Current Issues in Middle Level Education - Vol 25 - Issue 2 - Article 10 - Field Experiences in the Ether: The Pandemic-induced Realities of Learning to Teach

Oct 15, 2026

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The article examines how K-12 school closures in the United States during March and April 2020 affected teacher education, disrupting traditional classroom-based field experiences. With more than 50 million students impacted and many forced into online learning, school-university partners redesigned alternative virtual field placements. It describes one middle level partnership that used virtual learning spaces for new teacher candidates to conceptualize teaching and learning, and it includes classroom teachers’ perspectives on hosting candidates, highlighting best practices and challenges to consider.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Field Experiences in the Ether: The Pandemic-induced Realities of Learning to Teach

Impact of School Closures on K-12 and Teacher Education

Designing Virtual Alternative Field Experiences

Teacher Candidates and Classroom Teachers’ Perspectives

Current Issues in Middle Level Education | Volume 25 Issue 2 | Article 10 | | --- | --- | | February 2021
Field Experiences in the Ether: The Pandemic-induced Realities ofLearning to Teach
Penny B. Howell
University of Louisville, [penny.howell@louisville.edu](penny.howell@louisville.edu)
Alice Gnau
Westport Middle School/University of Louisville, [alice.gnau@jefferson.kyschools.us](alice.gnau@jefferson.kyschools.us)
Laura Peavley
Westport Middle School, [laura.peavley@jefferson.kyschools.us](laura.peavley@jefferson.kyschools.us)
Caitlyn Workman
Westport Middle School, [caitlyn.workman@jefferson.kyschools.us](caitlyn.workman@jefferson.kyschools.us)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle](https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle)
Part of the Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons | | Recommended Citation Howell, Penny B.; Gnau, Alice; Peavley, Laura; and Workman, Caitlyn (2021) "Field Experiences in the Ether: The Pandemicinduced Realities of Learning to Teach," Current Issues in Middle Level Education: Vol. 25 : Iss. 2 , Article 10. DOI: 10.20429/cimle.2021.250210 Available at: [https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol25/iss2/10](https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol25/iss2/10) This description is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Current Issues in Middle Level Education by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, [please contact](please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu)[ digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu](please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu). Field Experiences in the Ether: The Pandemic-induced Realities of Learning to Teach Penny B. Howell University of Louisville Alice Gnau Westport Middle School Laura Peavley Westport Middle School Caitlyn Workman Westport Middle School Abstract In the United States during March and April of 2020, more than 50 million K-12 students were impacted by school closures with many forced to engage in online teaching for continuity in their 2019-2020 school year. This disruption to K-12 public and private schools reverberated in programs of teacher education around the country. As school-university partners, we wanted to provide opportunities for new teacher candidates to be able to engage in some form of interaction with students and veteran teachers. We drew on the structures and strengths of our school-university partnership to build our plan to engage in pandemic-induced, alternative field experiences. In this article, we describe how one middle level school-university partnership leaned into virtual learning spaces and provided opportunities to help teacher candidates who were beginning their teacher education program conceptualize teaching and learning in new ways. Additionally, we provide classroom teachers’ perspectives on hosting teacher candidates in a virtual learning format, offering insights on best practices and challenges to ponder. The COVID-19 global pandemic has impacted schools worldwide (UNESCO, 2020) . In the United States during March and April of 2020, more than 50 million K-12 students were impacted by school closures with many forced to engage in online learning for continuity in their 2019-2020 school year (EdWeek, 2020). This disruption to K-12 public and private schools reverberated in programs of teacher education around the country. Because teacher education depends on the willingness of those schools and classroom teachers to provide spaces for teacher candidates to learn, practice, and grow into effective teachers, many programs scrambled to find alternative experiences for teacher candidates. For the University of Louisville (UL), it meant that teacher candidates would forgo any remaini

FAQs

How did the pandemic disrupt teacher education during 2019-2020?

School closures forced many K-12 students into online learning and reduced or ended remaining classroom-based field experiences. Teacher education programs had to scramble to create alternative experiences for candidates.

What approach did the school-university partnership use to replace traditional field experiences?

The partnership designed pandemic-induced alternative field experiences using virtual learning spaces. It leveraged the strengths of the existing school-university partnership to support interaction among teacher candidates, students, and veteran teachers.

What does the article include besides the program description?

It includes classroom teachers’ perspectives on hosting teacher candidates in a virtual learning format, offering insights into best practices and challenges.

Oct 15, 2026

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