While university supervisors and cooperating teachers share the goal of preparing students to be effective teachers, they differ in their perspectives on the learning processes that take place. While student teachers need exemplary models, they must also learn to become independent thinkers, grasping principles and developing new techniques. This ERIC Digest considers the barriers to improved student teacher supervision, identifies approaches to overcoming such barriers, and describes collaborative efforts in which public school and university personnel are equal partners. At the University of New Hampshire, cooperating teachers, building principals, and university supervisors work together. Cooperating teachers learn more about the theoretical side of teacher education and are better able to match supervisory styles to the developmental stages of the preservice teachers.
Principals incorporate newly acquired knowledge into their role as instructional leaders.
In 1989 Ohio State University, the local public schools, and the state education association initiated a program where fully released public school teachers share the supervision of student teachers with university supervisors. The benefits of collaborative efforts are manifold and enrich each triad member. Student teachers have the opportunity to incorporate fully both the theoretical and the practical into their teaching. Additionally, the cooperating teacher and the university supervisor create a working relationship based on mutual respect and understanding for each others' expertise, perspectives, and roles. A synthesis of role-perspective studies.