Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Teaching as a Clinical Practice Profession: Research on Clinical Practice and Experience in Teacher Preparation

Teaching as a Clinical Practice Profession: Research on Clinical Practice and Experience in Teacher Preparation introduces the reader to a collection of thoughtful research-based works by authors that represent current clinical-based teacher preparation programs. What we know is that excellent teaching is a clinical skill and that exemplary teacher education provides for clinical education in a clinical setting. Important to teacher preparation, as a clinical practice profession, is a realization that strong clinical preparation of teachers is a key factor in their students' success. Chapter One opens the book with a focus on teaching as a clinical practice profession, providing the reader with an introduction to the book and an understanding of the growing importance of clinical practice in teacher preparation. The authors of Chapters Two-Ten present field-based research that examines the important role of clinical practice in teacher preparation. Each chapter offers the reader an examination of clinical practice and field-based experience in teacher preparation based on formal research that provides the reader with insight into how the research study was conducted, and equally important, the findings and conclusions drawn with respect to clinical practice and teacher preparation. Finally, Chapter Eleven presents an epilogue that focuses on the future of clinical practice and its growing importance in teacher preparation. Review Clinical practice has long been one of the most important, yet challenging aspects of teacher education program development. In Teaching as a Clinical Practice Profession: Research on Clinical Practice and Experience in Teacher Preparation, Patrick Jenlink skillfully assembles the work of several teacher educators in one text to reflect both the necessity and complexity of creating a clinically-centered teacher education program, and in so doing, provides a thought-provoking, essential book for all involved in teacher education program design.--Nancy Fichtman Dana, Professor, School of Teaching and Learning, University of Florida Field experiences has often been identified as the single most powerful component of a teacher education program by its graduates. For those teacher educators involved in field experiences and clinical practice, Teaching as a Clinical Practice Profession: Research on Clinical Practice and Experience in Teacher Preparation is the perfect text. Teacher educators will discover thought-provoking chapters that help us reflect on the role field experiences play in a clinical practice program as well as research studies that help us understand different practices. Teaching as a Clinical Practice Profession: Research on Clinical Practice and Experience in Teacher Preparation is a book that should be in every teacher educators' library.--D.John McIntyre, Professor Emeritus and Senior Visiting Professor in Curriculum Studies, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Southern Illinois University Patrick Jenlink's new text Teaching as a Clinical Practice Profession: Research on Clinical Practice and Experience in Teacher Preparation addresses the cacophony of voices calling for reimagining clinical practice. The text provides educators and policy makers the opportunity to witness how and what teacher candidates, mentor teachers, and university faculty are learning about sticky problems of practice and innovative collaborations.--Diane Yendol-Hoppey Ph.D, Professor and Dean, College of Education and Human Services, University of North Florida Teacher educators, regardless of level of experience with clinical practice in teacher preparation, will find Patrick Jenlink's edited book to be insightful and informative. Tapping into research from scholars across the country, Teaching as a Clinical Practice Profession includes descriptions of clinical practice enacted using a wide range of models and contexts. This important resource will surely inform teacher educat