Abstract
This paper examines results from interviews of four undergraduate teacher candidates who participated in the inaugural year of a newly designed paid residency program. A large regional university, in collaboration with its largest partner school district, developed this particular teacher residency model as a potential way to offer diverse clinical experiences for undergraduate students and help combat teacher shortages in high-needs schools. This study explores the experiences of the four undergraduate students who were selected and hired as paid teacher-residents during the pilot year of this program. Each participant had their own classroom in which they served as teacher of record with the same requirements, roles, and responsibilities as the other teachers in the building. Utilizing a constructivist framework, we share results from one-on-one interviews as well as focus group discussions about their experience during pre-planning, school opening, and the first months of this new paid residency. Emerging themes identified candidates’ perceptions of starting the program and perceived issues, candidates’ preparedness for the responsibility of teacher-resident, the role of the mentor teacher in their experience, and candidates’ overall perceptions of the residency experience related to their sense of confidence and preparation for the profession. This research seeks to add to the field of Education and clinical practice and paid residencies. This research contributes to an understanding of the effectiveness of teacher residencies in the preparation of teachers. Keywords: Teacher Preparation, Internship, Preservice Teachers DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-5-01 Publication date: February 28 th 2022
Highlights
There is much interest in the areas of creative, meaningful teacher-internships, residency-partnerships, and teacher recruitment/retention in the field of Education. (Coffman & Patterson, 2014)
This study examines the experiences of four paid residents as they traverse the inaugural year of this newly designed paid teacher residency program
Emerging themes related to: the role of communication in framing the model and beginning the experience for these residents; the sense of preparedness presented by teacher residents, issues related to knowledge and preparation as they began their first year teaching while still in their undergraduate program, the role of mentoring in their first months, implications of transitioning from online to hybrid models of teaching during their first year and their overall perceptions of the experience and the model
Summary
There is much interest in the areas of creative, meaningful teacher-internships, residency-partnerships, and teacher recruitment/retention in the field of Education. (Coffman & Patterson, 2014). Our work, aiming to contribute to all these areas, seeks to help contribute to the literature by examining a newly developed model for undergraduate teacher residency and examining it as a model of clinical practice through listening to the experiences of the teacher candidates involved. This study examines the experiences of four paid residents as they traverse the inaugural year of this newly designed paid teacher residency program. We examine how these paid residents experienced pre-planning, school opening, and the first months of this new paid residency, seeking to discern the teacher candidates’ views of their preparation and challenges as they started this experience. Participants provided feedback about their perceptions and expectations when beginning the paid residency, obstacles and challenges they faced in their role as a paid resident, their feelings of preparedness for the responsibility of being a teacher, the role and impact of their mentor teacher, and candidates’ overall perceptions of the residency experience related to their sense of confidence and preparation for the profession
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