Community-Linked Field Experience Pilot

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding the Experiences of Preservice Teachers (Table 9)

Abstract

This IRB-approved study explores the possibilities that exist for teaching and learning in partnership between a university and a community organization serving multilingual students, where all stakeholders are part of the research team. Pre-service interns complete their field experience in this innovative community-based setting and receive mentoring from a teacher on staff. This project builds on Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth framework, which asserts the value and knowledge that exists in communities, and draws on work that explores learning possibilities for future teachers in the context of communities. Based on interviews encouraging reflection, initial findings suggest that pre-service teachers construct vital understandings of and capacity for fostering relationships with students and individualizing instructional practice in community settings.

Author

• Mia Julia Palombo, Montclair State University