Education Commons^™

"It Opened My Eyes...": The Potential Of An Embedded Clinical Experience In Teacher Preparation, Danielle M. Hilaski, Nicole Maxwell, Jennie Jones

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Teacher candidates (TCs) often feel underprepared for their first teaching positions. Teacher education programs are, at least partially, responsible for the level of readiness of their graduating TCs. Fortunately, teacher educators have the capacity to positively change teacher education, creating a more effective, better prepared teaching force. Embedded clinical experiences connected to university literacy courses are one innovative approach to create more purposeful and engaging learning opportunities for TCs. TCs in an early childhood and special education program participated in an embedded clinical experience focused on reading and assessment, which allowed them to implement course content directly with elementary students, …