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The practicum as a site for student teacher learning: Do the participants share
understandings as to how this occurs?
Mavis Haigh
School of Teacher Education Practice
Faculty of Education
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Abstract
When beginning teachers are questioned as to the effectiveness of different components of their initial teacher preparation programme for preparing them to teach, the practicum is frequently identified as the most significant part of the programme. This paper draws on data generated during a study that explored the practicum as a site for learning to be a teacher. In this study primary teacher education students, their associate teachers and their university-based visiting lecturers were interviewed regarding their perceptions of what the students learnt, how they learnt and what enabled or hindered this learning. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate how understandings of what and how student teachers' learn on the practicum might be shared, or not shared, between the three participants in the experience.
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• Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (Shulman, 1986, 1987); pedagogical content knowing (PCKg) (Cochran, de Ruiter & King, 1993); making essential connections between practical experiences and theoretical knowledge (Burn et al., 2003)
The practicum as an important component of teacher education (Smith and Lev-Ari, 2005)
• Student teachers’ learning during the practicum is a complex business (Haigh & Ward, 2004)
• Student teachers positioned as active, rather than passive, participants if maximum learning is to be achieved (Cochran-Smith & Paris, 1995)
• Role of reflective practice (Smyth, 1989) in student teacher learning
• The multifaceted concept of instructional time (Berliner, 1990)
Literature referents for this study
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teachers and their visiting lecturers within three weeks of the completion of the second practicum experience in the second year. The interviews were semi-structured in nature with lead questions relating to what the students had learned about becoming teachers during the practicum, how they had learnt this and what they considered to be the enablers and hinderers of this learning. The question guiding the interrogation of the data for this paper is “How are understandings of what and how student teachers' learn on the practicum shared, or not shared by the three participants in the practicum triad? The data drawn on for this paper are from one researcher’s set of interviews only.
Research design
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Schools Both schools have a particular gazetted close relationship with the teacher
education institution. These schools have between 15 and twenty student teachers placed with them during any one placement. With up to five placement blocks each year, the school management, the associate teachers and the school students are very used to the presence of student teachers.
The student teachers ST1 was a young, recent school leaver. She was 19 at the time of the
research project. She had attended school in New Zealand and had been a pupil at the practicum school seven years previously with many of her teachers still teaching in the school.
ST2 was a woman in her forties. She was enrolled in the programme as an overseas trained teacher who was working towards a New Zealand teacher qualification. She brought her knowledge of her overseas teaching experience to bear in this new situation, being able to reflect on the differences and was interested in identifying, and reflecting on, the different approaches to teaching and learning that New Zealand teachers work with.
Context and participants 1
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The associate teachers Both of the associate teachers (ATs) in the cases were very experienced
teachers who had taught at their current school for at least five years. Their primary teaching approaches were somewhat different in nature with AT2 having a more strongly constructivist –linked pedagogy than AT1. AT1 was a woman in her thirties. AT2 was a woman in her forties.
The visiting lecturers (the tertiary institution lecturers) The visiting lecturers (VLs) in the cases were both experienced visiting
lecturers with a considerable time of teaching in schools in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. One was a mathematics specialist, the other had a particular interest in technology education. Both were teaching on the Bachelor of Education (Teaching) programme so were very familiar with the philosophy and content of the courses that the student teachers were studying during the on-campus component of the course.
Participants 2
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The data from the two case studies show similarities for both the “what” and the “how” of student learning on the practicum.
“What the student teachers learned” categories behaviour management school and classroom organization diversity of students assessment and planning being a teacher understanding of contribution of personal attributes to learning
“How the student teacher learned” categories associate teacher-linked learning support student teacher-driven learning strategies contribution of the student teacher’s personal attributes systems-linked learning support
Findings 1
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2008 Different aspects of these categories were emphasised by the student teacher,
the associate teacher and the visiting lecturer.
In some categories no indicators were coded from one or two of the triad member’s data.
For the “What” category School and classroom organization, no indicators were identified from ST1 and AT1 though there were strong indicators about this learning from VL1.
For the “How” category Systems-linked learning support, there were no indicators for this category in the data from ST2 and VL2 though there was one from AT2.
Findings 2
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How the student teacher learned: 1- AT-linked learning support - Case 1
ST1 AT1 VL1 • Scaffolding from AT
• AT feedback
• xxxx
• AT making time for ST • Honest AT • Open AT • Understanding AT
• Following AT direction • Clarifying AT
expectations • Meeting challenges o f
AT- ST differen tapproaches
• ---------
• Feedback fro mA T a ndresponse to this
• Professio nal
discussion
• xxxx
• Scaffo lding from AT
• xxxx
• Profe ssi onal discu s sion
• An e ncoura ging AT
• Establi s hing s ound relat ions hip with AT quickly
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How the student teacher learned: 1 continued - AT-linked learning support - Case 2 (common categories)
ST2 AT2 VL2 • xxxx
• Adopting AT behaviou rmanagement strategies
• Forwar d planning wit hAT to meet goals s et by prac module
• Where A T corr ects very
professionally s ochildr en not aware o fST’s mi (stakes collegia l– resp )ect
• xxxx
• Professio naldiscussion
• Observations of AT,
especially managemen tstrategies
• Marking book s an d
talking abo utconsequen tial plannin gwith AT
• AT who does ’ n tundermine the S T in front of the students
• AT reassurance
• Professio nal discussion swith AT and VL
• xxxx
• xxxx
• xxxx
• Attitude of AT
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How the student teacher learned: 1 continued - AT-linked learning support - Case 2 (idiosyncratic categories)
ST2 AT2 VL2
• Having a challengin gAT who s ets hig hstandards
• Feedback fro mAT
• AT provide r of practical
knowled ge • Modelling of AT
(pla nning, mgt, routines , ros ters )
• Following AT modelling
• Working closel y with AT – colla borat ing
• Shar ing AT planning stra teg ies but bui lding on S T-developed planne r as well
• AT s har ing re s ources • Collaboration bringing
lea rning for both
• Ver y honest a nd a rticula te
ST who is good at critiquing own pract ice
• Having a n AT and VL who
unders tand e ach othe rs ap proac hes well
• VL provis ion of
the ore tical/practical information to s upport th e ST in the pa rticular class room context
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ST1 AT1 VL1 • Time fo r reflection
• Asking questions • Experimentation • Try out own plans • Workin g outsi de o wn
comfort zone • Beingwell prepared
• Reflec tive practice
• Goal setting
• xxxx
• Getting to kno w th estudents
• Facing the child-centre dnature of practicum
• Working throu ghchalleng es of taking on AT mannerisms
ST2 AT2 VL2
• Close observatio n ofteacher and students
• Trial new approache swith students and watc hresponse
• Modelling teacher’ suncertainties a nd how
todeal with this
• Working with rost ercharts
• Having clear learnin goutcomes f or studen tsand self
• xxxx
• ST who c an put theory into practice – makin gthese connections
• Reflec tive practice • ST who c an adju st
approaches
How the student teacher learned: 2 - student-driven learning support - Cases 1 and 2
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How the student teacher learned: 3 - the role of the student’s personal attributes - Cases 1 and 2
ST1 AT1 VL1 • Punctuality • Being resourcef ul
around contextu albarriers
• Accepti ng of criticism • Taki ng risks
• Having positiv e
preconceptions o fschool
• Being professional • Accepti ngthin gs goin g
wrong
• Being punctual • Being resourceful
• xxxx
• xxxx
• Research oriented
• xxxx • xxxx
• Being op en to critique
• Being brave
• Being op en ab out
weaknesses • Overcoming challenges t o
conform
ST2 AT2 VL2 (no indicators) • Open to suggestions
• Committed ST
• Responsive ST
• Enthusiastic ST • Adaptable ST • Being prepared to take
risks – to ‘give it a g ’o • Being prepared to chan ge
previous teachi ngapproaches to meet ne wsituation
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How the students learned: 4 - systems linked learning support - Cases 1 and 2
ST 1 AT1 VL1 • Having non-broken time
in classroom
• Having equip ment tohand
• Being able to set u pclassroo mspaces f orteaching
• Building up st ep by ste punit
• Findi ng out wh athappens when not wel lprepared
• Forwar d planning
• xxxx
• Exposure to differ entgroups
• Using differe ntmanagemen tstrategies
• Being given time to buil dexpertise
• Seeing other classrooms • Helpwith subject conten t
knowledge
• The ’VL s own conte nt an dschool context knowledge
• Spending considerabl etime with VL
ST2 AT2 VL2 (no indicators) • Focussing o n a limite d
number of classroom aspe cts per practicum placement
(no indicators)
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This focus of the research framing this paper was to problematise the familiar – that of learning on the practicum associated with professional education.
The findings regarding both the “what” and “how” of student learning on
the practicum arising from this study will present little of surprise to teacher educators, or for those responsible for pre-service education in wider professional disciplines.
However, there are questions raised by the findings; some by what is present (or marginally present) in the data and some by what is absent from the data.
Discussion
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The major learning identified by all of the participants was the learning of general pedagogical approaches around behaviour and classroom management.
Understanding the diversity of students (and how to work as teachers within this diversity), assessment and planning were also given pre-eminence.
Very little mention about learning the content knowledge linked to various essential learning areas in the New Zealand curriculum (for example, English, mathematics, science). Nor was there an emphasis on pedagogical content knowing (Cochran et al.1993). The only curriculum area mentioned in both cases was the teaching of mathematics (VL1 and ST2).
The intertwining of content and pedagogy in learning to teach (Ball, 2000) was not a strong focus in this study and further exploration needs to be carried out in this area.
Developing a teacher identity and growing personal dispositions to support being a teacher were also mentioned but not frequently.
Overall what did they learn? What did they not report?
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The significant role of the associate teacher in assisting the student teacher to learn to be a teacher was indicated by all of the participants in these two cases.
Little overall congruence regarding how particular aspects of this role may support student teacher learning, nor any commonly expressed notions of how the personality and professional approach of the associate teacher can impact on this learning.
Significance of open communication between the associate and the student teacher - in these two cases the relationship appeared to be robust.
An expectation of negotiated pedagogy, with discussions between student teachers and associate teachers was recognised as an important contributing factor to the student teachers’ learning. However, since for both student teachers the discourse included words such as ‘following’, and ‘adopting’ [the AT], it might be questioned whether the student teachers are showing the level of agency (Butler, 1996) expected at this stage of their initial teacher education programme.
Both the student teachers also indicated that having an associate teacher who challenged their thinking, did contribute to their learning. Posner et al.’s (1982) notions of cognitive conflict are apposite here.
Considering the “hows”: The role of associate teachers
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Student teachers are expected to take responsibility for their own learning during the practicum (Cochran-Smith & Paris, 1995). The student teachers felt that if they were encouraged to take risks and to experiment with new approaches then this would enhance their learning. The student teachers also recognised that they learnt when they were reflective about their practice. It appears that the student teachers were wishing for more autonomy regarding their own learning than they were granted.
As in previous studies (for example, Burn et al., 2003; Haigh & Ward, 2004), the student teachers’ dispositions were recognised as a significant factor in their learning with aspects such as being punctual, resourceful, open to critique and suggestion identified as critical to student teacher learning identified by more than one of the triad members. It is possible that discussions around such factors between the student teacher and the visiting lecturer and associate teacher may be beneficial so that the student teachers may recognise their strengths in this area, or consider personal dispositions that might be hampering their learning.
Considering the “hows”: Student-related factors
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Aspects of the contextual systems that framed the practicum experiences were identified by four of the six participants as contributing to the student teachers’ learning. Contextual factors such as being given sufficient time to build relationships with school students, to build general pedagogical expertise and for a limited focus for the practicum were recognised by four of participants as important. There is a strong link here with Berliner’s (1990) notions of opportunity to learn and engaged time.
Considering the “hows”: Contextual factors
The
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2008 Overall the findings of this study support Haigh and Ward’s (2004)
contention that learning to teach during the practicum is a complex business.
Whilst there appears to be general consensus as to what the student
teacher might learn, there is a lower level of expressed agreement between the three participants in each of the triads as to how this learning might be optimised.
The findings from this study could form the basis of ongoing discussion between student teachers and the teacher educators – both tertiary institution based and school based.
Conclusion
