Abstract:

Student teaching experiences in teacher education programs hold a crucial part since they provide teacher candidates with practical experience before they enter the profession. This study inquires the role of split student teaching employed in early childhood teacher education program at a southwestern U.S. state universityon experiences of beginning teachers’ who graduated from this program.  In this qualitative research, participants’ reflections to their field experiences in the program were gathered through two in-depth individual interviews and one focus group interview.  An analysis of interview data revealed that beginning teachers’ student teaching experiences partially fulfilled their need of having adequate in-classroom experience before starting their teaching careers; yet they highlighted some suggestions for student teaching assignments to better prepare prospective teacher candidates in the program.The length and timing of student teaching has also emerged as an important result of this study.Furthermore, participants highlighted the role and importance of mentor-teachers during their student teaching.   

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