A taxonomy for planning field experiences

Abstract

The Role of Experiential Learning Anyone who has done his homework is aware of two sequential themes in the current literature of teacher education: (1) The problem of educating a professional practitioner who is relevant to the needs and crises of the times has been recurrent for a decade, and (2) as a solution to this problem the theme of experiential teacher education is currently being proposed. Gallegos,l in a recent article on the realities of teacher training, noted that the demand for relevance by students in our public schools stands little chance of fulfillment in view of the considerable irrelevance of the preparation received by these students' teachers in our nation' s colleges and universities. Relative to teacher familiarity with urban education, William Young, dean of education at Chicago State University, stated, Too few students have been trained to teach effectively in the inner-city. It is a speculative thought, but I believe that one of the underlying reasons for the current rash of teacher strikes is the teacher' s own frustration at not being able to function in the urban settings. . . . How can the teachers be held accountable when they have not been educated to work in the urban environment?2 The typical teacher education program consists of courses about education philosophy, social foundations, evaluation, and audio-visual aids and culminates with a sometimes traumatic lear-by-doing finale called student teaching. The usual model of traditional practice certainly does not answer the question of relevancy. It has recently been noted that there are three main deficiencies in the training of today's teachers. First, teachers know almost nothing about the background of disadvantaged pupils and their communities. Second, teachers lack the conceptual background to understand children. Teachers fail because they have not been trained to calmly analyze new situations against a background of relevant theory. Third, teachers lack sufficient preparation in the skills needed to perform effectively in the classroom.3