Background: Most field coursework in teacher education (TE) programmes do not incorporate extended in situ interaction with individual children in a classroom. Furthermore, child development theory (from coursework) is not taught in tandem with students’ extended periods of practicum placement in schools. Aim: This study sought to determine preservice teachers’ perception of their longitudinal study of children’s development and learning in a clinical setting at a university-affiliated teaching school. Setting: This study focusses on two undergraduate primary school TE programmes at an urban university in Johannesburg, South Africa. These programmes incorporate six semester courses on child development with extended clinical field experience at a teaching school on campus. Each student teacher follows a particular child’s development and learning over four years of their undergraduate coursework. Methods: This was a qualitative descriptive study with some cross-sectional data. Data were collected from 120 undergraduate students, by using anonymous questionnaires and four focus group interviews. Results: Students reported that they had gained in-depth learning of child development during their longitudinal pairing with an individual child and that assigned observation activities had taught them to recognise, and support, nuanced differences in a child’s learning. Conclusion: Students regard their longitudinal interaction and learning in the clinical setting positively. Future research should focus on the long-term value of the clinical model with insights from students who have graduated from the programme and are in the teaching profession.

中文翻译：

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大学附属教学学校的职前教师对儿童纵向发展实地课程的理解

背景：教师教育（TE）计划中的大多数野外课程作业都没有与教室中的个别孩子进行长时间的就地互动。此外，儿童发展理论（来自课程）并没有与学生延长在学校实习的时间一起教授。目的：本研究旨在确定职前教师对大学附属教学学校临床环境中儿童成长和学习的纵向研究的看法。地点：这项研究的重点是南非约翰内斯堡的一所城市大学的两个本科小学TE课程。这些课程包括六个学期的儿童发展课程，并在校园的一所教学学校中拥有丰富的临床实践经验。每位学生老师都会在四年的本科课程中关注特定孩子的成长和学习情况。方法：这是定性描述研究，带有一些横截面数据。通过使用匿名调查表和四个焦点小组访谈从120名本科生中收集数据。结果：学生报告说，在与单个孩子进行纵向配对时，他们已经获得了对儿童发育的深入学习，并且指定的观察活动使他们认识到并支持细微差别的孩子的学习。结论：学生在临床环境中积极地看待他们的纵向互动和学习。