School Co-ordinators: Leaders of Learning in Professional Experience

Abstract

It is widely accepted that professional experience or practicum is 'a critically important part of teacher education courses and is consistently valued highly by student

Predicting the academic achievement of first-year, pre-service teachers: the role of engagement, motivation, ATAR, and emotional intelligence

“…Darling-Hammond, 2006;Howe, 2006;Le Cornu, 2012;Reid, 2011b). Indeed it is not uncommon that pre-service teachers report that the professional experience was one of the most valuable components of their education degree.…”

School administrators’ understandings and management of barriers for the school’s involvement in the practicum component of initial teacher education in Chile

“…Studies conducted in Australia and New Zealand have reported that candidates have more positive experiences in schools in which administrators encourage school-wide responsibility for candidates' learning and their inclusion into the community (Le Cornu, 2012;Ussher, 2010). Varrati et al (2009) interviewed 10 school principals in the United States who indicated their commitment to supporting the practicum but noted they had very limited time.…”

“…Their concerns and actions suggest that in planning the practicum curriculum universities need to consider administrators' contributions beyond placing, meeting, and greeting candidates. Establishing formalized school-university agreements may prompt administrators to develop a greater level of ownership for shaping solutions to the practicum problems identified (Le Cornu, 2012). In the absence of such agreements, problems will more likely be micromanaged with the teacher candidates than with program faculty or will remain unaddressed.…”

“…Principals must be mindful of implementing personnel and resource allocation practices that can leverage instructional improvement (Horng and Loeb, 2010). In the literature on the ITE practicum, however, very few studies have examined how principals manage their schools' involvement in the practicum (Le Cornu, 2012;Varrati et al, 2009). This is somewhat surprising considering that teacher candidates' presence in schools requires allocation of personnel and resources.…”

A Professional Experience Learning Community for Pre-service Secondary Mathematics Teachers

“…Professional experience or the practicum is typically regarded by teachers as one of the most important aspects of their preparation for the classroom (Le Cornu, 2012). Moreover, in recent years, the proportion of time allocated to fieldwork in teacher education programs has increased (Hennissen, Crasborn, Brouwer, Korthagen, & Bergen, 2011).…”