Maintains that accepting student teachers is a major professional responsibility and challenge. Reports that research indicates the cooperating teacher is the most significant influence on student teachers. Provides a set of recommendations for cooperating teachers. (CFR)

Discusses how the Minority Mentorship Project, a cross-cultural program at Texas A & M University, changed the attitudes and perceptions of preservice teachers to work with a culturally diverse school-age population. Integration of multicultural education, human relations training, and cross-cultural mentoring provided appropriate strategies…

Investigated how English preservice elementary teachers built upon their repertoire of knowledge for teaching science, tracing their development of subject knowledge and pedagogical knowledge in science and their views about the knowledge base required. Interview data indicated that participants drew upon subject knowledge in combination with…

Describes a model program to prepare teachers from midwestern liberal arts colleges for urban teaching careers. Student teachers come to Chicago and live together, student teaching in local urban schools and completing regular professional development and cultural diversity activities. Pre- and post-program interviews and essays indicate that the…

Interviews with Canada Native student teachers asked them to reflect on their practice following a final practicum at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. Results showed that they were using techniques appropriate to Indian education, though they felt there were additional areas of need in their preparation. (SM)

Describes a cross-cultural course offered by the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada) to develop preservice teachers' understanding of aboriginal cultures, taking data from instructors' experiences and student narratives. The paper discusses the lack of understanding in white preservice teachers' views of self…

Describes a social science methods course where preservice teachers taught a unit on controversial topics involving tolerance and intolerance. Students were forbidden to lecture. Permitted methods included cooperative learning, inquiry, simulations, jackdaws, documents, and sociodrama. Student response was generally positive. (MJP)

Reports a study of white, middle-class, elementary preservice teachers who tutored poor African-American students. Interviews indicated that although all tutors claimed to care for their assigned students and to act with the best intentions, some had to overcome initial relationship difficulties to establish a connectedness with their students.…

Investigated differences in reflections of preservice teachers' teaching effectiveness during a field experience, Kids' College, which provided a supportive forum in which preservice teachers, who had full ownership of their teaching, could implement innovations in a multi-age environment. Data from reflective journals, interviews, and…

Documents data from case studies prepared by five teacher candidates regarding their experiences as they worked to create inclusive classrooms while participating in a field-based course within their preservice-education program at Queen's University of Kingston. Shows how the field-based course and the practicums influenced candidates' beliefs…

This article presents the findings of a study that examined how teachers view parents and children of diverse cultural groups. The authors explored secondary preservice and inservice teachers perceptions of diverse cultural groups and the value these parents place on education. They selected pre-service and in-service teachers enrolled in courses…

A range of factors has impinged on the provision of teacher education programs in the last decade. Largely emanating from governmental demands for increased accountability, these have included the setting of standards for student achievement, proof of program impact, and state and national testing. These legislative reforms and school district…

This paper presents a case study of four students working in pairs during a 1-year postgraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) course in the United Kingdom. The study examined the subjects' images and assumptions and developing teaching styles at the start of the year, and analyzed what they learned from each other during the school-based parts…

Reflection is a key aspect of the practicum experience for preservice teachers at the University of Central Queensland (Australia). However, ensuring that reflection occurs has been somewhat problematic. A study was conducted to explore how theoretical constructs based on learning theory can be used to guide the function of the practicum and the…

This paper describes the difficulties that two prospective teachers experienced in student teaching assignments in two city schools; both judged outstanding by the faculty from where they were about to graduate. It examines the ways in which these experiences eroded the student teachers' convictions that they could teach all children in ways that…