Student Teacher Field Supervisors Articulate Their Roles

The importance of field supervision of student teacher candidates is well-recognized. However, the role of the supervisor is often unarticulated and ambiguous, left to the field supervisor and the candidate to delineate and define. The individual practices of field supervisors are often idiosyncratic representations of the goals of the specific teacher preparation program, or simply based on personal knowledge and experience. What are those supervisory practices, and are there differences based on the supervisors’ professional backgrounds? Based on survey responses from field supervisors at one university, this qualitative investigation suggests supervisors’ professional backgrounds and affiliations with teacher preparation programs do influence how supervisors assist new teachers develop as professionals. Former teachers tend to focus on practical and concrete aspects of teaching while university faculty and former teacher-administrators strive to connect classroom teaching to state mandates and teacher preparation program-identified curricular concerns. Field supervisors represent teacher preparation programs in schools and classrooms, but teacher preparation program faculty may not be fully aware of how they are being represented and what lessons supervisors are sharing with candidates and cooperating teachers