Growing, Nurturing, and Supporting CSB/SJU Student Teachers
A Message from the Director of Student Teaching
As teachers, we seek growth in our students in many ways, and often that growth is driven by the content and practices we establish for our students and our classrooms. We set expectations and goals for our students and support them in the achievement of those goals. We provide feedback for our students as they walk through processes and upon completion of tasks that will guide them further toward meeting the established goals and expectations. However, at some point, the students must own their own learning goals and develop their own expectations because we know that goal setting “promote[s] student learning and achievement” (Camp, 2017, p. 61). Grounded in our support and based on the feedback they have received, students should be able to set and reach goals they set that meet multiple expectations. This is true, as well, for our student teachers.
Our student teachers are at the mid-point of their student teaching experiences, and they have received a great deal of feedback from supervisors, cooperating teachers, and others along their paths to becoming licensed teachers. Now, it is time for student teachers to be purposeful in setting goals for themselves. Heather Camp, professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato, studied goal setting as professional development and found that goal setting can “energize and direct, encourage skill development and perseverance” (2017, p. 70). While goal setting cannot “substitute for skills and abilities that are beyond a teacher’s reach,” they can help a teacher “chart their own path toward learning and improvement” (p. 70). This is where cooperating teachers and supervisors can play a pivotal role in the student teacher’s efficacy.
For goals to come to fruition, there must be commitment. Slocum, Cron, and Brown (2002, as cited in Camp, 2017) stated, “no motivational effects will occur from goal setting if there is no commitment to a goal” (p. 68). To increase goal commitment, the student teacher’s support team (cooperating teacher, supervisor, university faculty and staff) can assist in walking the student teacher through setting the goals, supporting steps in goal completion, making the goals public, and clarifying elements of the goal. Because cooperating teachers have day-to-day contact with student teachers, it would be helpful to assist the student teachers in their goal setting and follow-through. The Victorian Institute of Teaching recommended a collaborative and coordinated process for this (see figure below). Consider the power of this goal narrative as it builds from evidence and requires more evidence to prove that the goal has been met.
Student teachers created three goals at the beginning of their student teaching experience. At this point in their placements, one might expect that there is growth and perhaps achievement of these goals. I encourage cooperating teachers and supervisors to check in with student teachers on their progress, to revise or reset goals, and to create ways to tracking progress on previously set or new goals.
References:
Camp, H. (2007). Goal setting as teacher development practice. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, (29)1, 61-72.
Victorian Institute for Teaching (n.d.) Goal setting guide for teachers. Retrieved from https://cpb-ap-se2.wpmucdn.com/global2.vic.edu.au/dist/9/8503/files/2017/04/Final_TEACHER_Guide_Writing_PDP_goals-16y8a25.pdf
Six Teacher Goals for 2021
How Do I Set Goals when I Am in Survival Mode?
Goal Setting for Teachers
CSB/SJU Education Department
Director of Elementary and Secondary Student Teaching
Allison Spenader, PhD.
Chair
Email: jmeagher001@csbsju.edu
Website: csbsju.edu/education
Location: 37 College Avenue South, St Joseph, MN, USA
Phone: 320-363-5709