beyond the four walls

Abstract

Professors are encouraged to examine the extent to which students are affected by the various aspects of their teaching and the teacher preparation experience. Typically, at the beginning of the semester professors disseminate to their teacher education candidates a course syllabus delineating the nature of the course and evaluation criteria. After providing descriptive information about the course, the evaluation component of the syllabus may read something like a cooking recipe: chapter quizzes 20%, class presentation 15%, research paper 15%, midterm and final exams 15 % each, class attendance and participation 10%, and field-based clinical experience 10%. An obtained 90 % average across all criteria often amounts to an “A ” for the course. Now, everyone is off to the races for the semester. But as the end nears, a legitimate question may be raised, which criteria were proclaimed by the candidates as the one(s) that helped them to know whether or not teaching is really for them? This manuscript points out that the multi-faceted teacher preparation efforts between the four (4) hallowed walls of the university do have their place in producing a quality teacher. However, for students to get a true feeling for the career upon which they are embarking, field-based clinical experience perhaps has unrealized potential. Along with the discussion of the crucial aspects of teacher preparation, this manuscript also highlights what candidates have to say about their field-based clinical experience, which makes the case for its importance