Maybe Someday the Twain Shall Meet: Exploring Disconnections between Methods Instruction and "Life in the Classroom"

Do As I SayandDo As I Do: Using the Professor-in-Residence Model in Teaching Social Studies Methods

“…Teacher educators acknowledge that these teachers report a mismatch between what they see in field observations and what is taught in methods courses (DeWitt and Freie 2005;Meuwissen 2005). In class, preservice teachers whisper about the actual feasibility of using innovative methods.…”

Looking Back at Their Futures: Preservice Middle Level Teachers’ Examination of Past Educational Experiences

“…Preservice teachers in social studies methods classes acknowledge this incongruence by indicating that, while they prefer innovative methodology, actual classroom conditions inhibit them (Meuwissen, 2005). Additionally, preservice teachers disclose that they are hesitant to integrate student-centered methodologies into their own practice (Hansen & Stephens, 2000;Howell, 2006;Mezeske, 2004;Weimer, 2002).…”

“…Restating Meuwissen's (2005) call for a more overt analysis of disconnects between theory and practice, engaging preservice and inservice teachers in discussions that ask them to consider the process of reflection may lead to higher reflective levels.…”

“…Though inservice teachers indicate that they regard student-centered classrooms as highly desirable, they continue to engage in teacher-centered practices (Hedrick, Harmon, & Linerode, 2004;Lunenberg & Korthagen, 2005;Raymond, 1997). Preservice social studies teachers acknowledge this incongruence by indicating preferences for innovative methodology, while employing traditional methodologies in their own classrooms (Meuwissen, 2005). Although preservice teachers report enjoyment and benefits from studentcentered practices, they initially express reluctance in shifting to these methods (Howell, 2006).…”

The Effect of Reciprocal Mapping on High-Risk Sixth-Grade Students' Social Studies Achievement

“…Novice teachers do not feel confident to try the newer strategies and techniques that they were recently taught. Meuwissen (2005) found that beginning teachers' practices may not reflect what they were taught at teacher colleges to be myriad and include "the presence of traditional student and teacher accountability measures and a hesitance to work outside them, a lack of strong models, not rewards for innovative teaching, and the belief that secondary students are incapable of handling complex analytical thinking." Novice teachers lack that authority and expertise to turn purpose into process, no matter how much they want to follow the methodologies taught at college, they are not yet able to travel the road between their teacher education classes and the true classroom context encountered in their daily lives.…”