"I Wanted to Give Back to the Profession": University Supervisors as Volunteers

• In Event: Developing New Models of Supervision That Bridge the College to Classroom Theory-Practice Gap

Abstract

University supervision of student teachers has never occupied high status in teacher education programs and is typically outsourced to adjuncts and graduate students. This qualitative case study examined how the devaluing of university supervision led second-career supervisors to position their work as volunteers. This study found that second-career supervisors viewed themselves embodying a service role, whereby they altruistically accepted low-status and low-pay work to “give back to the profession.” Because they saw themselves as providing a service, the supervisors unwilling to develop new teacher educator identities and retained practitioner identities. Lastly, program administrators were reluctant to mandate trainings for supervisors, because of their low-pay. Additional training to develop career-minded supervisors could mitigate this finding.

Author

• Sarah Capello, Radford University