Chapter 42: Tracking in Schools: Candidates Map Their Placement Context

In their placement schools, teacher candidates map student interactions, shadow one student throughout the school day, and track teacher interactions with students during classroom instruction.

The student and teacher tracker assignments occur during the semester prior to full-time student teaching. At this point, teacher candidates are familiar with writing objectives, lessons, and unit plans; identifying relevant standards; selecting materials; and developing assessments. They have designed and delivered at least one C3-based inquiry lesson in the field. The tracker task is part of a semester focus on social justice pedagogy. Candidates probe the context of their assigned, one-day-a-week placement.

The task directs candidates’ attention to specific aspects of how middle or secondary students experience the school context and how teachers impact classroom context via their interactions with students. Through written responses and inclass sharing, examinations ground deeper critiques of how and where teaching and learning are constructed.