Content and Contexts: neglected elements in studies of student teaching as an occasion for learning to teach

Abstract

This paper argues that studies of student teaching as an occasion for learning to teach have mistakenly ignored the role of program content and contexts in the socialization of prospective teachers. A typology for distinguishing among the curricula of student teaching programs in studies of student teacher socialization is proposed based on Zeichner's (1983) paradigms of teacher education and Lanier's (1984) description of alternative conceptions of the teacher's role. Illustrations are also provided of how knowledge about the various contexts of student teaching can be incorporated into studies of student teacher socialization. It is concluded that we will only begin to understand more about the role of student teaching in teacher development when we begin to take more of the substance and ecological reality of student teaching into account in research studies.