From learner to teacher: practice,language, and identity in a teaching practicum

This paper reports on a qualitative study that investigated the lived experiences of a group of pre-service English language teachers during a teaching practicum in Hong Kong. Multiple, in-depth interviews with student teachers were conducted during a 6-week practicum to understand the students’ experiences of becoming teachers. A contribution of this study is to use the analytic lens of teacher identity to understand the challenges, one group of pre-service teachers confronted as they positioned themselves, and were positioned by others, as particular types of teachers during their practicum. The results of this study suggest that a critical perspective, grounded in an identity-theoretic understanding of pre-service teachers’ practicum experiences, is needed to reveal and then overcome antagonistic relations that might threaten the identity work of trainee teachers. Endorsing calls to rethink the practicum, the types of support that might be offered to pre-service teachers are critically examined and suggestions for the ways in which stakeholders, such as teacher educators and school-based supporting teachers, can best facilitate the identity work of pre-service teachers undertaking a teaching practicum are offered. Implications for future research are also discussed.     

When rural meets urban: the transfer problem Chinese pre-service teachers face in teaching practice

Traditional teacher education’s supposed failure to prepare prospective teachers for classroom realities (the transfer problem) is a widely discussed topic in the teacher education literature. Previous studies have focused on causal relationships between teaching and such factors as pre-service teacher education programmes, contextual factors in the practicum school, and transition shock; however, most of these studies have been set in developed countries, and have paid little attention to the interactions among such factors. This study, involving 35 East China Normal University pre-service teachers, explores the transfer problem in a rural/urban divide context, discusses the possible impacts of pre-service teachers’ previous educational experience (i.e. before teacher education) on their teaching, and examines the interactions among teachers’ previous education experience, teacher education, and practicum schools.     

Out of the book and into the classroom: The experiences of Korean social studies pre-service teachers in an international teaching practicum in the United States

Despite the growing interest and importance of pre-service teachers’ cross-cultural experiences, a review of the literature shows that few studies have discussed the international teaching practicum experiences of pre-service teachers from Asian countries. Bridging this gap, this qualitative case study examined the perceptions and experiences of 15 Korean social studies pre-service teachers who participated in an international teaching practicum in the United States. The findings of the study demonstrated that although participants encountered difficulties in speaking a foreign language and adjusting to a different culture, they also gained confidence and self-efficacy by negotiating and actively participating in the teaching and learning process. This international teaching practicum also helped participants promote their own understanding of multiculturalism and their different perspectives of the teachers’ roles, teaching pedagogies, and local education systems. This study offers implications for future multicultural professional development in teacher education and contributes to developing a body of research and scholarship on international teaching practicums from Asian contexts that have, to date, been largely underexplored.     

Learning Study: nurturing the instructional design and teaching competency of pre-service teachers

This paper presents an evaluation study of an innovative and theory-based initial teacher education course entitled Learning Study, the aim of which is to develop the instructional design and teaching competency of pre-service teachers in Hong Kong. The Learning Study course is offered to all second year students as part of the Bachelor of Education programme of the biggest teacher education institute in Hong Kong. The course comprises a series of theory-based tutorials, supportive consultation meetings, and a research lesson practicum. To assess the effectiveness of the course, a framework of representation, decomposition, and approximation of practices was adopted to describe and analyse the teaching of practice. A total of 341 pre-service teachers participated in a quasi-experimental design questionnaire survey. A structural equation model was applied to explore the relationship between the activities of their learning process and their learning outcomes. Theory-based tutorials, consultative support, and research practicums are confirmed to be the predictors of learning outcomes which include instructional design skills, teaching competency, and clinical experience. This paper proposes Learning Study as a model to help pre-service teachers develop their instructional design skills and teaching competency.     

Genuine conversation: the enabler in good mentoring of pre-service teachers

This study confirms the role of genuine conversation as the enabler in good mentoring of pre-service teachers. The practicum plays an essential role in moving the pre-service teacher beyond learning about teaching to the practice of teaching. Yet the benefit of the practicum is often constrained by relational tensions, disappointment and frustrations for both the pre-service teacher and the mentor. The authors report on the findings drawn from stories and experiences of pre-service teachers and mentors as they participated in a final practicum in a range of Australian secondary schools. This paper uses social learning theory as a framework for understanding the key aspects of pre-service teacher mentoring: specifically, Wenger’s three interrelated concepts of mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire. Conversation plays a critical role in these areas and hence enables successful practicum experiences. Recommendations to enhance professional conversations focus on strengthening the relationship through considered pre-service teacher placement, close school/university partnerships, mentor programmes and the selection of appropriate mentors.     

We train,but what do they think? Preservice teachers’ perceptions of the adequacy of their teacher education in Turkey

The study aimed to assess the adequacy of pre-service teacher education in Turkey as perceived by preservice teachers. Specifically, the researchers investigated preservice teachers’ perceptions of the adequateness of their education in terms of developing teaching skills and the major components of teacher education. The factors affecting their perceptions were also examined. In total, 1856 preservice teachers participated in the study. A questionnaire was prepared to collect data from the participants. According to the findings, teacher education should be enhanced in terms of preparing candidates for skills such as teaching in different contexts and cooperating with parents; and practicum hours needed to be improved for more effective preparation of preservice teachers. Moreover, it was also found that the preservice teachers’ subject, college, orientation towards teaching and the perceived adequacy of program components played significant roles in affecting their perceptions of teacher education.     

Learning from interpersonal interactions during the practicum: a case study of non-native ESL student teachers

Although research reveals that pre-service student teachers often regard their relationships with their significant others as an important element of their initial teaching practice experience, much remains unknown about the influence of significant others on non-native English as a Second Language (ESL) student teachers’ professional learning process during field experiences. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of the professional learning experiences of 17 pre-service non-native ESL student teachers during an eight-week-long practicum. Grounded in a sociocultural view of teacher learning, the study explores how the ESL student teachers developed their understanding of professional learning in the light of their experiences of engaging with their supporting teachers, supervisors, other school staff members as well as peer student teachers during the practicum. Analysis of the data reveals that these people assumed the role of coach either directly or indirectly, having a positive influence on the student teachers’ role as a teacher. Analysis of the data also reveals negative interactions between student teachers and their significant others, which sociocultural theories have so far not taken sufficiently into account. While, findings of this study challenge past assumptions about where knowledge for teaching comes from and how it can be learned; this study also suggests an urgent need to consolidate university–school partnership to foster student teachers’ adaptation to the context of teaching practice and maximise their professional learning opportunities.     

职前英语教师教育实习期身份建构叙事探究

本文采用叙事探究方法,以一名职前英语教师为研究对象,探索其实习期身份建构及其影响因素。研究表明,该教师在实习期建构了批改工具、良师益友、学习者、多面手及教师预备兵等多重身份。影响其身份发展的个人因素主要包括个人过往学习经历、反思能力和情感,社会因素主要为重要他者和学校文化。本研究对推动职前教师积极身份建构和职前教师教育具有重要意义。     

Reconceptualised family resemblance approach to nature of science in pre-service science teacher education

A recent framework on nature of science (NOS) is the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA). FRA presents NOS as a cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional system with a set of categories: aims and values, scientific methods, scientific practices, scientific knowledge and social-institutional aspects of science. Although FRA has been problematised philosophically and its implications for science education have been considered by science educators, its empirical adaptations in science education are limited. In order to illustrate the educational adaptations of FRA, we refer to Reconceptualised Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science or RFN. We present a study based on a funded pre-service science teacher education project whose aim was to design, implement and evaluate the impact of RFN strategies. Fifteen pre-service teachers participated in a 14-week teacher education intervention that infused RFN. A 70-item questionnaire was designed to investigate the outcomes of the teacher education intervention. Individual interviews with pre-service teachers were also conducted. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis suggest that the teacher education intervention had an overall significant impact on pre-service teachers’ views of NOS. The paper contributes to the understanding of how NOS can be incorporated in science teacher education using a new orientation to NOS based on FRA.     

Could Practicum Placements in Contrasting Contexts Support the Preparation of Pre-Service Teachers for an Envisaged Inclusive Education System? A South African study

In contexts where inclusive education is nascent, teacher educators face the challenge of preparing pre-service teachers for a system that does not yet exist. While this might be possible through university-based coursework, difficulties arise when so few sites that model inclusive pedagogies are available for practicum placements. This article investigates whether practicum placements in contrasting contexts may prepare pre-service teachers for teaching in an envisaged inclusive education system. We analyse the reflections of South African pre-service teachers who have conducted practicum sessions in two contrasting contexts, neither of which offered ideal models of inclusion. We explore the extent to which moving between contexts enabled pre-service teachers to develop orientations towards teaching and learning that Black-Hawkins and Florian identify as essential for promoting and sustaining inclusive pedagogic practices. With reservations, we conclude that practicum placements over contrasting contexts potentially support the preparation of pre-service teachers for inclusive education.     

Pre-service English teachers’ perceptions of newly arrived children from Mainland China

The research reported here investigated pre-service English language teachers’ perceptions of newly arrived immigrant children from Mainland China in Hong Kong. Seventeen participants, who had at least 10 weeks of experience working with these immigrant children during teaching practicum, participated in focus group discussions and shared their perceptions. The data analysis revealed that the participants widely perceived these children as deficit and consider them a serious professional challenge. Further examination of the data helped reveal media, life and teaching practicum experiences with immigrant children as crucial sources that contributed to the formation of these perceptions. The findings call for teacher education programmes to involve pre-service teachers in critical engagement with the mass media and their own experiences so that they can address the deficit model applied by teachers to immigrant children.     

Exploring Spanish pre-service teachers’ talk in relation to ICT: balancing different expectations between the university and practicum school

Information and communications technology (ICT) now plays a prominent role in pre-service teacher education programmes across the globe. Despite this emphasis, research indicates that pre-service teachers’ use of ICT is often less than expected, even though they express positive opinions of its benefits. This study aimed to explore pre-service teachers’ views of ICT and consider the function of their expressed opinions. This longitudinal study, using one-to-one semi-structured interviews, was conducted with pre-service teachers on entry and on completion of a one-year Masters programme in Spain. The pre-service teachers held quite traditional views of teaching and learning, presenting teaching in an either–or manner – either ICT supported or non-ICT supported. They also spoke positively about ICT while simultaneously expressing reservations about it. The article argues that these contradictory positions may be a result of the need to navigate two competing environments, the higher education institution and the practicum school, where expectations of ICT use may differ. The article explores this performative function of their talk.     

Stakeholders’ perspectives of the nature and role of assessment during practicum

This paper focuses on the assessment of student teachers during practicum. The study is contextualised in an Australian pre-service teacher education program in which practicum has been reconceptualised to help bridge the theory-practice gap commonly associated with “front-end loading” programs. Survey and interview data collected from student teachers and supervising teachers point to what participants perceive as disparate understandings between university and school staff about the nature and role of assessment and suggest that this lack of common understanding adversely affects students’ experiences of assessment.     

Integrating theory and practice in the pre-service teacher education practicum

This article reports on a study into student teachers’ perceptions about their professional development during practicum. Framed within a symbolic interactionist perspective, the study examined to what extent, and how effectively, one group of student teachers was able to integrate theory and practice during a three-week practicum in the first year of their degree. The context for this mixed methods study was a Master of Teaching, graduate-level entry programme in the Faculty of Education at an urban Australian university. Although there is a strong field of literature around the practicum in pre-service teacher education, there has been a limited focus on how student teachers themselves perceive their development during this learning period. Further, despite widespread and longstanding acknowledgement of the ‘gap’ between theory and practice in teacher education, there is still more to learn about how well the practicum enables an integration of these two dimensions of teacher preparation. In presenting three major findings of the study, this paper goes some way in addressing these shortcomings in the literature. First, participants in this study largely valued both the theoretical and practical components of their programme, which stands in contrast to the commonly identified tendency of the student teacher to privilege practice over theory. Second, opportunities to integrate theory and practice were varied, with many participants reporting the detrimental impact of an apparent lack of clarity around stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities. Third, participants overwhelmingly supported the notion of linking university coursework assessment to the practicum as a means of bridging the gap between, on the one hand, the university and the school and, on the other hand, theory and practice.     

Rate your course! Student teachers’ perceptions of a primary pre-service mathematics education programme

Although research suggests that many pre-service mathematics education programmes are weak interventions having a negligible effect on student teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, there is consensus that programmes that model and engage student teachers in reform teaching and learning approaches have the potential to effect positive change in attitudes and knowledge of mathematics. This paper focuses on the perceptions of 345 student teachers regarding their mathematics education programme. The authors consider that in order to further our understanding of the characteristics of an effective pre-service mathematics education programme, the opinions of participating student teachers are fundamental. Participants reported improved mathematical subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in addition to greater confidence and decreased anxiety towards mathematics. Programme features such as small group tutorials and interactive engagement were identified as impacting this positive change.     

A comparative study of the impact of enhanced input on inclusion at pre-service and induction phases on the self-efficacy of beginning teachers to work effectively with children with special educational needs

There is a well-founded assumption in the literature that the first year of teaching presents challenges to beginning teachers. However, few studies have looked empirically at how beginning teacher perceptions about teaching ability change from the pre-service to the novice teacher year. This is particularly the case for inclusive education, where no substantive empirical studies have measured such a change in teacher perceptions across these phases of teacher development. This study tracks changes in the perceived self-efficacy of teachers in relation to working effectively with children with special educational needs (n = 67) following an inclusion-enhancement programme in the pre-service phase and enriched induction on inclusion in the novice teacher phase. The study employed a repeated panel survey design with an intervention and comparison group. A critique is made of the domain specificity of current measures used for considering self-efficacy for inclusion, and an alternative approach proposed. Results indicate that there were relative gains in self-efficacy from the start to the end of the pre-service teacher year due to the enhancement programme, and that these gains were maintained in the novice teacher year. However, there was no evidence that the induction enrichment had any impact on self-efficacy in this domain. Implications for the timing and intensity of induction for beginning teachers, as well as for future research directions on teacher education, are considered.     

Negotiating spaces: the in-betweeness of becoming a teacher

Pre-service teachers move through multiple learning communities during teacher education programs, arguably emerging as authentic insiders in teaching culture. In this case study, a critical perspective is offered by Ann, a First Nations learner who described her experience of teacher education, and how she came to question different aspects of her university program and practicum assignment which challenged her understandings of self. The experiences of pre-service teachers like Ann are often hidden from view, and what they perceive as shortcomings in programming are often unseen within institutional contexts. Ann articulated numerous gaps that still reside within teacher culture despite structures that are in place to address such gaps. The situated knowledge of pre-service teachers can offer alternative perspectives to guide the future of teacher education by drawing attention to shifts underway among students that will change the nature of professional practice.     

Pre-service teachers’ views on inclusive education in Ghana

Pre-service teacher training has been identified as one of the key factors in the promotion of inclusive education. In this study, 200 final-year pre-service teachers from three colleges of education in Ghana were surveyed about their views and knowledge on inclusive education and special educational needs (SEN). The results showed that almost all of the participants had been introduced to the concept of inclusion during their studies. However, only one-third felt highly, or somewhat, prepared to teach children with SEN. The level of knowledge and feelings of self-efficacy were highest among those pre-service teachers who had personal experience of supporting children with SEN during their practicum. The participants tended to prefer those inclusive instructional strategies that were easiest to apply in general education classrooms. Significant differences in the outcomes were found between the three colleges studied indicating strong effects of the teacher education model applied in each college.     

A case study of early career secondary teachers’ perceptions of their preparedness for teaching: lessons from Australia and Spain

This paper presents an international comparison of Australian and Spanish secondary teachers’ perceptions about the effectiveness of their pre-service education and their learning as in-service teachers. It aims to identify, firstly, the extent to which beginning teachers believe they are prepared for their careers through their teacher training and, secondly, what teachers have learned as practicing teachers. A qualitative case study was conducted to uncover whether similar issues raised by early career teachers were identified in different contexts. Data were collected through interviews with secondary teachers (N = 11) from Australia and Spain in their third year of full-time teaching. Findings suggest similar positive perceptions towards their practicum experiences, transition to beginning teachers and professional development. However, differences were found in their early career experiences regarding professional learning and their development of identity. Implications of the study are discussed by identifying strategies to improve pre-service education for secondary teachers.