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Office of Field Experiences
1122 W. Campus Rd.
Joseph R. Pearson Hall, Rm 214D
Lawrence, KS 66045-3101
phone: (785) 864-9601mherm@ku.edu
The field experience component of the teacher preparation program emphasizes the importance of actual classroom experience as a foundation for professional knowledge and as a means to learn about the teaching profession. So, whether you have wanted to be a teacher ever since you can remember, or have only now begun to see teaching as a suitable career for you, the clinical experiences required by your education courses will provide you with opportunities to explore the profession in a practical, hands-on way.
Our early field experiences provide pre-service teachers an opportunity to observe and/or interact with students in the surrounding public school districts. These observation and/or limited-interaction placements are associated with coursework that the student usually takes during his or her junior and senior years. By the time our students reach their student teaching semester(s), the majority of them have already spent approximately 50 hours in the classroom. Many of them have spent between 80 to 100 hours!
The Student Teaching and Internship semesters are the culminating experiences for our students. The configuration of these experiences looks different depending on the student’s program, but regardless of how many weeks they are in the classroom, during that time the student teacher should gradually assume all teaching duties. The student should exit the experience with a clear understanding of the expectations of the teaching profession and have a substantial number of hours of hands-on classroom experience.
Graduate Practicums are intense and direct experiences in a particular student’s graduate area of study. These are normally coordinated between the Field Placement Office and the graduate department and/or graduate faculty advisor because the placements are extremely specialized.
