The student teacher also serves

Abstract

SERVES, an acronym for Supportive Environment and Resources for Versatility in Educational Strategies, is a research project engaging beginning teachers as cooperating teachers for student teachers. Based upon the assumption that those who have recently completed student teaching themselves can best help new student teachers, the program seeks to place them together in positions of mutual service to one another. This posture should enable the student teacher, in his turn, to offer the beginning teacher assistance of a nonthreatening nature that can be accepted readily. Within this mutually supportive environment should flourish wide use of resources, variation in teaching strategy as well as considerable innovation and creativity in a joint effort to meet common needs. To launch the project, it was necessary to enlist the active support of district superintendents, administrators, supervisors, and beginning and student teachers. In all, some 50 persons participated; none of those asked to take part refused. One reason, unquestionably, for the complete acceptance was the fact that all cooperating teachers were former students of the course instructor. Moreover, it had been possible to have the student teachers regularly appointed to the participating schools in part because of the promise held by the program. As finally designed, 4 elementary schools in 2 school districts were involved for the six-week period from February to April 1970. Twenty-three student teachers were assigned, either singly or in pairs, to 16 cooperating teachers. In addition to ordinary school support, the course instructor visited each school at least once weekly to confer, to advise, and to microteach. At the close of the experimental period, questionnaires were administered to beginning and student teachers alike. The data were then compiled and tabulated where feasible. While definitive conclusions are obviously impossible owing to the