Transdisciplinary Educator Preparation: What Is It and How Might It Operate?

• In Event: How Do Groups Learn to Function as Teams? Issues of Teamwork and Collaboration Among Learners and Educators in the Professions

Abstract

K-12 public schools employ diverse educational professionals, from general education teachers to school psychologists to school nurses. While collaboration across these specializations greatly benefits students, the initial professional experiences of these distinct specialists is typically carried out in silos. In our paper we:
a. elaborate the theoretical framework undergirding transdisciplinary educator preparation;
b. describe the environmental scan of policy imperatives, program documents, clinical experience requirements, and dispositional shifts needed to create a strong conceptual foundation for transdisciplinary educator preparation;
c. articulate a set of operational principles that is currently being used in our context to bring the theoretical framework of transdisciplinary educator preparation to life; and
d. share the experiences of engaging in transdisciplinary educator preparation, from theory into practice.

Authors

• Pia I. Wong, California State University - Sacramento

• Jana Noel, California State University - Sacramento

• Samantha Blackburn, California State University - Sacramento

• Jenna Porter, California State University - Sacramento

• Kathleen Elizabeth Gee, Calfiornia State University, Sacramento

• EunMi Cho, California State University - Sacramento

• Sarah Graham, California State University - Sacramento