Module 1: Shared Language and Definitions
Essential Questions
- What shared language or definitions are critical to understand before mentoring a pre-service teacher (PST)?
- How do these definitions and ideas shape the mentor/mentee relationship in an early field experience?
What do we mean by early field experience?
Early field experience refers to any experience that occurs prior to student teaching. Each institution of higher education has multiple and varied experiences with their students in order to prepare them. Whether a purposeful observation or a practicum teaching experience, from the moment a PST enters your classroom, they are entering the profession of teaching. The impact that you have on a PST is huge – you are often the person that helps that person determine if the teaching profession is the right profession for them. Therefore, it is critical that students begin on the right foot with you and that you share a professional, realistic, and positive experience together.
During early field experiences, PSTs have assignments from their professors in related courses that they must complete during the experience. Whether it is examining the functions of the classroom, working with an individual child, a case study, or developing and instructing a mini lesson, the important part is that you as the mentor understand the expectations of the experience.
During early field experiences the Mentor cooperating teacher (Mentor CT) is always the primary instructor and liable for the welfare of students in their classroom. Whereas during student teaching, it is beneficial to leave the PST alone with the students for periods of time, this is not an expectation during early field experience.