handbook for cooperating teachers - Wilmington University

over time. Educational personnel discover that certain practices, certain ways of meeting andtalking with students and parents, certain materials for instruction, certain techniques forimproving standardized test performance, certain room arrangements, certain incentives, certainmanagement and transition techniques , etc., “work” again and again. While this knowledge isnot necessarily empirical, experienced professionals know that some stimuli for learning aremore powerful than others for inducing that learning. When this understanding occurs, anotherpiece of craft wisdom, one of those many and critical “tricks of the trade,” is accumulated. Webelieve that this wisdom of education, the profession’s “hidden curriculum,” is best transmittedto educational personnel through direct, collegial, reflective, frequent, context-based interactionsamong experienced, beginning and pre-service educators (Green, 1984).2. Programs View Educators as LearnersWe adopt a stance toward the preparation of educational personnel that requires us to assisteducators in continually updating and building and rebuilding knowledge structures aboutteaching and learning. We believe in the importance of continual learning throughout one’scareer and in the educator as a model of continual learning. This stance is a shift from theposition that the primary purpose of our work is only to provide advice to beginning educators inmastering technical skills such as writing behavioral objectives and utilizing proper lesson planformats or mastering particular instructional models separate from the context of learners’ needs.We do not endorse the “paraprofessionalization” of education, wherein the educator’s work isonly considered a technical (rather than intellectual or substantive) activity, one that is easilytaught, efficiently observed, and readily remedied (Griffin, 1985). We do endorse the concept ofthe educator as a life-long learner.3. Programs are Sensitive to Context and CultureStudents at Wilmington University learn how to adjust and adapt educational methodologies inan equitable, contextually appropriate and culturally sensitive manner. The definition of whatmakes an educator effective has changed dramatically in recent years, and continues to change.We believe that effective educators in today’s and tomorrow’s schools must understand therelevance of both their own and their students’ skin color, cultural heritage, gender, ethnicity,social group, social class and status, religion, health, age, first language, family structure, sexualorientation, learning style, developmental level, abilities and disabilities, etc. (Banks, 2001 andGollnick & Chinn, 1998). We believe that all educators must work for the creation of trulyegalitarian school communities, must strive to affirm interdependence and diversity, must beadvocates for all children and families and must make every effort to promote equal educationalopportunity and social justice. We believe that all educators must have the dispositions to workeffectively with children, families, and all school and community stakeholders.4. Programs Stress Inquiry, Analysis, and ReflectionWe believe that reflecting upon one’s activities is a powerful way to increase professionalauthority and effectiveness (Dewey, 1944; Schon, 1991). We believe, and research confirms,that reflective practice promotes (a) greater awareness of personal performance leading toCollege of EducationProfessional PartnersCreating Environments for Learning12August 2011