Using Teacher Candidates' Responses to Self-Evaluate a Field Instructor's Postlesson Observation Conferencing Practices

• In Event: 52.054 - Action Research and Teaching: Preservice and in Context

Abstract

Field instructors are tasked with supporting teacher candidate learning during the highly prized, clinical experience. Support usually takes place in the form of guided reflective conversations based on observations of teaching. Empirical literature exploring how field instructors’ refine and self-evaluate their conferencing practices is scant. This paper describes, how I used Lewin’s action research cycle to work the dialectic, make generative changes, and transform my practice. Shifts in my conferencing practice are framed around the promotion of specific conferencing outcomes, adaptive teaching expertise, growth competence, and intersubjectivity. Findings contribute both to the methodological power of action research for improving practice, and to a greater understanding of how to best support teacher candidate growth.

Author

• Elizabeth Gayle Soslau, University of Delaware