Cooperating Teacher Participation in Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature

Source: Review of Educational Research, 84(2), June 2014 163-202.

This review seeks to move conceptions of the ways in which cooperating teachers participate in teacher education beyond commonly held beliefs to empirically supported claims.

The analysis generate 11 different ways that cooperating teachers participate in teacher education: as Providers of Feedback, Gatekeepers of the Profession, Modelers of Practice, Supporters of Reflection, Gleaners of Knowledge, Purveyors of Context, Conveners of Relation, Agents of Socialization, Advocates of the Practical, Abiders of Change, and Teachers of Children.

When set against Gaventa’s typology of participation, the resultant grid highlights the importance of negotiated or invited spaces for cooperating teacher participation and provides a new way of thinking about, planning professional development for, and working with cooperating teachers.