Beating the Odds: Communities of Practice Supporting a Student Teacher with Special Needs

This is a case study about the experiences of a student teacher with anxiety, depression, and attention deficit disorder (ADD) in a traditional teacher education program. This study tracks the student teacher's progress from his initial unsuccessful placements in fieldwork and student teaching...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational research (Orem, Utah) Utah), 2016, Vol.28 (1), p.52
Main Authors: Moser, Gary P, Sharp, Ann C, Kang, Mi Ok, O'Brien, Aaron
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Attention Deficit Disorders
Communities of Practice
Depression (Psychology)
Mentors
Program Effectiveness
Special Needs Students
Student Attitudes
Student Teachers
Student Teaching
Teacher Education Programs
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Summary:This is a case study about the experiences of a student teacher with anxiety, depression, and attention deficit disorder (ADD) in a traditional teacher education program. This study tracks the student teacher's progress from his initial unsuccessful placements in fieldwork and student teaching through marked improvement after reassignment to a school with a highly supportive and inclusive environment. Using theories established in communities of practice literature and relying on ethnographic observations and interviews for our data collection and analysis, we provide an in-depth portrayal of the efforts of the communities of practice, carefully highlighting the roles of the participating teacher education communities of practice that had led him toward his academic and professional success. We conclude that student teaching is a social act which occurs within various communities of practice. When these communities worked together to build an inclusive academic and professional environment, a student teacher with special needs made significant improvement in teaching and became a full member of the communities of professional and academic practice.
ISSN:2637-8965
2637-8965