Pre-Practicum Field Experience
General Education
The regulations stipulate 75 hours of documented fieldwork in a variety of educational settings (but restricted to contexts involving K-12 students). Thus, in addition to 75 hours of observations in a school classroom, it is acceptable for pre-practicum fieldwork to be done at sites like schoolyards, museums, daycare centers, camps, and after-school programs. Observations should include at least two different sites, one of which must be an urban setting.
Because UMass Boston has commitment to urban education, a substantial portion of a candidate’s pre-practicum hours must take place in an urban setting. UMass Boston values its urban mission, and the College of Education and Human Development and Department of Curriculum & Instruction help further that mission by requiring students to become familiar, through the urban pre-practicum requirement, with the opportunities and challenges facing students and staff in urban schools. While the definition of "urban" triggers debate in many settings, including our own college, here are some sure-fire suggestions: the public schools of Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, Chelsea, Revere, Lynn, Lowell, Malden, Randolph, Brockton and Quincy.
Many instructors integrate assignments for fieldwork into their courses, thus grounding the theoretical work of their courses in the practical realities of schools and children's learning. Some instructors require a journal that connects the issues raised in the course to field observations; others assign specific research projects.
Special Education
For Initial Licensure, students complete 75 hours of monitored pre-practicum field-based experiences which are attached to individual courses. These field experiences include classroom-based observations, interviews with educational professionals, individualized diagnostic assessments, and design and implementation of lesson plans. Because UMass Boston has commitment to urban education, a substantial portion of a candidate’s pre-practicum hours must take place in an urban setting. UMass Boston values its urban mission, and the College of Education and Human Development and Department of Curriculum & Instruction help further that mission by requiring students to become familiar, through the urban pre-practicum requirement, with the opportunities and challenges facing students and staff in urban schools.
