Coaching Tools in Undergraduate Curriculum: A Case of Preservice Teachers' Agency Within Clinical Field Experiences

• In Event: Agency, Impact, and Liberation: Reflection and Practice in Teacher Education

Abstract

Although clinical field experiences are widely accepted as an essential component of teacher preparation, many disconnects between coursework and field work persist . In this instrumental case study, we examine one connecting experience, using coursework to build coaching tools to support preservice teachers’ learning within clinical field experiences. We use a critical sociocultural lens that focuses on power, agency, and identity to analyze data (surveys, interviews, memos and teaching materials). The findings show how shared knowledge can shift power dynamics between preservice teachers and cooperating teachers, modeling self-advocacy can lead to greater acts of agency within their own learning, and engaged practice with coaching tools can lead to shifts in preservice teachers’ identities.

Authors

• Heather Dunham, Clemson University

• Erica Holyoke, Keene State College

• Kerry Alexander, The University of Texas at Austin

• Melissa Mosley Wetzel, The University of Texas at Austin