Field Placements
School/University Partnership Team
School/University Partnership Team
Western Michigan University has a unique partnership that represents the collaboration of public schools and the College of Education's Teacher Education programs. The partnership is called SUPT: the School/University Partnership Team. The members of the team are public school students, teachers, and administrators, and university faculty, students, and staff. Together members of the team:
- Become a community of teachers/learners
- Develop skills and abilities of effective mentoring
- Engage in staff development to assist with the ongoing revisioning of public education
- Explore research applicable to the work of the partnership and of good teaching practice
- Assist interns (student teachers) in the Teacher Education programs to have the highest quality experiences in their intern semester as possible.
Once a month during the academic year, WMU hosts a staff development meeting on campus to explore areas of interest identified by the partnership. These meetings of the SUPT bring together University Coordinators, Mentor Coaches, and special guests from the schools and from the field of education to further the work of the partnership and Cluster Sites. Nearly 90 educators attend these monthly meetings to solve problems as they arise and to plan for new initiatives in the program. They also study new and developing aspects of the Cluster Site Program and of the role of a mentor.
Although not every teacher in a Cluster Site becomes a Mentor for our Interns, all teachers at the site are identified as members of the SUPT. Student interns, therefore, have a broad variety of professionals helping them to perform to their highest capabilities.
The School/University Partnership Team at Western Michigan University provides the opportunity for teachers in the schools, WMU faculty and staff, and students in both settings to come together as a community of learners. Together we discover and share our understanding of meaningful teaching and learning in order to assure continuous improvement over time.
