‘I felt so removed from student teaching’ : shared voices of preservice student teachers regarding the edTPA and student teaching

Guided by an inquiry as stance approach, this study aimed to explore the perspectives of early childhood and elementary pre-service student teachers on the impact of the edTPA (Teacher Performance Assessment) on their student teaching experiences. The analysis of an online open-ended questionnaire revealed that the claims made by the edTPA supports were paradoxical. Our participants shared the unforeseen effects of the edTPA on their student teaching experiences, such as the [non-]educative, [un]authentic, and [un]professional side of the edTPA. The findings of this study urge teacher educators, policy makers, and administrators to rethink and re-examine the edTPA requirement in the field to provide truly professional and educative experiences for all young children, student teachers, Cooperating Teachers (CT), staff, and the community.