Estimated time required to complete module: 8 hours
Estimated time required to complete unit: 4 hours
Estimated time required to complete unit: 4 hours
Apprenticeship
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Throughout the ages, learning by novices has been accomplished through learning from and with an expert (the master) through apprenticeship. When students are placed in your classroom for school experience, they become your apprentices. They observe you, the master, at work. |
If you are a good master, you will not only model good practice to them. You will also scaffold their learning and you will coach them. You will also know when to fade.
Scaffolding refers to the support that a master provides to the apprentice in carrying out a task - for example, demonstrating parts of the tasks or giving hints on how to improve performance.
Fading implies knowing when to slowly remove support and give the apprentice more responsibility.
Coaching runs throughout the apprenticeship process. It includes scaffolding, diagnosing problems and providing hints how to address them, assessing performance and giving advice on how to improve performance, working on particular weaknesses, etc. In short, it involves overseeing the learning journey of the apprentice – your student teacher.