Teaching Future Teachers to Collaborate

Abstract

This study investigates the development of pre-service teachers’ collaboration skills. Data were collected from collaborative activities in which pre-service teachers engaged in a university-based course and in paired fieldwork experiences. Findings reveal a trajectory of development. Pre-service teachers first learn to analyze student learning, then propose instructional improvements, enact these improvements in later lessons and while teaching, and, finally, make cause-effect connections between teaching and learning. The authors conclude that support is needed to move all pre-service teachers along this trajectory.