educators: Crafting a pedagogy for educational change. New York: Peter Lang.
Samaras, A. P. & Freese, A. R. (2006). Self-study of teaching practices. New York: Peter Lang.
Schon, D. A. (1991). The reflective turn: Case studies in and on educational practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Shulman, J. (Ed.). (1992). Case methods in teacher education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Tate, P. (Ed.). (1998). Ethical guidelines for “best practices” in supervision of the preservice teacher. Washington, DC: The George Washington University, Department of Teacher Preparation and Special Education. Available at: www.gwu.edu/~ole/
Tate, P. & Beck, S. (February, 2006). Case writing group initiative: Developing case knowledge in ethical supervisory practices. Paper presented at the Association of Teacher Educators Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Tate, P., Hall, L., Beck, S., & Pyke, C. (April, 2000). Principled practices in supervision of the teacher intern: Giving shape, form, and structure through practical inquiry. Workshop conducted at the American Educational Research Association Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Tate, P., Lawlor, A., Jarrett, M., Pattarini, K., Thorne, M., Page, L., & Hammonds, S. (October, 2004). Adventures in storytelling: Teacher educators writing cases about supervisory practices that work. Workshop presented at Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators Conference, Orlando, FL.
Tate, P., Hammonds, S., Lawlor, A., & Page, L. (October, 2005a). The pitfalls of the three P's: Assessing performance, pedagogy and personality of the novice teacher through cases. Workshop presented at Maryland State Teachers Association Annual Convention, Ocean City, MD.
Tate, P., Pyke, C., Kortecamp, K., & Muskin, C. (2005b). Developing an ethical orientation toward supervisory practice through collaborative case writing. Action in Teacher Education 27(3), 13–25.
Taymans, J. M. (1993). Our stories, our solutions: Building a learning community through cases.Washington, DC: The George Washington University.
Zeichner, M. & Noffke, S. E. (2001). Practitioner research. In V. Richardson, (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Teaching (pp. 298–330). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tate, P.S., Jarrett, M.H., Lawlor, A.C., Page, L.M., Ramsey, A.S. (2008). Supervisors of Teacher Interns: Building a Learning Community Through Inquiry-Based Practices. In: Samaras, A.P., Freese, A.R., Kosnik, C., Beck, C. (eds) Learning Communities In Practice. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8788-2_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8788-2_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8787-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8788-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)