Learning to Teach
This chapter describes an approach to field experience that provides the opportunity for a long-term relationship between a teacher candidate and their supervising teacher in a teacher preparation program called Community of Teachers (CoT). CoT emphasizes the importance of this relationship in several ways. The program empowers teacher candidates and their mentors to choose one another. In addition, the length of the field experience provides an opportunity for teacher candidates to more deeply engage in the process of becoming a teacher within the context of a classroom and a school that they come to know well. A triadic relationship between the teacher candidate, supervising teacher, and university supervisor provides the opportunity for support as well as evaluative feedback for the teacher candidate. Benefits also accrue to the supervising teacher.