The Practicum Dyad: Investigating Collaborations between Resident Teachers and University Supervisors to Support New Educators

The Practicum Dyad: Investigating Collaborations between Resident Teachers and University Supervisors to Support New EducatorsABSTRACTThe practicum experience is critical to the preparation of future teachers, yet the working relationships between resident teachers (RTs) and university supervisors (USs) as they provide co-supervision to preservice teachers (PSTs) has received little focus in the empirical literature. Much can be learned from understanding the working relationships, and efforts of collaboration, between the RT/US dyad in support of PSTs. This qualitative study examined how these supervising partners view their roles and the roles of their counterparts in their working relationships to support PSTs during the practicum in one school of education at a large, land-grant university in the western U.S. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen participants of this teacher preparation program, which included five university supervisors (US) and eight resident teachers (RT) who were all involved in supervising PSTs during their practicum. All interviews were transcribed and analytic coding completed. The experiences of the participants ranged from 1-15 years in their RT or US role, participant vignettes and collective thematic findings are presented. Four major themes emerged after coding that have important implications for teacher preparation programs. The primary dyadic relationships for both RT and US were with the PST rather than with each other. The concept of a triad relationship that explicitly emphasized the importance of the US/RT relationship within that triad did not emerge from either US or RT interviews. Both also mentored from a protective stance toward the PST, expressing the need to emotionally support PSTs during this difficult learning experience. However, despite this protective stance, both also worked with the assumption that PSTs would self-advocate if they needed more support, clarity or resources from the supervisors or the program. Participants from both groups lacked role clarity from the university program and relied on their experiences as classroom teachers to support their PSTs in learning to teach. These findings provide opportunities to engage in programmatic reflection to engage faculty, USs and RTs in defining supervisory roles that are complementary and collaborative, committing resources to preparing supervisors for their roles and creating opportunities for ongoing collaboration during the practicum with the goal of developing strong, collaborative relationships among all the triad (RT/US/PST) partners during the practicum. Keywords: university supervisor, resident teacher, preservice teacher, collaboration, learning to teac