Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum

A Global Perspective

Melek Cakmak, Muge Gunduz

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351209861
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum establishes a forum to identify the characteristics of good practices of teaching practicum and debates key concepts and emerging themes in the field. The book takes a closer look at practicum from various dimensions and aims to obtain a deeper understanding of how it is perceived and whether the stakeholders in the practicum triad –university based teacher educators, pre-service teachers and school-based mentor teachers – share a common view in the same context. It provides opportunities for personal and professional growth for teacher candidates and an increased familiarity with international employment settings.

With contributions throughout from the USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Finland, Norway and Turkey, the book begins with a critical review of teaching practicum studies and goes on to consider such important topics as: pre-service teachers' views of developing professional practice, virtual tools for teacher training, internationalization and creativity in teacher education programs. The book clarifies these key issues from the lens of research and practice by taking a closer look at practicum from various angles including new trends and practices as a response to changing needs in teacher education.

Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum will be of great interest to researchers and students in the teacher education field and will also appeal to teacher educators, policy makers in education and pre-service teachers.

Chapter 1

A critical review of teaching practicum studies

MelekÇakmak and MügeGündüz

Introduction

The concept of “teaching” is multifaceted and comprehensive. As Capel, Leask and Turner (1995) point out teaching is a continuously creative and a problem-solving activity. Teaching is a creative act, and it helps to define what is or is not effective teaching (Smith, 1995). Effective teaching also requires effective teaching skills. Teacher has a major role in establishing and transferring these effective teaching skills into real context. As Leask (1995) stated, the teacher’s main job is to ensure that pupils learn. Therefore, teaching knowledge, skills and competence appear to be crucial, and effective schools require well-trained highly competent teachers as Scheeler (2008) notes. Because teaching requires the transformation of the necessary knowledge into suitable tasks which lead to learning (Leask, 1995). At that point, what Scheeler (2008) suggest seems to be quite important:

Unfortunately skills and techniques that teachers learn and practice in college classrooms are not always maintained over time, nor do these skills necessarily transfer to actual classrooms with children. It is one thing to identify critical teaching skills, but to what extent are teacher preparation programs promoting mastery of these skills?

(p. 2)

This suggest that newly certified teachers may be highly qualified because of coursework, but it does not ensure that they can transfer these qualifications into real classroom environment. In that context, the content and the process of teacher education have an important role in training teacher candidates in a sense that teaching the practicum process has a special contribution to make to the content and the process of teacher education effective.

The role of practicum in teacher education

Related literature confirms that teaching is a complex process, and the teaching practicum is one of the most critical components and an integral part of teacher education (Ong’ondo & Jwan, 2009; Trent, 2010; Cantalini-Williams et al., 2014; Morales-Cortes, 2016; Sulistiyo et al., 2017; Banegas, 2018). Teacher education programmes involves the policies and procedures designed to develop student teachers’ knowledge, skills and characters in order to prepare them to educate students effectively and professionally at schools. In a sense, teacher education is a multifaceted responsibility, with universities and schools as main stakeholders. University academics provide information about theories, research studies in the field and connections to practice, with mentor teachers facilitating the pre-service teacher’s practical studies in school contexts (Hudson, 2014).

Danyluk et al. (2015), in their article based on the literature on practicum, emphasised that practicum held in faculties of education provides student teachers various opportunities to achieve the purpose of the theory they have been studied in the university including classroom management models, pedagogical theories and teaching strategies in order to prepare them competent teachers. Field experiences are integrated into these courses in order to enable students understand the conceptual and theoretical knowledge provided (Hixon & So, 2009). Moreover, Cheng (2013) also states that pre-service teachers find opportunities to put theories into practice in the real school environment. According to Salvatori (2010, p. 6), the practicum lets teacher candidates “integrate theoretical, practical, and experiential knowledge in the understanding of and resolution of professional issues”.

Practicum might emphasise different ideas, aspects and qualities in different universities and settings, and, therefore, practicum in teacher education is dealt with in different ways at different universities. Different models of practicum can be identified and applied depending on different national, regional and local contexts. These modals represent different views on how professional practice knowledge is best nurtured. They could be categorised under nine models as follows (Mattsson, Eilertsen, & Rorrison, 2011): (1) the Master-Apprentice Model, (2) the Laboratory Model, (3) the Partnership Model, (4) the Community Development Model, (5) the Integrated Model, (6) the Case-Based Model, (7) the Platform Model, (8) the Community of Practice Model, (9) the Research and Development Model.

What does research say about practicum?

Importance of the practicum has been one of the major areas of interest in the literature since the practicum is considered one of the most important aspects of a student teacher’s education (Clarke & Collins, 2007; Farrell, 2008). As Karchmer-Klein (2007) points out that “practicum placements have been integral components of the teacher preparation process for many years” (p. 121). Therefore, many researchers attempted to define and clarify the meaning of practicum. Although there are different perspectives presented by the various authors, it is also possible to encounter some common points in these definitions. According to Agustiana (2014), teaching practicum is the activity of teaching practice in real classrooms and the students are required to fulfill this practicum process during their training in Faculty of Teacher Education. Zeichner (1992) uses the term practicum to include all varieties of observation and teaching experiences in a pre-service teacher education programme – namely, field experiences that precede professional education coursework, early field experiences that tied to professional courses and student teaching and internship experiences. Manzar-Abbas and Lu (2013) also define practicum as a transition of roles from a student to a professional worker, and it links the theory to practice. According to Ong’ondo and Jwan (2009), practicum or teaching practice is a session that requires students to take part in a teaching experience in a school or any other learning institution where they can interact with actual learners. Darling-Hammond (2010, p. 40) asserts, “Learning to practice in practice, with expert guidance, is essential to becoming a great teacher of students with a wide range of needs”. The implementation of teaching practicum is important to bridge the gap between what student teachers have learnt in the programme and the reality of teaching practice in real classroom contexts (Darling-Hammond, 2006; cited in Sulistiyo et al., 2017). Practicum placements are essential for promoting cohesion between theory and practice in teacher education programmes (Falkenberg & Smits, 2010; Le Cornu & Ewing, 2008; cited in Cantalini-Williams, et al., 2014).

Ngidi and Sibaya (2003) define practicum as a field experience when prospective teachers teach in schools and apply their learnt knowledge in the real situation, while Chireshe and Chireshe (2010) viewed it as a supervised and guided teaching experience of prospective teachers under an experienced mentor.

As Agudo (2016, p. 36) suggests, “The teaching practicum process constitutes a fundamental experience for the professional preparation of every candidate teacher”. It is necessary to emphasise that a well-planned practicum is crucial in teacher education programmes, and according to Manzar-Abbas and Lu (2013), a well-planned practicum should provide a real field to apply the acquired knowledge, a real field to understand the real context of professional understanding, a laboratory to validate the choice of career and commitment to it, feedback for further development and an opportunity to become a reflective practitioner provides and the prospective teachers to observe and experience diverse contexts. From a different perspective, Cheng (2009) suggests that pre-service teachers’ understanding of their professional and self-efficacy is shaped by Teaching practicum (TP).

Overall, the review of research literature on all aspects of teaching practicum reveals that the practicum is a complex stage which is approached very differently in various parts of the world, and the key issues that have been raised by the research on the practicum can be summarised as follows (Ong’ondo & Jwan, 2009): student teacher training, collaboration amongst student teachers, collaboration with cooperating teachers, supervision during the practicum and organisation of teaching practice.

In sum, teaching practicum is the most important part of teacher education programmes as discussed earlier in the light of related literature. As a concept practice teaching, which exists in educational systems throughout the world, used interchangeably and defined by the researchers with different terminology, such as practicum, clinical training or internship, depending on the discipline. In some literature, it is also called induction (e.g. Colinson et al., 2009) or internship (e.g. Darling-Hammond, 2006). In this book, the term “teaching practicum” is referred to as field placements and teaching practice.

Stakeholders of practicum

The main and well-known stakeholders of practicum are student teachers, mentors and teacher educators. However, there are also some other influential stakeholders who have relatively little interest to many research studies (e.g. students, administrative staff). In a sense, we need to think of the practicum process as a whole which includes all the stakeholders and integrates them into the “team”. Therefore, the school-based experiences of the student teacher depend on a three-way partnership between the school, the student and the higher education institution (Leask, 1995). School-university partnerships have the potential to bridge this gap between theory and practice, and they also open opportunities for the sharing of knowledge and skills between the stakeholders of the practicum. However, despite the suggested benefits of partnership, many argue that collaborative arrangements between schools and universities remain weak (e.g. Zeichner, 2006, 2010).

Student teachers

Johnson and Perry (1967; cited in Agustiana, 2014) refer to pre-service teachers as college students who are engaged in an assigned student teaching experience. The teaching experience is a very important component of teachers’ preparation (Morales-Cortes, 2016) for student teachers. Student teaching has a significant impact on the development of teachers, and this effect gets strengthened during the early years of a teacher’s career (Tabachnick & Zeichner, 1984). Field experiences, which are considered to be a foundation in pre-service teacher education programmes, have numerous benefits, such as helping students decide if teaching is the right career choice, enabling pre-service teachers to practice their skills prior to student teaching, supporting the process being a teacher. Richards (2002) states that the teaching practicum enriches student teachers’ general understanding of teaching and, more importantly, provides an opportunity for continue academic and professional growth. Ralph (2005) developed some instructional categories which defined the source of the core objectives for the extended practicum, the basic knowledge and skill set that the interns develop throughout the term, and the key criteria upon which the candidates’ teaching performance during the internship in a university in Canada is judged. Those categories are Personal and Professional Attributes, Lesson and Unit Planning: Presenting Classroom Management, Questioning and Responding, Employing a Variety of Instructional Methods and Assessment/Evaluation of Pupils.

Teacher educators

One of the crucial corner stone involved in the process of practicum and influence this process deeply are teacher educators. Teacher educators take major roles in preparing future teachers in the practicum process. Koster et al. (2005) define a teacher educator “as someone who provides instruction or who gives guidance and support to student teachers, and who thus renders a substantial contribution to the development of students into competent teachers” (p. 157). Danyluk et al. (2015) refer to “university supervisors” as university faculty members who teach and who are also hired by the university to supervise student teachers in the field during field practicums. Teacher educators have various roles, including teaching, research and management activities (Murray, Czerniawski, & Barber, 2011); designing curriculum; and working with school-based mentors (Izadinia, 2014); they also take on some responsibilities during the practicum process. Related studies revealed that effective teaching requires highly qualified and competent teachers since effective teachers have a positive impact on pupil learning in school. “Student-teachers is directly impacted by who is teaching them as much as by the content of the programme” (Furlong et al., 2000, p. 36; cited in White, 2014). In the study conducted by Akyeampong (2015), it was concluded that teacher educators’ practice and vision of good teaching continue to influence pre-service teachers’ practice despite the incorporation of practicum. This emphasises the importance of understanding teacher educators’ roles in improving student teachers’ instruction.

As Fuller (1969; cited in Korthagen & Kessels, 1999) emphasises, teacher educators’ main competencies as follows: 1) Create suitable learning experiences for student teachers in which these student teachers can develop adequate 2) Promote further awareness and reflection in student teachers on their experiences 3) Offer theoretical notions from empirical research which would enable student teachers to perceive more in the specific and in similar situations, and are able to act upon their heightened awareness 4) Train the student teachers in acting in a productive manner.

Mentors and mentoring

Mentors are one of the components of practicum process which attract researchers to a great extent. As Clarke, Triggs and Nielsen (2014) suggested, the role of cooperating teacher has always been regarded as an important issue within the teacher education. Mentor and the process of mentoring have been a focus for many research studies and been explored from different aspects. It is important to acknowledge that different terminologies, such as “school tutor”, “cooperating teacher”, “collaborative teacher”, “associate teacher” and “support teacher” in different education systems throughout the world, even though the term “mentor” has been used widely in the field. The mentor is generally an experienced teacher who “looks after” mentees when they get involved in the practicum in a school (Kwan & Lopez-Real, 2005). Moreover, mentors’ roles have received a great attention by the practitioners and the researchers in the field since novice teachers make the difficult transition from student to teacher happen. In that context, it is observed that different responsibilities and roles attributed to mentors. Based on the literature, quite a few researchers pointed out some key roles, such as a supporter, sponsor, guide, counselor, psychological supporter, protector, encourager and confident, supervisor, teaching model, feedback, professional knowledge provider, technical assistant, helper, sharer, trouble shooter (Sudzina, Giebelhaus, & Co...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures and table
• Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 A critical review of teaching practicum studies
• 2 Developing professional practice through the turbulent spaces of the practicum: pre-service teachers’ views
• 3 The role of teaching practice in Finnish teacher education, with particular reference to university teacher training school in Joensuu
• 4 Virtual tools for teacher training and practicum interaction
• 5 Internationalization in teacher education programs as a door opener for inclusion: two insights from practice
• 6 Applying teaching practicum experiences to challenging situations: a study on newly qualified teachers
• 7 Teachers’ learning in reflecting teams: processes and premises
• 8 STEAM education: creativity in teacher education programs
• Conclusion
• Index