Co-Curricular / Extra-Curricular Involvement & Supervision

It is the University of Alberta’s expectation that pre-service teachers become involved in the culture and community of their placement school, acknowledging that much of a teacher’s job occurs beyond the four walls of the classroom. This extra-curricular involvement may occur in a number of different ways, depending on the established context of the school, and should not be considered an “additional” obligation. It is another opportunity to understand, and to partake in, the myriad roles teachers play in schools. School coordinators will be able to assist pre-service teachers in establishing appropriate opportunities for involvement (assisting in organizing a school concert, assistant coach, etc.). While IFX students may take a more participatory role, AFX students should take a stronger leadership role in the activity.

While extra-curricular involvement is an essential and integral part of the pre-service teacher's experience, it should not preclude the importance of classroom teaching.

Supervision of students during non-instructional time is an important facet of a teacher's role.  Thus, it is important that a pre-service teacher assume some responsibility for student supervision.

Just as classroom teaching requires a particular skill set, so does effective student supervision.  At the beginning of the field experience, supervision should be a shared responsibility between the mentor teacher and the pre-service teacher.  Mentor teachers should model appropriate management strategies for the supervision context.

Over the course of the field experience, more responsibility may be given to the pre-service teacher gradually releasing that responsibility to the point that student teachers may supervise independently.  While the pre-service teacher may be supervising independently, the mentor teacher should always be readily available for assistance should some difficulty arise.

Mentor teachers, school coordinators, and administrators should use professional judgement when releasing supervision responsibilities to pre-service teachers.  There may be higher risk activities (field trips, CTS components, physical education activities) during which it is advisable that the mentor teacher be present.

It is important to remember that pre-service teachers should not assume more supervision time than what is regularly expected of a mentor teacher.