Practicum
Pre-Student Teaching
At Edgewood College we place a strong emphasis on preparing teachers to meet the professional demands of contemporary education. The Pre-Student Teaching Practicum Program of field experiences and the courses which accompanies them are a developmental pre-professional experience which offers the opportunity for students to clarify their career goals, to build an experiential base for reflection on teaching and learning and further development in their teacher education program, and to lay the foundation for professional networking. The important developmental function of this program of field experiences is best understood against the background of the Edgewood College Professional Education Program and newly emerging standard of assessment and performance.
All students in teacher education are required to complete a minimum of 100 hours of pre-student teaching practicums including 50 hours of multicultural experiences before student teaching. These experiences offer an opportunity to clarify interests in professional education, to elucidate theory in relation to practice, to provide experiential resources for reflection on teaching and learning, and to begin building a network of professional contacts for long-term development; they also play a significant role in decisions regarding admission to teacher education and to student teaching.
Developmental field experiences are included in many courses through the program in such a way that it is possible to complete the field experiences as one completes the course sequence; in some cases, because of special circumstances or interests, additional experience is needed or required. Freshmen are often advised to begin some of these field experiences in order that they have a strong experiential basis on which to clarify the level of their interest in teacher education. For that purpose, ED 210, ED 220, ED 230, Ed 240 and ED 305 provide early required field experiences. In addition, freshmen often enroll in special field experiences during the Winterim of freshman and/or sophomore years. Information and advice about pre-student teaching field experiences are available from your advisor, from the Director of the Pre-Student Teaching Practium- Margaret O’Brien OP (663-2295 obrien@edgewood.edu), the Teacher Education Associate-Marsha Laundrie (663-2839 mlaundrie@edgewood.edu) in DeRicci 109, or from the Department of Education in Room 226 DeRicci.