The Importance, Methods, and Complications of Developing Coherence Across Courses and Clinical Fieldwork

• In Event: Exploring the Contours of Coherence in Teacher Preparation: Four Perspectives on the Concept, the Pathways, and the Challenges

Abstract

Studies of the key features of powerful teacher education (e.g., Hammerness & Klette, 2015) have led to a renewed focus on coherence as a means of strengthening candidates’ learning through coursework and fieldwork before they assume responsibility for classrooms of their own (Lampert et al., 2013; McDonald et al., 2014).

Perspectives
Building on findings from international research on teacher education, Linda Darling-Hammond (2014) offers a framework that addresses the “critically important pedagogical cornerstones” (p. 549) of powerful teacher education and the implications these have for program coherence. A particularly important cornerstone comprises coherence and integration across fieldwork and coursework. Enhanced coherence can occur by sequencing courses so that they build upon the developmental levels of teacher candidates while making deliberate connections between course assignments and real artifacts of practice such as student work and lesson plans. Programs can also make explicit links between theory and practice so that candidates can learn from extensive, highly supervised clinical work that helps them learn from expert practice in classrooms that serve divers learners. By establishing new relationships with schools, teacher education programs can develop what Zeichner (2010) has referred to as a “third space” for schools and universities to level relationships and exchange ideas and practices.

Data sources, methods
This paper describes coherence in teacher preparation by examining data from a nationally recognized teacher education program to identify tools and practices which promote each of the elements of coherence described in the framework. Exit and alumni surveys from candidates and graduates from the past 10 years and focus group interviews with recent and current program participants and staff were analyzed to consider candidates’ perceptions of coherence. We coded data to identify emergent themes serving the needs of program improvement; descriptive statistics were used where appropriate for survey items. A second round of data analysis focused more deeply on coherence and on those tools, practices, and complications that were relevant to supporting learning across coursework and fieldwork.
Findings highlight the importance of embedding practice-based clinical work into teacher preparation coursework, as well as the necessity of making deliberate connections between coursework and fieldwork. Findings also indicate that there is an interaction between candidates’ perceptions of coherence and the degree to which program features are explicitly or implicitly named as components of a programmatic strategy for coherence. The findings address the design and settings of clinical practice and the use of pedagogical tools (instructional rounds, enactments, & rehearsals) as methods for “contextualizing” teacher education to prepare candidates for specific schools, districts, and cities, thus promoting coherence both during and after candidate’s time in teacher education.
Significance
This paper provides evidence of how program coherence is conceptualized and actualized across the settings of a teacher education program, offering examples that others can adopt or adapt. It also highlights pitfalls connected with program design and deliberate efforts to deepen connections between coursework and fieldwork.

Author

• Peter W. Williamson, Stanford University