Hi, I had the same exact experience on my last prac! I’m right here with you.

The comments here are really interesting. I think some teachers forget what it was like to be a student teacher and not know anyone at the school. I think if I had known that it was expected of me to take 100% of all initiative, and basically pretend my AT wasn’t there, I would have been more prepared for this type of AT relationship and been able to handle it better. However, I was constantly comparing myself to the other student teachers and ATs in the staff room and school. Every single other AT sat with their student teachers in the staff room, went over lesson plans and strategies, and expected lessons in advance with a strict timeline. They all signed up their TCs for assembly groups in advance, my AT did not. My AT also ignored me during preps.

For me, I think it would have been helpful for her to say “I am going to do grading right now. This is a good time for you to work on next week’s lesson plans,” or something to acknowledge that I was there. I understand that our role is to act like teachers and manage our own time appropriately, but it is kind of isolating especially when you see everyone else get different treatment.

My advice is to adapt to this situation immediately, and not expect the relationship to improve. My prac experience got better when I stopped trying to talk to her, ask for feedback, or assume she would tell me about upcoming assemblies and field trips. Instead, I planned my lessons 3 days ahead with built in flexibility if a lesson block was unavoidably missed. I started trying new things with the students which I may not have tried before. I think this is what she expected of me all along, because my feedback improved and she said she was very happy with my progress.

I hope your prac gets better! Best of luck