Coteaching in early childhood clinical field experiences: a cross-case study of learning affordances

Abstract

ABSTRACT Coteaching, a model for learning to teach, places teacher candidates alongside clinical educators in classrooms. Learning occurs through shared practice and on-going explication of thinking and reflection. This cross-case study of six dyads from an undergraduate early childhood inclusive preservice education program examines ways that coteaching afforded opportunities for developing collaborative and adaptive expertise. It was found that opportunities for learning these skills were afforded through coteaching student teaching experiences, although in different ways, and that limited affordances outnumbered strong learning opportunities. Implications for further development of the early childhood coteaching teacher education model, and for professional development, are discussed.