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English 452 Inquiries in Student Teaching:
Susan Spangler, Instructor Welcome to English 452, Inquiries in Student Teaching. This course, required in your student teaching semester, is designed to help you negotiate the “two worlds” experienced by student teachers: the world of the university and the world of the classroom. We will spend the majority of our time helping each other negotiate the threshold between student and teacher, and I hope our discussions and course assignments will help make that transition (and your student teaching experiences) painless for you. I. Course Description This course serves as a complement to student teaching experiences in English Adolescence Education and examines professional issues that arise in classrooms with emphasis on learner-initiated and shaped professional development. II. Rationale Student teachers often perceive a disconnect between the pedagogical theories they learned in their university courses and the practices that pervade secondary classrooms, sometimes referred to as the “two-worlds pitfall” (Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann). This course helps students negotiate those worlds so that they may form a dialogic rather than antagonistic relationship. Student teaching seminars have been used in other universities to facilitate the negotiation process. III. Required Texts and Materials: · Membership in a professional organization, such as NCTE. · Your FSU email account. · Internet access outside of class. IV. Course Objectives and Outcomes · To create a teacher learning community (NCTE goal 2.3: Candidates demonstrate reflective practice, involvement in professional organizations, and collaboration with both faculty and other candidates.) · To develop of an inquiry-oriented stance toward knowledge and teaching (NCTE goals 2.3 and 2.5: Candidates make meaningful connections between the ELA curriculum and developments in culture, society, and education.) · To bridge the perceived gap between pedagogical theory and teaching practice (NCTE goal 3.7: Candidates demonstrate knowledge of research theory and findings in English language arts.) · To read attentively, closely, and critically. · To write thoughtfully, coherently, and persuasively. · To develop and challenge their own thinking through scholarly research. · Candidates seeking initial and permanent/professional certification will also meet NCTE standards for the preparation of teachers of English Language Arts. V. Instructional Methods and Activities Because this course complements your student teaching experiences, the course will be learner-driven in several ways. First, as student teachers, you will be discovering, researching, and reporting on the issues that arise during your placements. The teacher inquiries, the topics of which you will determine, will be the main focus of the course. Thoughtful reflection on your teaching will be your first task as a learner, followed by discussion, research, and reporting on your findings. When our class time is not dominated by teacher inquiries, we will concentrate on common professional issues that continue to be controversial/important topics in teaching English Language Arts as well as on building a professional portfolio for use in your future teaching career. You will have the opportunity to request particular topics and thus determine course content. VI. Course Evaluation Your work will be evaluated by the quality of the completed assignments (see below). All work must be completed in order for you to be eligible for a passing grade. We will negotiate acceptable criteria as part of classroom activities. VII. Course Requirements Engagement With Course Material And Activities. Part of your obligation to this class is to participate vigorously in the ongoing dialogue we will have about teaching, whether you are presenting on a particular day or not. Engagement includes sharing the work that you produce this semester as well as commenting on others' work. If you don't attend class, you can't participate, so I discourage absences unless absolutely necessary, in which case you should notify me prior to your absence and meet with me afterward. Perfect attendance is expected. Completed Assignments. Your grade for the class will be based on the successful completion the following assignments. We’ll discuss these items as well as appropriate assessment of them throughout the semester. · Teaching journal entries turned in throughout the semester · Presentation of a “teaching inquiry” along with supporting artifact(s) · A reflection on your presentation and action plan/research proposal (Due one week after your teaching inquiry presentation). · An appropriate “report” of your “teaching inquiry.” This artifact could take a number of forms depending on where your topic and research lead you. We will discuss this further in class. Some possibilities include a conference paper, professional development seminar materials, a newsletter or a film. · A novice teacher portfolio with teaching philosophy and supporting documents. Course Schedule—see website for actual schedule VIII. Bibliography Bird, Tom, Linda M. Anderson, Barbara A. Sullivan, and Stephen A. Swindler. “Pedagogical Balancing Acts: Attempts to Influence Prospective Teachers’ Beliefs.” Teaching and Teacher Education 9.3 (1993): 253-267. Corcoran, Ellen. “Transition Shock: The Beginning Teacher’s Paradox.” Journal of Teacher Education 42.3 (1981): 19-23. Feiman-Nemser, S. and M. Buchmann. “Pitfalls of Experience in Teacher Preparation.” Teachers College Record 87.1 (1985): 49-65. Grossman, Pamela, Peter Smagorinsky, and Sheila Valencia. “Appropriating Tools for Teaching English: A Theoretical Framework for Research on Learning to Teach. American Journal of Education 108 (1999): 1-29. Meyer, Tom and Mary Sawyer. “Cultivating an Inquiry Stance in English Education: Rethinking the Student Teaching Seminar.” English Education 39.1 (October 2006): 46-71. Smagorinsky, Peter, Andrea Lakly and Tara Star Johnson. “Acquiescence, Accommodation, and Resistance in Learning to Teach within a Prescribed Curriculum.” English Education 34.3 (2002): 187-213. Smagorinsky, Peter, Leslie Susan Cook, Cynthia Moore, Alecia Y. Jackson, Pamela G. Fry. “Tensions in Learning to Teach: Accommodation and the Development of a Teaching Identity.” Journal of Teacher Education 55.1 (2004): 8-24. Weinstein, Carol S. “Teacher Education Students’ Perceptions of Teaching.” Journal of Teacher Education 41 (1989): 53-60. Zeichner, Kenneth M. and Robert Tabachnik. “Are the Effects of Teacher Education ‘Washed Out’ by School Experience?” Journal of Teacher Education 32.3 (1981): 7-11. |