Unpacking the Clinical and Participatory Dimensions of a Math-Teacher-Residency-Program

• In Event: 35.045 - Toward Clinical Participatory Teacher Education: One College, Four Models

Abstract

Model: TRP is a one year practice-based training for high school teachers for advanced level math. Candidates are carefully selected from applicants holding a degree in math or engineering. Except for a preparatory summer semester the entire program is school-based. Theoretical courses are reorganized in 'thematic modules' incorporating issues that arise in the clinical experience. Both college instructors and school faculty are involved in the planning and execution of the program and STs will have opportunities to influence its sequence, pace and contents. The program started in summer 2014, continues next year for the pre-service and then provides two years of support on the job.
Framework: Zimpher and Jones (2010) call for clinical practices that are interwoven with academic content and professional courses and take place in intensive clinical settings. An example of such a model is the Boston Teacher Residency Program (Papay et al., 2011). TRP is rooted in these ideas and principles.
Methods: Data collection in this case study include documents about the development of the program and the selection process of candidates, the emerging profile of master teachers for advanced math, and protocols of collaborative meetings of all partners. Qualitative data analysis provides descriptive accounts of the 'Clinical-Participatory' dimensions on the program's most innovative components thus far – the selection process of candidates and the academic curriculum.
Results:
A. The selection process: Is based on the "Human-Capital-Performance-Improvement" approach (Stahl et al, 2012) and interviews with and observations of master teachers who successfully teach advanced math. This field-based desired clinical profile of math teachers allows us to represent, deconstruct and approximate practice (Grossman et al., 2009) in the screening of candidates. The selection team is composed of college faculty and math school teachers from the partner schools. This Clinically-Participatory effort is costly and could be performed with external funding of the Trump foundation that covered the development of selection tools, the preparation of the team for the task and the demanding selection process.
B. The academic-theoretical contents: The clinical dimension is demonstrated by substituting regular courses with thematic modules around field-based educational issues and ideas that arise from real life situations in the field experiences. Case studies and PBL are major learning modes and intensive blocks of time are devoted to each topic. The involvement of teachers from the partner schools in creating the program's structure and schedule and in collaborative teaching of the academic contents on site are examples of the participatory dimension. This shift in how the program is designed and performed is challenging to the College instructors and the school teachers because it reduces the role boundaries of each and requires a very flexible curriculum.
Contribution: At this point in the implementation of the TRP model our results relate to the two innovative Clinical-Participatory components: The selection process and the integration of the theoretical contents. These can inform us on how to choose prospective residents and how to develop a program that integrates theory and practice by college instructors and school teachers together.

Authors

• Tili Wagner, Beit Berl Academic College

• Dalia Imanuel, Beit Berl Academic College