Roles and Responsibilities of Field Experience Personnel
Field experience (FE) facilitates the creation of a learning community in which student teachers, supporting teachers and the University supervisors can learn together and so mutually enhance their professional development.
Link Teacher
Link teachers assist in the smooth running of FE. Each placement school is asked to nominate a teacher to take on this important role, becoming the "link" between the placement school and the University. They oversee FE activities in the placement schools, liaise with University Field Experience Coordinators and supervisors in case any problems arise, coordinate the collection of feedback forms from supporting teachers, provide advice for student teachers to support their professional growth, and facilitate the communication between the placement school and the University.
Supporting Teacher
Supporting teachers' contribution is crucial to the success of FE. They help the student teachers settle into the life of the school, provide regular advice on teaching and teacher professionalism to student teachers, and act as a role model and supportive mentor to them. Supporting teachers are asked to be available, at least once a week, to talk with the student teachers about their performance and give advice, help them sort out any problems and engage in pre-lesson and post-lesson conferences as far as practicable. Their participation in the tripartite conferences when the University supervisor visits the school is invited and appreciated.
Supporting teachers observe student teachers' daily practice, so their genuine comments on student teachers' performance during FE are invaluable to student teachers' professional growth. They are asked to provide their feedback via an overall feedback form, which is a part of the student teachers' formal FE assessment.
Mentor (of Professional Authentic Context Learning)
Professional Authentic Context Learning (PACL), which is a part of the Field Experience Foundation Course, aims to connect student teachers with mentors, who are mostly experienced teachers, to broaden student teachers' horizons. Mentors provide guidance, support, and practical insights about teachers' professional ethics to student teachers which help student teachers prepare for the block practice and eventually entering the teaching profession. The mentorship also fosters a community of practice on succession of teachers' professionalism.
Interviewer (of Field Experience Interview)
Graduating student teachers are required to attend the Field Experience Interview conducted by school principals/teachers in addition to the University academic staff to review and assess their readiness for entering the teacher profession, in particular if their ethical decision skills and professional ethics are up to the expectations of the industry.
University Field Experience Coordinator
A team of University Field Experience (FE) Coordinators, working with School Partnership and Field Experience Office, liaise with schools to deal with issues that arise in FE for their respective programmes. They provide student teachers with academic advice and make decisions in special cases. For FE activities conducted in the Chinese Mainland, student teachers are also supported by the University Field Experience Coordinator (Chinese Mainland).
University Supervisor
University supervisors offer support, encouragement and advice to the student teachers during field experience (FE) to ensure that their experience is fruitful and productive. The purpose of each visit is to support the student teacher in developing into a competent beginning teacher. Post-lesson conferences provide the opportunity for meaningful reflection where theory can be challenged and practice can be improved.
University supervisors assess student teachers' teaching performance and determine the student teacher's readiness and suitability to enter the profession, taking the school's feedback(s) into consideration when necessary.
University Professional Field Experience Tutor
University Professional Field Experience (FE) Tutors are course lecturers of FE taught courses. They guide student teachers throughout the FE study, help student teachers to reflect on their personal and professional values and beliefs to establish their teacher identity, support student teachers' active engagement in FE learning, and facilitate student teachers to prepare, demonstrate, test, analyse, and reflect on their professional teaching and development.
Student Teacher
Student teachers are students of the University who are in the learning process of becoming professional teachers. Student teachers must always be aware of the importance of maximising pupils' learning experiences in collaboration with the school, integrating as much as possible into the culture and life of the school community and making a positive contribution. Ultimately, they have to demonstrate their competence and readiness to enter the teacher profession.
