Bridging gaps in 21st century teacher training

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20196439

This qualitative interpretive phenomenological analysis presents how student teachers experience teacher training in the 21^st century. Through semi-structured interviews, this investigation explored the lived experiences of five undergraduate students undergoing secondary education teacher training in order to answer three research questions: How do student teachers describe their undergraduate coursework experience, and what aspects of that learning best prepared them for their classroom internships (student teaching)? How do student teachers describe their student teaching practicums, and what learning experiences did they have during their internships that best prepared them to teach? How do student teachers describe the experience of transitioning from coursework to classroom? Findings indicate that teacher training programs can better support interns' professional identity formation by leveraging their feelings of accountability for their pupils, increasing opportunities for them to practice teaching during pre-practicum observation hours, and nurturing the reciprocal learning they experience with both their mentor teachers and the other professionals in their site schools. Implications for teacher training program reform include aligning practicum start to secondary school schedules, increasing opportunities for practice during observation hours, formalizing reciprocal learning between veteran and student teachers, establishing Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) comprised of university and placement school personnel, extending the seminar course to a full year, and integrating theory, practice, and discipline-specific content and habits of mind. With these reforms, we can bridge the gaps that exist in 21^st century teacher education so that novice educators are better prepared to educate a diverse student population.