Cohorts and Coherence: Exploring Student Perspectives on Experiences in a Graduate Teacher Education Program

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Enhancing Teacher Retention and Identity Development: The Role of Cohorts and Institutional Support in Teacher Education Programs (Table 11)

Abstract

This paper examines how teacher candidates in a large graduate teacher education program at a research-intensive university perceive the function of cohorts in building program coherence. Qualitative data from 1,526 open-ended surveys of teacher candidates over a six-year period (2018-2024) and interviews with eleven recent program graduates and eight alumni in 2018 and 2024 were analyzed to understand how candidates’ experiences in cohorts affected program coherence and knowledge construction. Findings highlight that cohorts both constrain and/or support coherence-making based on program and cohort-specific factors, indicating a critical need for intentional, adaptive cohort design. This work also highlights how programs must center student voices and reflexively collect data to create programs that foster coherence-making and development of research-informed, agentic, responsive teaching.

Authors

• Elizabeth Jean Larson, Mount Saint Vincent University

• Kathryn Broad, University of Toronto - OISE

• Mrinalini Mattoo, University of Toronto - OISE