The WPI Prepracticum
Students will register for 1/3 Unit of credit under WPI's PreProject mechanism (Division #51)
The purpose of the Prepracticum is to provide the detailed preparation and background needed for the student to efficiently and effectively begin their practicum. This amounts to focus in three areas: legal and moral issues of teaching in a public school, the Massachusetts Professional Standards for Teachers and knowledge of the particular school where the student will be teaching. All involved parties will always bear in mind that a major outcome of the student's participation in a Practicum is to demonstrate achievement of the Professional Standards.
Exposure and understanding of the Professional Standards is accomplished both in the courses leading
up to the Practicum (Psychology of Education, Cross Cultural Psychology, Teaching Methods) and the Prepracticum. The Practicum then offers the student the
opportunity to actually demonstrate achievement of them, a key step in the
process of becoming a licensed educator in
on-line at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr7/7.08.html . Briefly, they consist of 5 categories requiring educators to:
a) Plans Curriculum and Instruction
b) Delivers Effective Instruction
(c) Manages Classroom Climate and Operation
d) Promotes Equity
e) Meets Professional Responsibilities
Practicum Site: in order to be effective in teaching at a school, one should be knowledgeable about the school as a whole and the context that it exists in, culturally and economically. This greatly increases the ability of the teacher to understand and relate to his or her students. Specifically, the student should gather and write up information about the school including
Legal issues: as part of the Prepracticum, the student will review any laws relevant to teaching in a public school. Specifically the student will have reviewed and discussed
the General Laws of
(reference: http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/GL-71-TOC.HTM )
the Education Reform Act of 1993
the Curriculum Frameworks as they relate to the courses the student will be observing
and teaching
Federal directives including No Child Left Behind and Goals 2000.
Education laws aside, a review of the current laws involving technology will take place including sharing of software, music and other copyrighted materials.
Moral Issues
While the teaching of science or mathematics would seem innocent pursuits relative to other disciplines, it is none the less possible to do an increasingly effective job by being properly aware of cultural and gender based aspects. During the Prepracticum, the student will do readings and participate in discussions revolving around effective education that acknowledges culture and gender differences. WPI is fortunate to have people on it's staff with expertise in these areas, and they will be utilized in the Prepracticum (Stephanie Blaisdell, Director of Diversity and Women's Programs) as guest speakers.
On a more traditional note, the topic of plagiarism will be reviewed including practices used at the Practicum site and the special challenges of the Internet as a research site for some students.
Outcomes of the
Prepracticum:
6 papers will be written by all students.
Paper #1 – Professional Standards. Each student will focus on a course they are taking at WPI and review the instructor's performance in lieu of the Standards. The paper will summarize their findings standard by standard. Additionally it will offer suggestions for improvement where appropriate. The fundamental goal is to relate one's own academic experiences to the Standards.
Paper #2 - Practicum Site Background. As discussed above, the student will gather information and describe the school he or she will be going to, including at least the 6 areas listed above.
Paper #3 – Legal Issues – Educational The student will look at the courses that he or she will be working with at the Practicum site, including their curricula, course outline, units and lesson plans, and then critique them with the appropriate Curriculum Frameworks with the goal in mind of demonstrating an understanding of the actual way that the school has implemented the Frameworks.
Paper #4 – Legal Issues – Safety. This paper may have many small topics making it up ranging from Chapter 51A (abuse) to physical boundaries to proper setup of science labs to proper handling of injured students. It will include response to one or more hypothetical situations posed by the instructor.
Paper #5 – Legal Issues – Moral and Ethical Students will write a paper summarizing the talks given on gender and cultural based differences in education, offering specific ways to implement them in their own disciplines, using specific topics from math or science courses as focal points.
Paper #6 – Informed Parents - The student will observe parent-teacher conferences and write a paper summarizing (with appropriate anonymity) the issues, methods and effectiveness of such meetings. This will be done at the Practicum site. It serves to directly address Professional Standard e5.
In all cases, the students will generate two copies of every paper, one for the course itself, as usual, and one for their own IQP as Appendix items which are part of their practicum,
in the broader sense.