Learning to teach science as practice

In this article, we propose coteaching as a viable model for teacher preparation. Coteaching, working at the elbows of someone else, allows beginning teachers to experience appropriate action at the right time. Coteaching provides beginning teachers with shared experiences that become the topic of their professional conversations with other coteachers (including peers, cooperating teacher, and university supervisors). We articulate our model within a phenomenological framework and exemplify each concept with vignettes from our ongoing research on coteaching. A teacher preparation program that is situated in two urban schools provides the context for our research. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.