Education Commons^™

Conceptualizing Images Of Supervisors In Teacher Education, Steve Haberlin, Rebecca W. Burns

Journal of Educational Supervision

Due to the marginalization of supervision (Butler, et al., 2023; Nolan, 2022) and few frameworks to conceptualize supervision in teacher preparation, educational supervision of clinical experiences receives less attention and fewer resources, which perpetuates its marginalization. It is imperative that scholars develop additional theoretical models or constructs to improve the understanding and practice of supervision to elevate its status beyond technical helping. In this paper, we draw upon several sources in the instructional supervision literature to re-conceptualize commonly used images of supervisors in teacher education. In addition to traditional conceptions (The Critic, the Popular Parent, the Co-Inquirer), we ‘introduce’ two …

Teacher Candidate Supervision For Social Justice: Orientations, Practices, And Challenges, Andrew E. Hood

Journal of Educational Supervision

The need for teachers who are thoughtful and attentive to issues of social justice is more apparent now than ever before. Teacher education can and should be tasked with preparing teachers to serve a student population that is becoming more diverse over time. As teacher educators who function within both the university coursework and student teaching fieldwork spaces, teacher candidate supervisors are well-positioned to support candidates to make sense of and incorporate social justice-centered practices in their teaching. Building on the findings of Jacobs (2006), a comprehensive literature review of journal articles published in the last 20+ years revealed that …

Learning From Faculty Mentors Who Had To Mentor And Evaluate Teacher Candidates Completing A Remote Practicum In The Early Stages Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In Canada, Sheryl Macmath, Deirdre Degagne

Journal of Educational Supervision

In the Spring of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic impacted all aspects of life throughout the world, including education. Teachers who had never taught online before, all of a sudden had one week to get ready to engage with their students in a virtual setting. On top of these changes, our small post-degree Canadian teacher education program had teacher candidates on practicum in K-12 schools. That meant our faculty mentors, responsible for recommending teacher candidates for certification, had to figure out how to mentor, support, and evaluate teacher candidates who were teaching remotely. This research aimed to address the following …

Early Childhood Supervision: Tensions In The Advancement Of Developmentally Appropriate And Social-Justice Oriented Practice, Sarah Jean Baker, Sascha C. Mowrey, Denise Cunningham

Journal of Educational Supervision

This case examines the complex interactions among university faculty, teacher candidates, and school-based mentor teachers during supervision. In early childhood, among other skills and dispositions, the use of developmentally appropriate practice and an equity focus are important to the overall advancement of teacher candidates’ practice. However, supervisors do not have oversight of the classrooms in which early childhood candidates are placed for field experiences. In some cases, teacher candidates may be expected to conform to or demonstrate practices themselves which are not developmentally appropriate, or which are inequitable. What is the role of the supervising faculty member in these cases, …

Preparing Future Teachers To Meet The Needs Of English Language Learners: A Proposal For Curriculum Reform, Alyson Haley

Honors College

English language learners are an underserved population within the public school system, and there is not enough being done to prepare future teachers to teach these students. The University of Maine College of Education and Human Development is one of the leading teacher preparation programs in Maine, but they no longer offer undergraduate courses on how to teach ELL students. The classes offered at the University address ELLs within the special education context and teaching multiculturalism in a mainstream classroom. Teaching ELLs is different than teaching native English-speaking students, therefore the instructional strategies used within a mainstream classroom are not …

A Question-Based Framework For Co-Constructing Supervision In Clinically Based Teacher Preparation, Logan Rutten

Journal of Educational Supervision

The field of teacher education has embraced robust models of clinically based teacher preparation. In part because these models rely upon school-university partnerships for which shared missions are an essential component, they also demand increasingly complex, co-constructed conceptions of supervision to support teacher candidates’ learning during clinical practice. However, even as the need for supervision has grown, good supervision is seldom clearly defined. Many supervisors begin supervising largely underprepared for the complexity of their work in clinical settings. In response to these challenges, this paper proposes a framework for co-constructing supervision consisting of four key components—conceptions, models, tasks, and techniques—that …

Assessing Teacher Candidates’ Pedagogical Judgement: An Analysis Of Clinically-Based Instructional Assignments, Sonia Janis, Mardi Schmeichel, Joseph Mcanulty, Chantelle Grace, Kaitlin Wegrzyn

Journal of Educational Supervision

Research on clinically-based teacher education indicates that facilitating clinical experiences for teacher candidates improves their preparation for the profession. While we have answered the call to implement rich clinical experiences in our teacher education program, we have found that we also needed to design new, robust strategies to assess what the candidates are taking away from their clinical experiences. This paper describes our use of Horn and Campbell’s (2015) notion of “pedagogical judgment” to analyze the work of social studies teacher candidates in clinical placements. We describe a rubric developed to evaluate candidates’ pedagogical judgment and offer insights into the …

Supervision And Teacher Wellness: An Essential Component For Improving Classroom Practice, Carl Glickman, Rebecca West Burns

Journal of Educational Supervision

Teaching has always been a stressful profession, but the additions of high-stakes accountability coupled with a global pandemic have increased stress to unprecedented levels. Thus, supervision must attend to teacher wellness to improve instructional practice. This article offers practical suggestions educational leaders can implement in their supervision to support teachers’ emotional well-being. Those strategies include being humble, giving statements of affirmation and practice, using data to drive inquiry, focusing on strengths, offering concrete suggestions, thinking aloud, re-energizing teachers intellectually, leveraging community resources, and developing teacher leaders. More information about these strategies and other practical ways to support teacher learning can …

Reexamining Faculty Roles In The Supervision Of Pre-Service Teachers: Responding To The Call For Clinically-Rich Teacher Education, Sarah Capello

Journal of Educational Supervision

In an effort to integrate university coursework with field-site experiences and bolster pre-service teacher learning, national teacher education organizations have charged teacher education programs with embedding teacher preparation within clinically-rich experiences. These reforms have resulted in expanded and increasingly complex conceptions of pre-service teacher supervision and the university supervisor, which have affected not only traditional supervisors but all university-based teacher educators. This paper presents a framework that maps the shifting roles of four university-based teacher educators: program administrators, research faculty, teaching faculty, and adjunct faculty due to changing notions of clinically-rich pre-service teacher supervision. This framework demonstrates how faculty roles …

Tensions In The Preparation Of University Supervisors: Dual Perspectives From Supervisors And Administrators, Sarah Capello

Journal of Educational Supervision

Prior research shows that supervisors of teacher candidates are typically underprepared for their work and receive little oversight of it. However, there has been less research into these causes and the effects of minimal preparation on supervisors. This case study of a teacher education department uses survey, interviews, and document analysis to examine the tensions that occur when supervisors are underprepared for their roles. The results indicate three tensions that undermine supervisors’ practice: unclear expectations, perfunctory evaluations, and the failure to develop teacher educator identities. In the absence of organizational supports for supervisor preparation and development, supervisors relied on peer …

Pedagogy, Practice, And Mentorship: Core Elements Of Connecting Theory To Practice In Teacher Educator Preparation Programs, Monique Alexander

Journal of Educational Supervision

experiences as the heart of preservice teacher preparation, the research community has attempted to understand more about the pedagogies and personnel that will support learning in these areas. Supervisors are a staple in the clinical field experience, yet the research community has a limited viewpoint of the practices and decision-making that lay underneath their work. Using a multiple case study methodology and a select but diverse group of participants, this study investigated the resources that supervisors draw on to resolve challenges in their practice. The results of this study highlight the significance of coursework for the preparation of teacher educators. …

Tinker, Tailor, Supervisor, Spy: Lessons Learned From Distant Supervision, Elizabeth Currin, Stephanie Schroeder, Elizabeth Bondy, Brittney Castanheira

Journal of Educational Supervision

This study investigates the transition from a local to a distant model of clinical intern supervision at a large, public, research university. Interviews were conducted with supervisors who had participated in local and distant supervision to explore challenges and adaptations throughout the first year of the distant model. Aside from areas of consensus, such as difficulties with communication, observations, coaching, and seminar meetings, the supervisors revealed distinctly different responses to the expectation of carrying out the distant supervision model with fidelity. Positioning theory provided helpful insight into the range of experiences and reactions within the interview data. Our findings suggest …

Inconsistent Conceptions Of Acceleration Contributing To Formative Assessment Limitations, Gregory D. Kranich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has become a national priority in light of measures indicating marginal student interest and success in the United States. Just as evidence is integral to policy decisions, so too do teachers depend on evidence to inform instructional choices. Classroom assessment remains a touchstone means of gathering such evidence as indicators of students’ progress, and increasingly, teachers are designing, implementing, and interpreting assessments in collaboration with one another.

In rural Maine, the work of the Maine Physical Sciences Partnership (MainePSP) has enabled science educators to come together as a supportive professional community. We focused …

The Persona Doll Project: Promoting Diversity Awareness Among Preservice Teachers Through Storytelling, Mary Ellin Logue, V. Susan Bennett-Armistead, Soojoung Kim

Child Development and Family Relations Faculty Scholarship

The Persona Doll Project describes an experiential intervention with undergraduate preservice teachers designed to increase awareness about diversity and apply this awareness to curriculum planning and advocacy for children. Sixty-three undergraduate students in a social studies methods class were each assigned a persona doll for the semester whose background differed from their own. Each was charged with becoming the advocate for the child, represented by the doll, by telling informed stories that would help other students better understand a level of diversity beyond what they knew from their own lives. Students heightened awareness of their own assumptions through narrative, inquiry …

Academy Seeks Aspiring Teachers, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

Outstanding Maine high school students considering a career in teaching have the opportunity to get some solid experience at the University of Maine this summer. The UMaine College of Education and Human Development's Future Teachers Academy, offered at no cost to participants, takes place June 22-25.

University/School Partners Receive Grant To Expand Alternative Teacher Certification Project, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

A $1.035 million U.S. Department of Education grant will allow the University of Maine to expand its innovative alternative teacher certification program to Aroostook and Washington counties. Funded over five years, the Transition to Teaching grant is based on the success and promise of the model developed and piloted by the UMaine College of Education and Human Development in partnership with the Mid-Coast Superintendents' Association, comprised of school districts from Searsport to Bath.

Umaine, Maine Maritime Team Up To Train Future Teachers, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

A resourceful agreement between The University of Maine and Maine Maritime Academy is intended to expedite the initial certification process for a select group of aspiring educators and help address the severe shortage of mathematics and physical science teachers. The three-year pilot program, beginning this fall, opens access for MMA students to secondary science/mathematics education courses at UMaine.

Academy Seeks Aspiring Teachers, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

Maine high school students considering a career in teaching have the opportunity to get some solid experience at the University of Maine this summer. With a $7,000 grant from the MBNA Community Foundation, the UMaine College of Education and Human Development will offer a first-time Future Teachers Academy June 24-26 at no cost to participants.

Education Partnership Names Director, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

A regional partnership forged three years ago to improve K-12 teaching and learning has built a strong foundation and recently named a director to provide leadership for its ambitious agenda.

Nancy Yoder of Hampden, associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Maine, will devote half her workload to facilitating and coordinating activities of the Penobscot River Educational Partnership: A Professional Development Network.

Umaine Youth Program Earns Another National Award, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

The National Youth Sports Program at the University of Maine has been named one of the best in the country for the third time in its seven-year history. In announcing the 1999 Meritorious Program award winners, the National Collegiate Athletic Association recognized the UMaine program for outstanding leadership, service to children and community involvement. The UMaine NYSP received a first-year commendation award in 1993 and earned a meritorious program award in 1994.

New Educational Partnership Sharing Responsibility, Resources To Improve K-12 Teaching And Learning, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

A new partnership forged on common goals to improve K-12 teaching and learning is off to a strong start this fall, with expanded representation and an ambitious agenda. The Penobscot River Educational Partnership: A Professional Development Network (PREP:PDN), unites the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development and seven area school systems in a collaborative effort that links all areas of teacher preparation and professional development. The network is based on sharing and strengthening resources and expertise.

Teaching: A Demanding Job In High Demand, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

Increasingly, Maine is confronting the national problem of filling teaching positions, particularly at the middle school and high school levels, and key leadership posts with well-prepared, highly qualified educators. Even though the state is not experiencing a surge in K-12 enrollment like some other areas of the county, its well-established, senior teaching force is reaching retirement in great proportions.

Coaching Education Center Honors Sports Medicine Pioneer, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

The Maine Center for Coaching Education has honored retired Colby College educator and athletic trainer Carl E. Nelson of Waterville for his outstanding contributions to the promotion and practice of sports medicine in Maine. A pioneer in the care and prevention of athletic injuries, Nelson is the 1999 recipient of the Robert J. Lahey Sports Medicine Award.

Future Teachers To Learn Violence Prevention Strategies, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

University of Maine students preparing to be teachers will get some expert advice on how to recognize the clues and deal with the realities of bias, harassment and violence in today’s schools. A Nov. 5 workshop for students in the College of Education and Human Development’s teacher candidacy and Master of Arts in Teaching programs will focus on early detection of problems and positive intervention.

Bell Atlantic Gift Boosts Umaine Technology Training For Teachers, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

Technology is changing the way the world communicates and how teachers teach and students learn in Maine classrooms. A new partnership to further expand the digital bridge from classroom to a transformed society was announced today by the Bell Atlantic Foundation and the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development.

Umaine Offers New Graduate Program In Instructional Technology, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

Maine schools are wired, expect additional funding for computer hardware and software, and students are eager to enhance their learning with cutting-edge technology. Beginning this fall, a new graduate program from the University of Maine will address the critical need for a more technologically advanced K-12 teaching force.

New Educational Partnership Shares Responsibility, Resources To Improve K-12 Teaching And Learning, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

A new partnership forged on common goals and needs unites the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development and seven area school systems in a commitment to improve teaching and learning by bridging the gap between educational theory and classroom practice. The collaborative network, based on sharing and strengthening resources and expertise, links all areas of teacher preparation and continuing development.

Umaine Education Project Winners Announced, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

Nearly 70 students from the University of Maine's College of Education and Human Development presented displays of their senior projects at the recent fall poster session. Winners have been named in four categories. The students choose either an educational research or a school practice topic to explore in depth and present as a capstone project to the senior seminar. The displays and presentations were judged by members of Phi Delta Kappa, the international organization for professional educators.

The Bottom Line On Reading Programs: Most Work Some Of The Time, With Some Students, Paula Moore

General University of Maine Publications

Debate continues to rage in academic and research circles over beginning reading instruction. The controversies are heated and politically charged. Now, the so-called Reading War is boiling over into the popular press and stirring up unnecessary fears among parents and community members that schools and teachers may not be using the "best" method to teach reading. In Maine, reports about the Reading War are turning up with regularity in local newspapers and on radio talk shows and statewide newscasts.

New England Land-Grant Universities Consider Stronger Voice For Education, Equity Through Regional Collaboration, Kay Hyatt

General University of Maine Publications

Land-Grant University education deans and faculty from the six New England states are working toward becoming a collective and influential regional voice for educational policy and reform. They took the first step Feb. 6-7 when they joined forces to deliberate and consider a regional response to some of the most crucial issues confronting early childhood and K-12 education. In the process, they discovered much about the differences, similarities and potential for cooperation among their various institutions in the nation's most historic, compact and fiercely independent region.