The Cooperating Teacher: An Ambivalent Participant in Student Teaching

Abstract

Although the cooperating teacher is vital to student teaching, little has appeared in the professional literature about being a cooperating teacher. Journals of eight experienced elementary teachers who supervised student teachers were the primary data source for this study. Inductive analyses revealed several consequences of having student teachers: interruption of instruction, teacher displacement, disruption of classroom routine, breaking teachers' isolation, and shifting of the teachers' time and energy. These findings challenge assumptions about field-based teacher education programs.