In Northern Ireland schools participate voluntarily in playing host to a student on school experience. In order to establish effective partnerships between schools and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for students of Initial Teacher Training, it is

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Teacher Tutor Development Project
INTRODUCTION In Northern Ireland schools
participate voluntarily in playing host to a
student on school experience. In order to
establish effective partnerships between schools
and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for
students of Initial Teacher Training, it is
important to draw on the experiences of teachers
who have played host to a student. This poster
presents the main findings of a postal
questionnaire which was issued to all primary
host teachers who accommodated students from one
HEI on school experience in their classroom for a
seven week period in 2002. The questionnaire
examined the roles and attributes teachers felt
they brought to the experience, as well as their
relationships with students, stress, practical
and organisational problems, benefits of the
experience, importance assigned to teachers
views on students teaching ability, and
usefulness of literature provided by the HEI.
Five hundred and ninety-eight questionnaires were
distributed and 274 were completed and returned,
resulting in a 46 per cent response rate. Survey
evidence was supplemented by interviews with host
teachers.
HOST TEACHERS ROLES AND ATTRIBUTES The vast
majority of host teachers felt they performed the
traditional role of adviser on school experience,
observing and supporting, while 58 per cent and
41 per cent respectively viewed themselves as
mentors and assessors, roles which the Department
of Education (NI) has specified teachers should
be developing towards. Approximately half of
teachers felt they performed the role of
trainer or evaluator.
BENEFITS AND EFFECTS ON PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE Seventy-eight per cent of respondents
felt the experience of being a host teacher had a
positive effect on their own professional
practice. Teachers listed two main reasons why,
(1) students introduced them to fresh approaches
and resources and (2) the position of role model
forced them to reflect on their own teaching and
planning. These factors also featured on the
list of benefits cited by host teachers from
having a student on school experience. Having
extra time to do activities such as preparing or
marking while the student was teaching was the
most frequently cited benefit.
IMPORTANCE OF HOST TEACHERS VIEWS The vast
majority of host teachers felt their views
regarding the students teaching ability were
carefully considered by College tutors in
assessing the student. When asked how important
this was to them the most frequently cited
response was that host teachers view the entire
school experience whereas tutors see only a small
proportion of the overall lessons. The teachers
emphasised that students were more anxious and
children reacted artificially when tutors were
present. Those teachers who did not feel that
College tutors took their opinions about
students teaching abilities on board noted the
written report was completed prior to the tutors
discussion with them and not enough time was
spent listening to teachers views.
Sense of humour was the attribute selected by
most teachers as having a positive influence on
their relationship with the student. Support,
honesty and constructive criticism were selected
by over three-quarters of host teachers, and
several professional attributes, i.e. practical
experience were also selected by the majority of
teachers. Half felt their subject competence had
a positive influence on their relationship with
the student and only 38 per cent of teachers
selected their status within the school.
VIEWS ON THE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE PACK A school
experience pack, containing guidance material for
host teachers, was designed by the HEI and
forwarded to all host teachers prior to
commencement of school experience. The vast
majority of host teachers found the school
experience pack beneficial. Information on how
students were graded by the tutors made the
teachers aware of exactly what was expected of
the students, provided a clear indicator of how
grades were awarded, focused their attention on
areas students would need to concentrate on, and
assisted them in the overall assessment of the
student. The observation/discussion sheet and
the shaping and debriefing notes provided a
useful framework for discussion, evaluation and
constructive criticism.   The school experience
pack was criticised generally for containing too
much information. A small number of teachers
suggested grading could be more clearly defined
therefore making it easier to distinguish between
grades. Some host teachers preferred an informal
discussion with the student rather than using a
structured observation/discussion sheet, and felt
that the information provided was common sense
which they would have adhered to intuitively.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS Only a small
proportion of host teachers cited any factors
which had a negative influence on their
relationship with the student. Of those who did,
lack of preparation and initiative on the part of
the student was the factor most frequently
reported. Others include the timing of school
experience at a particularly busy period in the
school year when there were many disruptions,
e.g. preparation for sacraments, and teachers
being unable to dedicate as much time to their
student as they would have liked.
STRESS AND PRACTICAL/ORGANISATIONAL PROBLEMS
Three-quarters of host teachers experienced no
or low stress as a result of having a student on
school experience in their classroom. Time
constraints were the main cause of both stress
and organisational problems, and were exacerbated
by students who did not adequately prepare or
plan resources/lessons, lessons overrunning, and
students who did not cover all of the planned
scheme, or did not cover certain curriculum areas
to the teachers satisfaction. Physically being
able to accommodate the student and his/her
resources within the classroom was the uppermost
practical problem for host teachers.
 
IMPROVING THE SCHOOL AND HEI PARTNERSHIP Host
teachers suggested various ways in which
improvements could be made to the current
partnership between schools and the College,
including providing information/training sessions
for host teachers, briefing them on students
prior to school experience and increasing the
amount of time spent by students in schools.
Rather than proposing improvements for the
current school College partnership, many host
teachers simply expressed their satisfaction with
the existing arrangements.