A Cooperating Teacher, a Supervisor, and a Critical Confidant: The Journey Moving Toward a New Model of Support For Student Teachers

Authors

Christina C. Pfister, The College of Saint RoseFollow
Sophia Paljevic, New York City Public SchoolsFollow

Keywords

Student Teaching, Critical Confidant, Preservice Support, Challenges

Abstract

Extensive research has found that student teaching is a challenging experience for pre-service teachers (PSTs). This paper proposes a new model for the student teaching experience where PSTs have a cooperating teacher, supervisor, and also a special mentor called a Critical Confidant. We collected survey data over the course of three consecutive semesters to determine PST’s perceptions. Results indicate that PSTs found having a Critical Confidant to be an overwhelmingly positive experience. PSTs felt safe because of the non-evaluative Critical Confidant role. They appreciated support from someone who had more experience but who was not yet an expert teacher. Implications and recommendations for future study are included.

DOI

10.15760/nwjte.2018.13.2.3

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26662

Recommended Citation

Pfister, Christina C. and Paljevic, Sophia (2018) "A Cooperating Teacher, a Supervisor, and a Critical Confidant: The Journey Moving Toward a New Model of Support For Student Teachers," Northwest Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 13 : Iss. 2 , Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15760/nwjte.2018.13.2.3