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VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

Field and Clinical Experiences

Definition:

Field experiences refer to all activities approved and directed by the College of Education which involve education students in observation or interaction with public school pupils and their teachers. These experiences include only those which precede student teaching, and most likely begin in an undergraduate's sophomore year.

Purpose:

In general, the purpose of pre-student teaching field experience is to provide directed activities, exposures, and interactions with the intent of sharpening the cognitive and affective understandings of the pupil-teacher relationship. More specifically, the intent of the pre-student teaching field experience is to provide:

1. exposure to and interactions with pupils at instructional levels of kindergarten through grade 12;
2. exposure to and interaction with public school pupils in schools which present varied socioeconomic experiences;
3. opportunities for education students to examine their personal ideas regarding teaching, and their potential for teaching early enough to make meaningful career decisions;
4. the College of Education with information regarding a student's potential and effectiveness in working with pupils;
5. students the opportunity to test and apply learning theories in an instructional environment prior to student teaching.

Rationale:

The College of Education, if it is to continue to provide a teacher education program which is approved by the Georgia State Board of Education, must implement a program which offers students field experience in a variety of multi-cultural school environments as early as the sophomore year.

A review of the literature indicates that the major justification for providing pre-student field experience is that when students are involved in the field experience as early as the sophomore year, they either (1) remove themselves earlier from education as a career goal and consider other options or (2) they continue to find teaching to be attractive as a prospective profession. Regardless of the decision, in either case the decision should be based on realistic experiences rather than borrowed notions of what teaching is supposed to be.

Through coordinated pre-student teaching field experiences, earlier and more effective training of the education student, as well as more meaningful guidance relative to continuation in the field, can be provided by the College of Education.

FIELD EXPERIENCE PROGRAM

Field experiences which precede full-time student teaching are an integral part of the coursework requirements of the undergraduate teacher education program at Valdosta State University. All aspects of the undergraduate curriculum for teacher education which stem from the specific vocation of teaching are represented in this program of professional studies: foundations of education, educational theory and practice, and content of the teaching specialty. Direct and simulated field experiences prior to student teaching are an integral component of this program.

The purpose of these experiences is to illustrate and demonstrate the testing and turning of educational theory into educational practice for university students who are preparing to become members of the teaching profession. To achieve this goal, students are involved in three broad categories of experiences wherein they may apply teaching and learning theory as well as content specific knowledge in realistic situations: observation, participation, and teaching.

Field experiences may take place in a variety of settings in the local community. The VSU College of Education Student Services Office (called Office of Professional Laboratory Experiences in other documents) provides opportunities for many of these. Early field experiences as well as other field experiences are available through special schools and centers, community organizations and agencies, and classroom experiences and programs at the University.

Many field experiences take place in public schools of the South Georgia area.

School officials maintain that careful planning has assured each student the opportunity to develop an understanding and appreciation of other cultures through interaction with a multi-ethnic student body. All school activities, interest groups, and/or organizations must be open to students of all cultures to further enhance the total desegregation process.

Opportunities are great for students in education at VSU to observe, participate, and teach in a wide array of direct and simulated clinical experiences, including those in laboratory, special, or multicultural settings.

Coordinator of Clinical Experiences

The design, approval, and on-going evaluation and continued development of the field experience component of the teacher education program is the responsibility of the College of Education. Within the College, the Assistant Dean of Student Services administers and supervises student teaching and field experiences.

The Assistant Dean is responsible for administering the policies of the College regarding student teaching and field experiences. Those responsibilities, which relate specifically to field experiences include:

1. Insuring that student teaching and field experiences meet the minimum criteria established by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Legislature, other policy-making bodies, and the College of Education.
2. Assisting in developing field experience programs at both graduate and undergraduate levels.
3. Assisting faculty with scheduling of field experiences and practica.
4. Coordinating with public school board personnel the appropriate placement of student teachers and field experience students.
5. Formulating lists of cooperating teachers and field experience teachers from school systems' lists.
6. Notifying school systems and cooperating teachers of assignment of student teachers or field experience students.
7. Preparing and disseminating necessary information regarding student teachers and field experience students.
8. Conducting meetings with teachers and college supervisors regarding field experiences and student teaching information.
9. Scheduling meetings as appropriate, for student teachers and/or field experience students.
10. Preparing evaluation forms for student teaching and field experience activities.
11. Developing forms for data collection for student teaching and field experiences.
12. Supervising activities of the College of Education Student Services Office
13. Assessing on a semester basis the appropriateness of the experiences received and recommending changes to the College faculty, officers of the local public school board, and cooperating teachers.
14. Visiting schools to evaluate the types of experiences being provided.
15. Coordinating the activities of the Field Experiences Advisory Committee.

Participating Sites and Supervision of Field Experiences

The facilities and faculty of the University provide a wide array of on-going field experiences for the rest of the College of Education. The selection and use of other school and program sites and participating teachers and staff within these sites represent a cooperative effort between the administration and faculty of the College of Education. Such decisions are made jointly among the VSU faculty members responsible for coursework, the COE Assistant Dean and the participating school officials.

Responsibility for the implementation of the field experience component for specific courses rests with the faculty or staff with the appropriate professional and scholarly preparation who teach these courses. Students involved in field experiences are supervised by the instructor of the course or by graduate teaching assistants qualified to do so and under the direction of the instructor.

Program of Study

The program of study in the undergraduate education curriculum provides for a sequence of courses with field experiences which proceed developmentally from observations in the freshman year or early in the sophomore year to actual teaching experiences in classrooms and other realistic settings during a student's junior and senior years leading up to a full semester of student teaching.

Specific types of field experiences may include, but are not limited to, the following array grouped here under three broad categories of types of field experiences: observation, participation, and teaching.

Types of Field Experiences

1. Observation

Students may

• observe demonstrations and other classroom activities at the various University facilities
• observe in a variety of public and other school settings at a variety of grade levels, including multicultural settings and regular and special classrooms with exceptional learners
• view electronic presentations and simulations of teaching situations and special programs
• view demonstrations of special approaches and models of teaching
• observe for the purpose of career decision making early in the program of study
• observe and monitor master teaching
• observe with a focus on the structure of schools and nature of students and teaching
• examine teaching and management techniques which have been presented and discussed in class
• apply class lecture and text material in the evaluation of observations in different settings
• use selected observational instruments to analyze and record experiences
• keep a log of observational experiences
• develop awareness through observations of the historical, philosophical, and social contexts for multicultural education and special education.
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  2. Participation

  Students may:

• act as a teacher aid in a classroom situation
• perform clerical tasks
• assist in the administration of tests
• correct tests and other papers
• interview students for specific purposes leading to the development of instructional strategies
• interpret case history data and develop an IEP based on this data
• construct an IEP
• complete a referral form for exceptional children and follow referral process to placement
• assess and evaluate materials and resources for learning
• tutor individual students in specific content areas
• participate in multicultural methods activities and activities designed for exceptional learners
• apply class lecture and text material in analyzing and evaluating these experiences

 

3. Teaching

Students may:

• perform diagnostic and prescriptive tasks in a specific content area
• apply formal and informal assessment techniques in classroom teaching situations
• plan and practice strategies and techniques for the individualization of learning eperiences
• administer Piagetian tasks
• carry out small group instruction in a specific content area
• team teach with other students
• develop and teach unit plans
• design and carry out a behavior management project
• assume responsibility for classroom management
• use audio-visual aids for instructional purposes
• develop and use games and other activities for teaching
• construct and administer a test
• plan, teach, and evaluate instruction in specific content areas in a variety of settings, including multicultural and settings with exceptional learners in regular as well as special classrooms.

Courses and Curricula

Curriculum in Elementary

Field experiences in elementary education begin in a student's sophomore year with observations and limited participation in and progress to more extensive experiences including responsibility for planning and implementing instruction in an elementary classroom throughout a semester under the supervision of a classroom teacher and university instructor in specific content courses

Courses in the junior year include reading and language arts methods, which are blocked with a shared field experience, a physical education methods course, and an introduction to exceptional children.

During a student's senior year, methods courses in Science, mathematics, and social studies are blocked for field experiences. Additionally, students are provided with further practical experiences in reading instruction just prior to or concurrent with student teaching.

The goal of these experiences is to prepare pre-service teachers for effective performance as a student teacher and their future role as an in-service teacher through a program of carefully sequenced situations in which they may interpret and apply a knowledge of current theories of learning and teaching in specific content areas as presented in their university classes.

Curriculum in Secondary

Field experiences in the secondary undergraduate curriculum will follow a sequential path which begins with observations in the University and continues with observations and participation experiences in the sophomore year.

The junior and senior years include methods courses in specific content for a teaching specialty and culminate in a full semester of student teaching in a realistic setting in a local public school.

The goals of field experience progress from guided observations and exposure to secondary schools and career decision making to a full-scale internship under both school and university supervisors. The over-all intent of this program is to prepare secondary teachers who understand and can function competently in secondary schools.

Curriculum in K-12

Valdosta State University offers programs of study leading to certification of teachers of K-12 in the areas of special education and speech-language pathology. A sequence of field experiences in courses begins in the freshman year and continues in the junior year

with education courses which provide observations in all areas of K-12 certification.

Methods courses in the content specialty in each area of instruction include further experiences in observation, participation, and teaching to prepare students to become teachers in one of those specific areas of certification.

Curriculum in Special Education: Mild Disabilities and Severe Disabilities

Across the entire curriculum in special education, contact with the field has been managed with the following sequence of events in mind:

1. Simulated experiences begin the sequence. These include films, video-tapes, and audio-tapes. Simulations, problem-solving, and interpretation of core summary information is included at this level.
2. Observations and demonstrations are the second level of field experiences. Students visit a variety of educational delivery systems in this area. Several unique institutions and programs are located near the University and are included as observation and demonstration sites.
3. Micro-teaching, educational testing, tutoring, and other small group or individualized learning experiences constitute a third level of contact. Projects in behavioral management, diagnosis, and assessment and similar situations provide opportunity for this kind of experience.

The student teaching experience is the culmination of the practical, hands-on experiences for pre-service teacher training. A progress sequence interaction is also followed during this term. The goal is to bring the student to the point where he/she has complete responsibility for the classroom. Of vital importance at any level of this experience sequence is the need to integrate the practical experiences. Frequent conferences involving student groups and faculty help with this integration.

Opening School Experience

The required Opening School Experience is completed in approved public schools and is scheduled to begin with the pre-planning period when teachers return to work in mid- to late August and extend through the first week of school--a period of approximately two weeks. Students must plan around work, and other vacation activities to permit completion of the Opening School Experience. Applications and detailed information about the Opening School Experience are available in the Office of the Dean of Education. Students are required to attend an Opening School Experience debriefing at the culmination of this activity.

Documentation of Field Experiences

The Pre-Student Teaching experiences documentation will be completed by each student at the end of his/her teacher education program at Valdosta State University. This information will provide the College of Education Student Services Office with documentation and verification of the appropriate school and experience locations, grade levels, and types of field experiences.