INTRODUCTION

Student teaching is one of the most significant aspects of teacher education. It provides preservice teachers with an opportunity to understand all dimensions of teaching and to apply what they have learned in previous experiences. All participants in the student teaching program play an important role in providing the context in which a preservice teacher can demonstrate his/her ability to assume the responsibilities of a full-time teacher.

The success of this supervised teaching experience depends upon close cooperation among teachers and administrators, university personnel, and each student teacher. Cooperative relationships are fostered through the contacts that student teachers, supervising personnel, and administrators have with one another.

The key person in this experience is the supervising teacher in the school. This individual brings to life the professional aspects of the teaching experience through a willingness to share expertise with a student teacher, to observe activities planned and introduced by the student teacher, to offer advice regarding effectiveness of teaching and classroom management techniques, and to provide the support that student teachers often need in maintaining their professional and personal well-being as they transition from student to professional educator.

The purpose of the eleven-week student teaching period is to provide opportunities for the student teacher to:

• Apply the knowledge and skills acquired in teacher education course work and pre-student teaching field experiences
  
• Apply the Standards of Effective Practice
• Explore multiple teaching strategies
• Apply classroom management techniques
• Demonstrate attitudes consistent with good teaching
• Perform professional duties deemed important in each school setting
• Apply principles of professional and ethical behavior
• Explore the role of the teacher in the schools and begin to identify with that role
• Develop entry level competence in the full range of teaching functions