SUPERVISING THE STUDENTTEACHER IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL

DR. MARLOW EDIGER

Professor EmeritusTruman State UniversityKirksville, MO. 63501

The student teacher being supervised in the public school soonbecomes a full time, licensed teacher. Student teaching is per­ceived to be the cap stone or final course in undergraduatepreparation before entering the profession of being a teacher. Itcarries much responsibility for the cooperating teacher and theuniversity supervisor in assi ting the student to emphasize qual­ity in helping pupils to achieve as optimally as po sible. Theuniversity supervisor and the cooperating teacher must worktogether to provide a quality student teaching experience. Stu­dent teacher need to be adequately prepared to meet obligationsof becoming a true professional (Ediger, 2007).

Preparing Student TeachersPrior to the student teaching experi­

ence, the pre-service teacher has beenengaged in general education cour e work,method of teaching cla se seminars,field experience , as well a ob ervationand participation in classroom . The eexperiences have assisted the prospectivetudent teacher to gain knowledge skill,

and under tandings pertaining to teachingand learning situation . The universityupervi or will now have the responsibil­

ity of assi ting the student teacher tointegrate what has been previouslyacquired in teaching pupils in the publicchool cla room. The supervisor will also

need to clarify expectation for the studentteaching experience. What will the super­visor expect of the tudent teacher duringthe time allotted to th.i final activity priorto becoming a full time licensed teacher?

The following need to be clarified withthe student teacher:• Lesson plan development for each les­

son taught

• A unit to be developed for unit teach­mg

• A seating chart of pupils in the cla ­room

• Grouping of pupil for instruction• Conference expectation of the un i­

ver ity supervisor• Evaluation considerations for student

teaching• Working responsibly with the cooper­

ating teacher.

Evaluation of Student TeachingPrior to each observational visit the

university supervisor needs to clarify theobjectives to be empha ized in teachingpupil with the tudent teacher.

Clarity of meaning i important in whatwill be emphasized in teaching and learn­ing ituatiollS.The learning activiti on thedaily Ie on plan need to match up witheach intended objecti e. The e aluationtechniques li ted a i t in a certainingwhat pupil have learned from the les ontaught.

During the time the les on i taught,

251

252 / Education Vol. 130 No.2

the university upervi or need to recordalient information on teaching and learn­

ing being tres ed by the tudent teacher.Thi needs to be done in a manner whichdoe not di tract the tudent teacher fromdoing a good job of teaching. De elopinga good elf concept is a mu t for the stu­dent teacher.

It i important to notice if pupil areacti ely engaged in the les on. Interest inlearning i a powerful factor in educationalp ychology. If elected pupil did notappear to be intere ted, what might be sug­ge ted during conference time with thetudent teacher to aid in pupil Ie on

engagement? A notice need be filled outo that the tudent teacher may work on

recorded deficiencies (See Ritchhart andPerkin 2008).

Second pupils need to understand con­tent taught. If ubject matter i notmeaningful pupil will re eat thi lack ofunder tanding during di cu ion te ttaken, or in future learning emphasized.Learning i equential and what i notunder tood pre ently will hinder ub e­quent progre . Hurrying to teach newubject matter will not uffice when the

pre ent lacks meaning for the pupil. Readi­ness for learning accrue when thepreviou ly presented knowledge and killpo es meaning. Whate er i taught mu tbe taught well. Meaningful ubject matterprovide equence for en uing knowledgeand skill to be attained (See Burke, 2005).

Third pupil mu t percei e purpo e inlearning. Thus reasons need to be in e i­dence for achie ing elected idea . Ifpurpo e i lacking pupil will lack per­cei ing relevance in the objecti e to be

attained. The tudent teacher maya istpupil inductively or deductively to per­ceive purpo e in learning. The writer whenuper i ing pre- er ice teacher ha

noticed how pupil attitude change in apo itive direction when they are a i tedin noticing the relevance of acquiring newknowledge and kill . Univer ity studentteachers need guidance in as i ting pupilto perceive purpo e in learning. Some­time imply tating in a few word whythe en uing content i important to belearned is adequate!

Fourth, university students are'generallyu ed to hearing complex idea in cour e­work taken on campu . They may needcon iderable as istance in communicatingideas on the understanding level of the pub­lic chool pupil. Teaching involveeffective communication in either an induc­ti e or deducti e approach. Subject matterneeds to be pr ented in a manner that iunderstandable to learners. To ascertain ifdirection ,for example, are understood fordoing a Ie son a pupil may be a ked torepeat what was aid in hi !her very ownword. After ha ing given an as ignrnent,the studentteacher my ob erve if the en u­ing work i done properly. Adequateleeway must be given, too, to have pupilsdo creative work whereby novel idea arepresented and appreciated. Originality ialient in writing creative poetry, storie

and play as well as in art work (Ediger,2007).

Fifth the tudent teacher need to pro­ide for indi idual difference in the

clas room. Pupil differ from each other indiver e way . Thu orne pupil like totudy and learn in mall group ; others pre-

fer individual activities to pursue. Select­ed pupils prefer quiet activities such asreading and writing experiences while oth­ers prefer to work on projects wherephysical movement and motion areinvolved. Additional differences amongpupil choices are the following:• assigned class work as compared to

making choices from among alterna­tives

• a quiet cla room ver u movement andmotion of learners engaging in learning

• being eated in rows and column ver­sus a flexible arrangement of classroomfurniture for learning

• teacher upervision of learning as com­pared to self monitoring of progress.Each pupil has a preference for specif­

ic kind of learning activitie ,such as thoseIi ted abo e. But still, each pupil needs acombination of activities such as workingby the self a well as with others. Both arealient in that individual need to do learn­

ing activitie by the self a well as worktogether with others in cla s. Later at thework place, individual will do ta k bythe elf a well as with others. Studentteachers need to observe and apprai e pupilprogres in either ituation (Ediger 2(06).

Positive attitudes of teachers towardtheir profe ion will shape their studentsinto becoming good citizens. As teachereducation programs are the most ignifi­cant methods for de eloping po iti eattitude toward teaching and the teachingprofe ion the a e ment of attitude oftudent teacher 0 er time help to evalu­

ate the effecti eness of experienceprovided changes in training and proce­dure ,or the general progress of program

Supervising the Student Teacher... /253

implementation. The result can help toimprove program de ign and implemen­tation daily procedure of pre- er iceteacher education program ,and upportservice.

One of the challenge we ee facingteacher education at the pre ent time iour need to re pond to the ten ion in ourpre- ervice education programs betweendevelopment of individual a profe­sional and the demand of profe ionalprograms that mu t ensure teaching com­petency (Devanandan, 2008).

Supervision of Reading InstructionReading, as one curriculum area,

receives much attention in the chool et­ting. The tudent teacher need a istanceto guide pupils in equential and remedi­al work. Young reader need guidance inbeginning reading in truction uch as inusing the Big Book approach. Here, a clasof five to seven children are taught usinga big book clearly visible to all in thegroup. Readine for the en uing readingactivity is promoted through a di cus ionof the related illu tration in the big book.The teacher reads aloud to the pupil point­ing to each word being read. Pupil followalong by viewing the printed cript.ln thenext read aloud both the teacher and pupilsare involved. Thi may be repeated as oftenas nece ary. Pupils learn to identify thenew words by ight. There i no embar­ras ment of pupils who cannot otherwi erecognize unknown words.

The uni ersity upervi or a i t thetudent teacher in bringing in new

approache in teaching which aid in pro­viding for individual difference in the

254 I Education Vol. 130 NO.2

clas room. Additional approache in read­ing instruction to as i t the tudent teacherin providing for indi idual differencesinclude the following:• using the basal reader more creatively

by tre ing new ideas along with thosein the manual. Tbu the basal shouldnot be u ed in a stultifying manner butrather emphasize teaching sugge tionswhich a i t pupil to achieve moreoptimally.

• implementing individualized readingby having pupil elect and read ilent­ly equentiallibrary book of their veryown choo ing during a designated timein cla s.

• emphasizing literature circle wherebypeer choo e and read a library bookinvolving a timulating di cu ion ofthe contents. Here peers help each otherin reading within a cooperati e learn­ing ituation (See Oarke and Holwadel,2(07).The univer ity supervi or and cooper­

ating teacher help tudent to growdevelop and acbie e during the tudentteaching experience.

ReferencBurke Karen (2005), "Teacher Certification

Exam: What Are the Predictors of Succe s "College Student Journal, 39 (4), 784- 793.

Clarke, Lane W., and Jennifer Holwadel, "Help!What is Wrong with The e Literature Circlesand How Do We Fix Them?" The ReadingTeacher, 61 (1) 20- 31.

Devanandan K. . (2008), Attitudinal Changes ofStudent Teachers in College of EducationAffiliated to Mahatma Ghandi University, Kot­tayam.

Ph D the i evaluated by the writer as a Memberof the External Examination Committee forAJagappa University, Karailcudi India.

Ediger, Marlow (2007), "Teacher Ob ervation toEvaluate Achievement," Journal of Instruc­tional Psychology, 34 (3),137-139.

Ediger, Marlow (2007), "Meaning in ReadingInstruction," Reading 1mprovement, 44 (4),217- 220.

Ediger, Marlow (2006), "Scaffolding and theReading CurricuJum," 10wa Educational Lead­ership, 8 (4) 24- 26.

Ritchhart, Ron, and David Perkins (2008), "Mak-ing Thinking Vi ible, , EducationalLeadership, 65 (5),57-63.

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