The Influence of Cooperating Teachers' Supervisory Training and Experience on Teacher Development during Early Field Experiences

The influence of supervisory training and experience as a cooperating teacher on the cooperating teacher's role as an instructional supervisor for early field experience students (FES's) was studied. Recent research has indicated that cooperating teachers tend to provide inadequate feedback and avoid negative comments. Their FES's appeared to have only brief, impersonal interactions with children and avoided conflict and substantive discussion. Two groups of FES's were subjects of the study. One group worked with 11 cooperating teachers who had completed a graduate course on the supervision of preservice teachers; the other with 25 cooperating teachers who had had no previous formal supervisory training. Students were asked each week to describe the types of activities in which they had been engaged and the types of interactions they had with the cooperating teacher and pupils. One major finding was that trained cooperating teachers were much more likely to provide feedback concerning the FES's performance. The implications of the study are discussed, and it is suggested that further study of the training of cooperating teachers in supervisory methods be conducted. Data obtained from the study are presented in appended tables. (JD)