Clinical Field Experiences of Nontraditional Pre-service Teachers: Issues and Beliefs

According to the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE, 2010), effective teaching practices and good clinical experiences share a mutually beneficial relationship. Additionally, according to research reported by AACTE (2010), an important link exists between future P–12 studentachievement and effective clinical practices experienced by pre-service teachers. This case study sought to determine experiences deemed effective or important by nontraditional pre-service teachers while engaged in fieldwork completed in an elementary and/or middle school classroom setting. Four themes were derived from the qualitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews of four junior or senior teacher education students engaged in clinical field experiences. These finding are discussed in this paper. The purpose of this study was to determine which teacher preparation program experiences nontraditional pre-service teachers find supportive, shape their learning, and provide them with tools that foster effective teaching practices. Specifically, this study explored the experiences of nontraditional pre-service teachers during their fieldwork completed in P – 12 (elementary and middle school) classroom settings. For the purposes of this study, the use of the nontraditional classification for the participants is due to their delayed enrollment in post-secondary education (Chung, Turnbull, & Chur-Hansen, 2014; National Center for Education Statistics, 2002). Each participant was over age 30 during the time of the study. A reported factor demonstrated to positively affect a nontraditional student’s success in the classroom involves engagement and service learning (Buglione, 2012). Clinical field requirements typically found in teacher education programs are capable of providing students with such experiences. Additionally, these experiences help construct a bridge between theory and practice (American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education [AACTE], 2010). Consequently, these experiences could be valuable as these nontraditional students formulate and refine opinions, beliefs, and understandings related to educational issues. Indeed, Buglione (2012) reported the importance of course experiences paired with affiliated service work on nontraditional students’ academic motivation. Furthermore, research has validated the perceived value of learning skills, building confidence and experiencing a reinforcement of held beliefs as a result of their classes and related service for nontraditional students (Buglione, 2012; Ross-Gordon, 2011). As a member of the faculty at the participating institution, the findings of this study provided three levels of information. First, the findings provided information that could be used to better understand the types of supportive 1 DiLoreto: Experiences of Nontraditional Pre-service Teachers Published by Scholar Commons, 2018 relationships, as well as the level of support, these nontraditional pre-service teachers desired from both their university faculty and the P – 12 supervising mentors. Second, it provided information concerning what they’ve learned as a result of having hands-on experiences within the P – 12 setting. Third, it provided information about how their beliefs about standardized testing have been influenced by their P – 12 experiences. Information obtained from the study could then be used to determine whether or not the education programs at their institution were employing identified strategies known to foster supportive relationships that could help nontraditional students succeed in their endeavors to become professional educators.