The Capstone Experience: A Valuable Tool in Promoting Teacher Development

Introduction

It has long been recognized that the transition period between preservice and in-service teaching is a critical phase in a teacher’s development as a professional educator (Gist, Blanco & Lynn, 2019; McMahon, Forde & Dickson, 2015; Feiman-Nemser, 2001; Pittard, 2003). As noted by McMahon, Forde and Dickson, 2015, “One of the critical issues for teacher education is the transition into the school context and the processes of socialization into the teaching profession. Historically this transition has been seen as a move from the world of theory to the world of practice and there was little bridging of these contexts and transference of ideas, principles and practice.” In understanding this transition and all its implications for both novice teachers and those who aspire to support their professional growth, it is necessary to situate this transition period in the broader context of the overall teacher development continuum. In unpacking this context, it is helpful to explore what occurs both before and after this transition period, and to embrace the process of how teachers learn and develop over time. In its most simple sense, the continuum of teacher development encompasses the four phases of recruitment, preparation, induction, and retention (Gist, Bianco & Lynn, 2018).

As is the case with most natural phenomenon, teacher development does not start and stop in discrete, self-contained segments, but rather continuously unfolds at varying rates depending upon a wide variety of situational factors that facilitate or hinder the teacher’s professional growth. This same notion is echoed by McMahon, Forde and Dickson (2015) who observe that shifts in thinking about the ways in which teachers learn, with whom they learn and the places where this occurs requires a recognition that such learning experiences are not single and segmented but rather occur in multiple, interconnected spaces.

Lange & Burroughs-Lange (1994) after studying the processes of attaining professional knowledge through which teachers develop strategies for getting comfortable with their image of themselves as an effective teacher, asserted “Our understanding of teacher learning has evolved along with our overall understanding of how learning occurs and is facilitated. This is in itself is a changing concept of effectiveness which has to be able to encompass dealing with professional uncertainty as a legitimate function of their role and not as a reflection of their inadequacies. Lange and Burrough-Lange (1994) used the following steps in their research to suggest that teachers recall complex sets of knowledge which are stored in episodic memory and processed under executive control at some later stage, dependent upon the context and saliency of the particular experience: 1) Identify and describe teachers’ perceptions of significant experiences in their professional development; 2) Explore the characteristics of experiences in professional development which teachers considered salient and memorable; 3) Identify and describe that which experienced teachers use to focus and resolve professional uncertainty; and 4) develop a model of progression in professional development which could inform the teacher education curriculum.

While certain tasks of learning to teach are ideally situated within a specific phase of teacher development as is shown in Table 1, Fieman-Nemser (2001), the reality is that teachers carry their knowledge and learning forward and build upon it as they progress through their careers.