By centering the field experience—the place where coursework meets real-world practice—this project bridges efforts occurring in Educator Preparation Program (EPP) coursework with what candidates are doing during their clinical practice in K–12 classrooms. Research demonstrates that teacher candidates frequently name their cooperating teachers and field experiences, more than their coursework, as the most influential elements of their teacher preparation (Clarke et al., 2014). Yet, this critical area of preparation has received limited attention when it comes to strengthening candidates’ SEC competencies or supporting culturally sustaining SEL practice. There is also a notable lack of initiatives or research focused on how to coach and supervise candidates in developing these competencies and lenses during their clinical practice.
For this two-phase project, we aim to develop and adapt a suite of practice-ready resources and a corresponding professional development offering to ensure that teacher educators across Oregon’s EPPs are prepared to coach and supervise candidates in the social, emotional, and cultural dimensions of teaching and learning.
The Center for Reaching & Teaching the Whole Child (CRTWC) will lead this resource development and adaptation process with insights from an expert workgroup of Oregon field-based teacher educators. CRTWC will collaborate closely with the Oregon Collaborative for SEL in Educator Preparation (OCSEP) and the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) to ensure resources are contextually grounded, aligned with new state standards, and responsive to the realities of Oregon EPPs.
These resources will draw upon CRTWC’s Anchor Competencies Framework—one of the core frameworks informing Oregon’s Culturally Responsive SEL Framework and Standards for EPPs—and will expand upon prior CRTWC tools developed to support the field experience. CRTWC will also design and facilitate a train-the-trainer professional learning experience that builds capacity for long-term sustainability by preparing OCSEP’s Institutional Representatives (IRs) and members of the expert workgroup to train future supervisors and cooperating teachers, as well as share resources across and throughout their EPPs.
