“Mind the Gap”: Navigating the Tension Between Best and Actual Teaching Practices

• In Event: Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Self-Study in Teaching Practices

Abstract

Student teachers sometimes experience a gap between ‘best practices’ and actual practices in K-12 classrooms. This self-study investigates that gap. As a university teacher-educator who spent a year as a student teacher, I explored the gap from multiple perspectives (student, student teacher, teacher educator, and researcher), hoping to learn how to better support student teachers’ development. My findings fall into three phases: 1) “Mind the gap” explains the dilemma I encountered. 2) “Mine the gap” describes the process of exploring this dilemma. 3) “The gap is mine” analyzes a shift in my understanding of the gap’s location. Finally, I discuss the impact of that shift on my practice as a teacher and supervisor of student teachers, and implications for teacher-education.

Author

• Margaret Perrow, Southern Oregon University