The Clinical Experience Component
The field experience component of the Master of Arts in Education (MAE) program is designed to provide prospective teachers with an incremental set of field experiences. The set of sequential experiences allows the students to see themselves as potential teachers and to observe and participate in the teaching/learning process within the public school setting Initial experiences are exploratory and descriptive in nature and become increasingly more grade and content specific as the students increase their knowledge of theory, pedagogy, and experience.
ED 388: Exploratory Field Experiences Seminar
The purpose of the exploratory field experience course in the MAE program is to provide a common core of baseline field experiences upon which to build subsequent clinical experiences. The objectives of these observations are to enable the student to begin to view him/herself as a future professional educator; understand the complex nature, structure, variety, culture, and organizational climate of the school in the education of youth; gain realistic experience in interacting with students and teachers in a variety of actual classroom settings; make an informal decision concerning the selection of teaching as a career; make a preliminary decision concerning a preferred age group and subject area specialty for teaching; develop classroom observational skills; and become more aware of students with varying disabilities, different socio-economic backgrounds, and diverse ethnic or cultural backgrounds. This course is a pre-requisite to Clinical Experiences in Teaching, ED 393.
ED 393: Clinical Experiences in Teaching
Clinical Experiences in Teaching is a course designed to provide a basic readiness for teaching, preliminary to the Management of Instruction course. ED 393 is an introduction to “what to teach and how to teach” with three articulated components—seminar, clinicals, and field experience. The field experience component of ED 393 provides students the opportunity to explore the microsociety of the classroom composed of teacher, students, and content within the context of the school and community. Students are generally placed in one classroom with one mentor teacher. Routines and procedures are derived from the research base of reflective practice which leads to effective teaching. University students have already completed ED 388 Exploratory Field Experiences Seminar. They are ready to become more involved in assisting the teacher and working with students in the classroom. In clinical experiences, the preservice students are required to accumulate a minimum of 45 clock hours. This course is a pre-requisite to Management of Instruction, XX 608.
XX 608: Management of Instruction
Management of Instruction is a course designed to provide development of basic philosophical, planning, and implementation skills related to the design and teaching of the curriculum. The course is a direct preparatory experience for the responsibilities of ED 609 Teaching Internship. The included field experience component provides students the opportunity to teach selected lessons and units under the tutelage of a practiced classroom mentor teacher. That is, 608 is an intermediate step (between ED 393 and the internship) in the process of mediated entry into the teaching profession. Truman students are translating theory into practice in realistic settings which provide opportunities to teach “real” students while being guided and coached by professionals from both the public schools and from the University. This course is a prerequisite to the Teaching Internship, ED 609.
ED 609: Teaching Internship
The capstone field experience of the MAE Program, and the most vital component in producing teachers who can function competently in a classroom, is the internship experience. The internship allows for a prolonged period of time in the classroom, observing master teachers and honing teaching skills and style. The teaching intern has earned an academic degree and has experienced an orientation to teaching through exploratory field experiences, clinical field experiences, and field experiences in Management of Instruction. Each intern, regardless of the internship model (one public school semester or one academic year [with prior approval of the Education Department Chair]), has a substitute teaching certificate (if interning in Missouri).