Cooperating Teachers’ Perceptions of Hosting and Mentoring Music Student Teachers

Abstract

Researchers have demonstrated the importance of professional development experiences for in-service music educators that are content-specific and that cultivate meaningful partnerships with higher education faculty and preservice music teachers. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore cooperating teachers’ perceptions related to hosting and mentoring student teachers. We interviewed 13 cooperating teachers to document their views. Based on interview results, we created and distributed an online questionnaire, with 102 cooperating teachers from five U.S. regions responding. Cooperating teachers’ motives for hosting student teachers were largely altruistic, and they identified various student teacher skills and university supervisor supports as being important. We suggest that the immersive experience of serving as a cooperating teacher may be a form of professional development.

Cooperating Teachers’ Perceptions and Contributions to Preservice Teachers’ Professional Identities

“…Being a cooperating teacher responsible for the formation of new physical education teachers would provide this for them. This is consistent with the study of Snell et al [24], which argues that cooperating teachers may regard the role as an extended type of professional development.…”

“…Using this standard approach of data collecting to research professional identity in physical education [21], it is feasible to observe the participants' impressions of their reality [22]. We designed this semi-structured interview based on bibliographical research [23][24][25][26] on the themes we wished to examine. Approaching the data with preset themes based on pre-existing knowledge provides a research-driven perspective that links and considers prior studies on the subject [27].…”

Estágio Supervisionado em Educação Física na Educação Infantil e no Ensino Fundamental: Narrativas (Auto)Formativas [Supervised Practicum in Physical Education in Early Childhood and Elementary Education: (Auto)Biographical Narratives]

“…O PC iniciante partilhou as dificuldades que encontrou a distintos níveis da atividade de supervisão pedagógica, designadamente no desempenho de um número diversificado de papéis e funções; na criação de estratégias de orientação "sob medida" -individualizadas e significativas; e na construção de uma relação pedagógica e profissional equitativa e recíproca, com base num sentido de "equipa". Este último resultado está em concordância com os de outras pesquisas (e.g., Ellis, et al, 2020;Richmond, et al, 2019;Snell, Wilson, & Cruse, 2018), nos quais noções contemporâneas de orientação -alicerçadas na colaboração, colegialidade, interação, troca recíproca de ideias, criação conjunta de conhecimento e significadostêm-se vindo a sobrepor a entendimentos mais tradicionais: um colega mais velho e experiente transmite a sua sabedoria ao candidato mais jovem e inexperiente. Por conseguinte, outros elementos ganharam visibilidade na formação da identidade profissional dos PC, designadamente os traços individuais, o percurso biográfico, o conhecimento e as perspetivas de ensino.…”

Who Are the Music Teacher Educators? Part II

“…(JMTE Focus Group, 2023) Within general education, Clarke et al (2014) examined 185 research studies and organized them into 11 categories representing the ways in which cooperating teachers 3 participate in teacher education including feedback providers, gatekeepers, modelers, supporters of reflection, gleaners of knowledge, purveyors of context, conveners of relation, agents of socialization, advocates of the practical, abiders of change, and teachers of children. Several recent music education studies have utilized this framework (Abramo & Campbell, 2019;Baugh & Conway, 2024;Palmer, 2018;Pennello, 2020) and suggested it is useful in considering the many positive ways in which cooperating teachers are teacher educators.…”