Fieldbased Case

In addition, the field-based phenomenon deserves investigation into the academia impact and how field experiences may influence classroom pedagogy. Based on NCATE standards, "Highly qualified first-year teachers should have varying levels of participation in diverse, collaborative field-based experiences throughout his or her teacher preparation program. (NCATE, 2007) In 1993, one urban university addressed the challenge of the national criticism by incorporating the first Field-Based Teacher Preparation Program that was housed in two elementary schools. In Beisser (2008) teacher, preparation programs that are innovative and intense may produce teachers who feel better prepared, stay in teaching longer, and are rated as more effective.

The purpose of this study is to gain an in depth understanding of the experience of first year teachers who participated in a Field-Based teacher preparation program during their academic study. This study will attempt to understand what meaning these experiences have for the teachers and more specifically to understand how this experience developed them as first year teachers.

In studying Field-Based Teacher Preparation, this research will use the qualitative phenomenology method. Because Field-Based Teacher Preparation is a new phenomenology and has not been researched much in academia, it is necessary to begin by using a phenomenology approach. Using this method will allow the researcher to understand the experiences of field-based participants, and allow researchers to 1)understand to what extend does high-quality field experience prior to certification contribute to preparing first year teachers for the diverse classroom and 2) identify if field-based programs foster the creation and or development of identity within the teaching community.