SUNY Oswego Clinical Practice Featured in AACTE Spotlight Videos
AACTE is pleased to announce a new feature in the Research-to-Practice Spotlight Series focused on the clinical residencies and partnerships of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego School of Education.
The first set of videos, linked above, introduces many of the key players in the programs visited by AACTE staff last year. Faculty, school and district partners, program graduates, and current students share their perspectives on the impact and rationale for offering a yearlong residency embedded in the Syracuse City Schools and community.
Mentor teacher Dawn Kivlehan of Fowler High School, for example, says the joint professional development she’s experienced with student teachers is “almost like a refresher course for me, [which has] led to real academic conversations with the residents.” Other teachers in the videos describe the assets gained from having residents as coteachers, such as being able to provide more personalized learning and small-group instruction for the students.
Principal Pamela Odom of Grant Middle School says the partnership has helped her staff keep up with changes in the state curriculum. “They are also bringing new lesson-planning techniques and strategies, and we are learning from them as well as they are learning from us,” she says. In another interview, Oswego Assistant Dean Kristen Munger echoes the benefits of this simultaneous renewal that has occurred when residents are embedded in the partner schools and communities.
School of Education Dean Pamela Michel agrees. “Our residency programs allow us to come together to think creatively, collaboratively, and critically about how to best support the learning of our teacher candidates and P-12 learners,” she wrote in an e-mail to AACTE. “Such rigorous and enriching clinical experiences for our candidates are only possible when supported by the strongest of school and university partnerships. The Syracuse City School District has been an essential partner in establishing and growing our residencies to support all learners.”
District Superintendent Jamie Alicea finds the advantage mutual, not only for the immediate benefits to the city’s teaching staff and students but also for the hiring pipeline. “To really see what teaching in the Syracuse City School District is all about, working with urban kids, working with our teachers, providing them with extra opportunities to get involved in the entire school community,” he says in a video interview, is critical to bringing in committed, competent teachers.
“Our residency programs have strengthened our connections to schools and have significantly changed the face of teacher preparation,” said Dean Michel. “I am excited about where we’re headed and our potential to impact and transform education.”
Over the coming weeks, AACTE will publish additional blog articles with embedded video links to share lessons from the visit to SUNY Oswego and various partner sites. The videos will be archived for viewing on the AACTE Video Wall.
Click on the video thumbnails above to meet the participants in this series and to view the first sets of interviews. Then stay tuned for others throughout the month of June!
Tags: clinical preparation, content areas, school-university partnerships
