• Course Related Field Assignments
  • Making Contact with Host Teachers
  • At the School
    • Arrival
    • Etiquette
    • Dress and Appearance
    • Observations

For logistical questions or issues related to your field placement assignment, contact the Field Placement Coordinator right away.

All assignments, field hours and goals for each field experience are specific your EDUC course/s. The specific procedures, goals and objectives can be found in each course syllabus. For questions related to coursework related to field placement, contact your course instructor.

One of the strengths of UNC Asheville’s Teacher Education Program is early and frequent field experience in public school classrooms, planned in conjunction with course content. Administrators and classroom teachers who agree to have UNC Asheville students in their schools do so as a service to their profession and to you as a future member of that profession.

Your field placement has been arranged by UNC Asheville’s Field Placement Coordinator and has been approved by the superintendent of the school system’s LEA designee and the principal of the school. You may not take it upon yourself to contact schools to arrange your own placement. Doing so is considered a dispositional issue. 

Making Contact 

Reach out immediately using your UNCA email to ALL assigned host teachers to introduce yourself and to begin scheduling as soon as you get your “Field Placement Confirmation” email from the field placement coordinator. If you have multiple placements, you may not receive them all at the same time.

When contacting host teachers, be sure the email is professional and is sent from your UNCA email address.

General Initial Host Teacher Email Template:

Good afternoon (teacher’s name),

I am a student in the Department of Education at UNCA. Thank you for agreeing to host my education field work this semester. 

Over the course of the semester, I will need to observe (the # of hours) in (subject). My best days and times are (insert times and days here). Please let me know the days and times that work best for you. It is important to begin scheduling early because my observations are tied to course assignments. I cannot complete education courses without successfully completing the corresponding field work.

I look forward to meeting you and spending time in your classroom. (Your Name)

When contacting the P-12 clinical faculty, remember that he/she is at work, so phone calls should be made during before or after school hours.  Typically that is before 7:45am and after 3:00pm.

Teacher Follow Up Emails:

Ask your teacher questions about their expectations for your arrival and time in their classroom. Teachers are typically teaching when you arrive and may not have time to stop teaching to get you started.

Host Teacher Response Issues:

  1. Make contact with all teachers immediately via your UNCA email and schedule.
  2. If you do not hear back from your teacher in 3 days, send a follow up email. Double check the email address by looking a the school website staff directory and/or calling the front office of the school to confirm.
  3. If 7 days pass, call the front office of the school and leave a message that you are a UNCA student assigned to observe that teacher and ask for a good time to reach them via phone. Leave your contact information.
  4. If phone contact attempts are not successful, contact the field coordinator for further steps and assistance. 
  5. Do not let more than 2 weeks pass without completing this process.

*Critical Note: Field placement issues are easier to solve early in the semester. Waiting too long to solve field placement issues could result in an inability to complete your course field requirements. Without successfully completing field requirements, you can not complete your EDUC course.

Arrival to the School:

  • Arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled experience
  • ALWAYS report to the Main Office of the school upon arrival for any type of field visit!!
  • Follow school sign in procedures. Each school will have a different set of procedures.
  • Bring your driver’s license or ID. Some schools require this for sign in.
  • Dress professionally
  • Be prepared to ask questions
  • If you scheduled a field visit, show up! 

Researching a School:

Each school you visit during your education program will have a unique mission, philosophy, and school culture. It is important to have a wide variety of experiences during your program.

In addition to specific course observation requirements, it is best practice to research the school for which you will visit. Doing a website walk through of a school you are going to visit will give you a lot of important information about that school. It is also good practice for job interview preparation. Some suggestions for researching before your visit:

  • Mission Statement:  Does the school have a mission statement; that is a statement that essentially explains in a broad or specific way the overarching mission, purpose, or goal of the school?
  • Philosophy:  What is the guiding philosophy of this school? The philosophy of a school explains its guiding belief system about teaching, learning, and the purpose of the institution.  It is normally grounded in the wisdom of educational philosophy.
  • Demographics:  What is the demographic make-up and size of the school? 
  • Student Management System:  How does this school organize and manage students?  Examples: How do students know when and how to move from one class or subject to another?  How many students in each class? How are teaching assignments structured, one teacher all day, co-teaching, inclusion? What are the rules in the school and how are they communicated?  Are classroom rules up to the individual teachers or posted school wide? 
  • Curriculum and Instructional Plan:  What types of courses and curriculum materials are provided to support instruction? Do teachers plan as subject or grade level teams (PLC’s)?
  • Teaching, Leadership and Support Staff Plan:  What does the leadership of the school look like?  What support staff does this school have (office staff, guidance, resource officers etc.)? How are decisions made in this school? Who and what informs the decisions that are made? 
  • Environmental design:  What does this school look like structurally?  What is on the walls in the halls and/or classrooms?  Is it comfortable in terms of lighting, temperature, noise level etc.?  

Professional Dress:

Our partner school districts follow the North Carolina School Board Association Policy Code 7340 for Employee Dress and Appearance.  The expectations for UNCA students doing field work in the schools are the same as for employees. 

The Board of Education believes that the appearance and the conduct of its faculty are of supreme importance in establishing a positive image for education in the community and for presenting a good example for students.  Therefore, the board affirms its expectation that all personnel will be professionally, neatly, and appropriately attired for the work to be done.  An employee’s dress must not disrupt or distract from the educational process and must be in accordance with health and safety standards.  The superintendent shall develop and communicate to employees guidelines for appropriate dress and appearance.  Such guidelines may authorize the principal or department supervisors to develop specific dress or appearance requirements for each school or department.

Administrative and supervisory personnel shall set a good example in personal appearance and good manners and shall encourage and expect employees to dress in accordance with the board’s expectations.  An employee’s supervisor will make an initial determination of whether an employee’s dress or appearance is inappropriate.  In making this determination, the supervisor will consider the following factors:

  • the nature of the work;
  • whether the dress is consistent with a professional environment;
  • health and safety factors;
  • the nature of the employee’s public contact and the normal expectations of outside parties with whom the employee will work;
  • the employee’s interaction with students;
  • the prevailing practices of other workers in similar jobs; and
  • any properly established guidelines for dress or appearance.

If the supervisor determines that the employee’s dress or appearance violates the established guidelines or is hazardous to the health or safety of the employee, fellow employees, or students, the supervisor shall counsel the employee regarding attire that is consistent with this policy and shall determine whether the employee is allowed to remain at work or must leave work to change his or her dress.  Any failure to follow the supervisor’s directive and/or blatant or repeated violations of this policy will subject the employee to disciplinary action up to, and including, dismissal.

Legal References:  G.S. 115C-36, -47

For information regarding placement removal or dispositions, refer to your course syllabus and the dispositions policy in the Candidate Handbook.

*Reminder: You are the guest of the K-12 clinical faculty, the principal, and the school system. They are gracious and look forward to having you visit them. You are not only representing yourself but also UNC Asheville and the Department of Education.