A Phenomenological Study of Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions of Completing ESOL Field Placements

Over the last several decades, the number of English language learners (ELLs) has grown significantly and has created a change in the K-12 educational settings. In order to effectively educate this population of learners, teacher education programs often incorporate opportunities for their teacher candidates to observe techniques and practice implementation with ELLs. These observations and hands-on learning experiences provide pre-service teachers the opportunity to implement the strategies and accommodations they are learning in their coursework. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate teacher candidates' experiences with diverse field placements (school-based and community-based) and the influence that placements may have on preparing pre-service teachers to instruct ELLs. Pre-service teachers enrolled in a Florida public university completed reflective journals, which were coded for themes. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed. The findings from these data sources suggest that the experiences differed greatly based on field placements. For example, pre-service teachers who participated in community settings engaged in more interactions; whereas, those who participated in classrooms observed more examples of learner supports. Overall, after their field experiences, the pre-service teachers did not feel prepared to tackle classroom management in general. Implications for improving ESOL field experiences are discussed.