Preparing the Next Generation of Teacher Educators: The Role of Practitioner Research

• In Event: Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Innovative Initiatives in Teacher Education

Abstract

To actualize the Blue Ribbon Panel reports call for more clinically rich teacher education, programs must rethink the preparation and support provided to those who prepare preservice teachers. The purpose of this study was to understand how practitioner research could serve as a tool for systematically and intentionally helping prepare the next generation of teacher educators. Interviews served as the primary mechanism to capture the experiences of 15 doctoral student teaching assistants from across two university contexts that engaged in practitioner inquiry. Findings point to themes related to the: (1) focus and scope of the inquiry, (2) the role of inquiry in shaping academic identity, (3) the perceptions of collaboration being critical to inquiry, and (4) the micropolitical tensions.

Authors

• Jennifer Lynn Jacobs, University of South Florida

• Nancy Fichtman Dana, University of Florida

• Diane Yendol-Hoppey, University of South Florida