What is practicum?
Practicum is full time experience in a school for a consecutive series of weeks. Students are expected to be in school from 8.00 am to 4.30 or 5.00 pm every day (times may vary from school to school). Students are expected to keep the same hours of attendance as their associate teacher unless their associate specifically says they do not need to on particular days. This includes undertaking playground and bus duties and attending staff meetings and parent interviews. It is not unusual for students to be required to be at school at 7.30 or to stay until 5.30 on some days in some schools.
Who organises practicum?
The Primary Teaching Practice Office is located in the Centre for Teacher Education, in the School of Education building on the Hamilton campus.
Clark McPhillips, Coordinator, room TC 2.69 clarkmcp@waikato.ac.nz
Administrator, room TC 2.72 practicum@waikato.ac.nz
Information about practicum
All practicum information can be found on this primary practicum website http://edlinked.ac.nz/practicum/
When is practicum?
Student teachers in the Primary Bachelor of Teaching do one major practicum block in each of the 3 years of the programme.
Year 1 – all students, October-November, for 3-4 weeks
Year 2 – all students, October-November, for 4 weeks
Year 3 – all students, second half of semester A (early May to late June) for 8 weeks
Student teachers in the Primary Graduate Diploma of Teaching do three major practicum blocks during the one-year programme.
Grad practicum 1 – 3 weeks in February prior to lectures commencing for semester A
Grad practicum 2 – 4 weeks in June-July in the study break between semesters A and B
Grad practicum 3 – 6 weeks in October-December after semester B lectures are finished, following a one week break.
As well, students in the Graduate Diploma of Teaching spend significant blocks of time each week in their base school, throughout the whole year.
Practicum in each level of the school.
The Education Council requires, for provisional registration purposes, that all graduating students have practicum experience at the three levels of the NZ primary school (junior, middle, senior).
- junior school – years 0-3 ages 5-7
- middle school – years 4-6 ages 8-10
- senior school – years 7-8 in any setting, intermediate, middle school, full primary, area school, F1-7 college), ages 11-13
You can decide which order you would like to do each of the levels of the school. Sometimes class levels overlap e.g. a class may be year 5-8 in a rural school. In a class like this you cover two levels and therefore you can get two opportunities to work with a particular age group.
Students are advised to save for their final practicum, the age level they would prefer to teach when they graduate. This is your longest practicum, when you are most experienced.
A mix of school size and type on your practicum record enhances your C.V. when you are applying for teaching jobs (urban, rural, low socio-economic etc.)
Year 1 Hamilton and Tauranga BTchng Students(2019)
Year 1 and 2 Hamilton and Tauranga BTchng students will be placed for practicum in their weekly placement school. They will not have a choice of school. The class level and the associate teacher for this practicum will be negotiated between the school and the FEDU. Decisions regarding these placements will be made early in semester B.
Briefing meetings so you know what to teach
Meetings with information about the actual teaching you will need to do are held for each group of students (Hamilton, Tauranga, MMP, in the Bachelor of Teaching and in the Primary Graduate Diploma of Teaching). The dates and times for these meetings are advised through Moodle.
How do you know which school to go to for practicum? Primary Graduate and BTchng Practicums 2 and 3
The Teaching Practice Office has a computer database of all the associate teachers in the University of Waikato region, who are available to work with University of Waikato students. Each year, teachers who want to be associates for our students fill out forms to apply. They give us information about themselves that we put on the database so you can choose who you would like to work with.
Finding out which teachers are available
The database provides details of associates’ teaching style; class mix; level of te reo Maori used; whether they cross group in any curriculum areas with other teachers in the school; whether they are in open plan/variable space classrooms; new resources they are trialing; professional development and innovations they are involved in this year; specialist areas, strengths & interests.
You can access the database from any computer, via your home page in Edlinked.
Check on the database that the associate teachers you would like to request are available in the term of the year when your practicum takes place.
Students wanting to be placed in Hamilton, Cambridge, Tauranga or Mt Maunganui should not approach schools to request placement. Principals in these areas where there are lots of students wishing to undertake practicum prefer the placement to be done officially through the University.
Practicum in a school that is not on the database
If there is a school or associate teacher that you would like to go to, that is not listed on the database, please contact the Teaching Practice Coordinator about this.
Electronic practicum application form
Students access the information about potential associate teachers, select their associate teachers and submit their application on the University’s website. You need to send your electronic form in by 1.00 pm on the due date – dates are listed separately on the practicum website. Instructions about how to complete the form are on the website, under the heading ‘Enter requests for Practicum’.
Allocation of associates – selecting & being placed with someone you really want to work with
Once your 5 choices of associates are loaded into the computer, allocation of associate teachers is done using a randomised computer programme – it is not done on a first come first served basis, so please take your time choosing your associate teachers. It is important that second and third and subsequent options are indicated & that all five teachers you select are people with whom you genuinely want to work, as it is possible we will have multiple requests for the same associate teacher, especially in the schools close to the University in Hamilton such as Hamilton East, Marian Catholic School, Peachgrove Intermediate and in schools in Tauranga that work closely with the University. Writing the same associate teacher’s name in all five spaces on the form does not enhance your chances of being placed with that person – it just means you have only put in one choice.
Hamilton students should seriously consider choosing a school on the west side of the Waikato River, a school in a rural district, or in Cambridge, Ngaruawahia, or Morrinsville. These schools are keen to have you. The children have not worked with as many pre-service teachers as those in schools close to the University and they love having another teacher in their class – you will be regarded as a pre-service teacher rather than a student teacher. Depending upon where you live, travelling to Cambridge may be quicker than travelling across town. The further afield you choose, the more likely it is you will get one of your 5 choices of associate. Carpooling with colleagues to an out of town school can help with costs. Also check the database for schools where shared travel from Hamilton or Tauranga is available with school staff. Some out of town schools can help arrange board for pre-service teachers – this is also indicated on the database.
Practicum in the same school as family members
Practicum with a relative who is a teacher, or in a school where a relative works is not professionally appropriate. In some very special circumstances such a placement may be allowed. Students must discuss this with the Teaching Practice Coordinator in advance.
It can sometimes present difficulties if students do practicum in the same school that their own children attend – please talk with the Teaching Practice Coordinator about this.
The Teaching Practice Office will need to seek approval from the principal to place a student in the same school as his/her child attends or where a family member works.
Practicum at a distance from the University
Due to the costs of lecturer travel, accommodation and time, it is not usual for Hamilton & Tauranga campus students to undertake practicum at a distance from the University. The University is not funded for practicum at a distance. On some occasions Hamilton and Tauranga campus students may be placed at a distance, but must discuss this with the Teaching Practicum Coordinator, before making their selection of associates.
Introducing yourself by letter to your associate teacher
Associate teachers have asked us if they could know about their student teachers before the practicum starts. This is in addition to making a pre-visit. A sample wording for a letter is on the practicum website (click on ‘Letter of introduction to AT’). Please do not send your letter until after schools and associates have been formally notified that you have been placed with them.
Visiting your associate teacher before practicum begins – compulsory
A pre- practicum visit with your associate teacher is a requirement and should be arranged for a time after you have received and read the handbooks at your briefing meeting (and after associate teachers have been notified who has been placed with them and have received their copies of the booklets). In all cases, students will be responsible for arranging their own visits by phoning or calling at the school.
The liaison lecturer
The liaison lecturer’s role is often described as ‘PR and trouble shooting’. This person visits you and your associate late in the first week of practicum or in the second week to check that everything makes sense and is going well. They will check that you are having opportunities to plan and teach, and will want to see your practicum folder. Some students who are on practicum at a distance from the University will have liaison contact by phone. The liaison lecturer is the person who can help if things go wrong during practicum, if you get sick or are concerned about an aspect of the placement. They are not involved in evaluating your teaching.
The evaluative lecturer
The evaluative lecturer comes to observe you teach and give you feedback. You will get more detail about what they will want to see when you have your briefing meeting. Evaluative lecturers will come for an hour and a half or longer. A common pattern is 3/4 hour to watch you teach (depends on age of children) plus 20-30 minutes of discussion with you, as well as discussion with your associate teacher. You and your associate together choose the curriculum area that you will be teaching.
What else do you do on practicum?
Students are expected to teach in as many curriculum areas as possible, fitting in with what the associate teacher has planned for the practicum period. Some of the work will be with groups and some will be with the whole class.
Practicum folder
Students need a ring binder / electronic folder (or similar folder/book) divided into sub-sections. The sub-sections you use will depend on how your associate teacher uses the curriculum (e.g. whether they integrate across curriculum areas). Most students make a sub-section for each curriculum area they observe and teach, plus sub-sections for administration, assessment and evaluation, and good ideas/handy hints. All your planning and assessment needs to be filed in the folder. The lecturers who visit you will check the folder, as will your associate teacher.
Examinations during practicum
Hamilton campus students who have exams during the school day must apply for examination leave using the light purple coloured form available from the Teaching Practice Administrator, room TC 2.72.
Students may be granted leave from practicum for the day of their examination. Students with more then one examination will need to work extra days in lieu at the end of the practicum.
Schools will be notified officially by the Teaching Practice Office of those students who have examinations. If you have not applied for examination leave and your school has not been officially notified, the school may refuse you leave to sit your exam.
School camps during practicum
Students are encouraged to accompany their class on school camp. It provides a wonderful opportunity to get to know children and also to learn how to organise such events, which is valuable for when you have your own class. If a student cannot go on camp it may be more appropriate to change her/his placement to another associate teacher.
Absences from practicum
Where students have had absences for any reason they may be required to add extra days on at the end of practicum to complete requirements.
If you do not pass practicum
Under the managed entry criteria for admission to teacher education programmes (see University of Waikato Calendar), pre-service teachers who do not meet the requirements of teaching practicum are ineligible for re-entry into the programme the following year. Should they wish to continue in the programme, they must appeal against their ineligibility for re-entry, to the Faculty of Education Appeals Committee. Pre-service teachers may be required to meet with the Practicum Review Committee, to discuss their practicum, prior to a recommendation being made to the Appeals Committee. If a further opportunity to meet the requirements of the particular teaching practicum is granted, this will involve re-enrolment in the relevant practicum course and paying the course fee. It may also mean that the student’s graduation is delayed by a semester or more.
see further information here
Contact
Primary Teaching Practice Office
Administrator, Primary Teaching Practice
Sussi Bell practicum@waikato.ac.nz
Phone 07 8384368
Room TC 2.72
Primary Teaching Practicum
Clark McPhillips clarkmcp@waikato.ac.nz
Phone 07 8384466 ext 7812
Room TC 2.69
Professional Experience Office
Faculty of Education
University of Waikato
