the place of prkticum Smith and Lev Ari.pdf

This literature review presents a systematic analysis of the empirical research pertaining to four aspects of practicum in teacher education, namely, rationales and goals, activities, personal and institutional relations and practicum' outcomes. To locate information relevant to these aspects we conducted an extensive web-based search in refereed journals that reported on empirical studies on teacher education from 1996 to 2009. This search yielded a database of 113 articles. The rationales for the practicum referred mostly to the student teachers' expected application of their instructional skills in mentored settings while they are still learning in the teacher education program. The second rational was to reduce the gap between theory and practice. The third rational was to enable close acquaintance with the realistic diverse settings of the student teachers' future worksite. And to a lesser extent, the fourth rational, referred to the development of students' personal and professional identity. The largest student teachers' activities were planning and teaching particular subjects to whole classrooms for whole class periods and reflecting on diverse aspects of the practicum or personal issue. To a lesser extent were different activities of observations, and school community activities. The institutional relations between the school and the teacher education were mostly asymmetric based on the educational-instructional approach of the teacher education adopted by the school and the mentor teachers. The second kind of relations was asymmetric slanted toward the school-in which the teacher education shaped the practicum to abide by the school teachers' requirements and constraints and fulfill their needs. Few studies described collaboration in the institutional relations. The individual relations among mentors, supervisors and students were accompanied by tensions and conflicts ensued from the different interests, educational perceptions, and status which were not bridged. The largest classes of outcomes were the student teachers' mentored teaching, focused on improvement of instructional competences and skills which were mostly favorable. But the outcomes regarding the student teachers' implementation of teaching methods were partly disappointing. The outcomes regarding the student teachers' reflective thinking were mostly favorable, and were derived from the student teachers' reports and the researchers' analyses of these documents. The review discusses several methodological problems and disadvantages of the studies and presents some implications for further studies in the practicum of teacher education programs.

2000

Student teachers spend a high proportion of their time in schools as part of their preservice training. Concern has been expressed about moves to increase this time, because it appears that much of what occurs in the schools more closely resembles a teacher training model than one of teacher education. This study sought to investigate whether school-based mentors who had been trained in principles of teacher education more closely resembled teacher educators in the activities undertaken and the interactions they had with their student teachers than did their untrained counterparts. Measures were developed to distinguish teacher education activities from those of teacher training. Three of the four mentors who participated in the study defined their roles in ways more consistent with teacher education than did their untrained counterparts and scored more highly on the measures developed for the study. Implications for teacher education are discussed. (Contains 19 references.

The aim of the research was to identify the characteristics of the roles and work of teacher educators responsible for the practical component in teacher education. The research was conducted as a narrative case study by collecting the narratives of a veteran teacher educator who served as pedagogical instructor, responsible for the teaching practice. The conclusions call for pedagogical instructors to form solid professional world-views in order to ensure that their performance will be professional; they should possess specific skills, engage in perpetual study, and demonstrate a mastery of the latest pedagogical instruction theories. Furthermore, they should function competently in two diverse work environments, namely, the school, which is the practice field, and the teacher education institution. These characteristics imbue pedagogical instruction with the status of a profession, and the teacher educators with the status of expert professionals.

The success of any nation depends on the effectiveness of teachers. Practicum is a significant component of teacher training programs to create balance in terms of theory and practical. The present study aims to determine the impact of practicum on the professional development of prospective teachers in teacher education programs. All teacher training institutes around the Sindh, Pakistan was the population of the study. Three hundred teacher educators and two hundred prospective teachers were selected as the sample of the research. The technique of random sampling design was executed. Two questionnaires were administered for the collection of data. T-test and chi-test were applied to analyze the data. It is highlighted from the findings that practicum is the sole teacher training program. It enhances motivational, pedagogical, managerial, class management, and other related dimensional skills of prospective teachers in the teaching-learning process. It was also concluded that supervisors and cooperative teachers' paly the pivotal role of mentor and guide. In this regard, seminars, triad meetings, observation and reflection on a daily basis leave a positive impact on the personalities of prospective teachers. The findings recommended that orientation sessions for concerned people must be arranged regarding practicum. Rules and regulations must be provided in writing to the school administration to facilitate prospective teachers in the teaching-learning process to make practicum as a quality-oriented part of training programs for the profession of teaching.

Interchange, 1979

The Problem: Becoming an Elementary School Teacher Practices in teacher education, as in education for other occupations, are often based on "theories" which are, in reality, networks of unexamined assumptions (e.g., Cyphert, 1972; Lortie, 1975). For example, it is widely assumed by educationists, lay people, and students alike that the student teaching experience is a necessary and useful component in a teacher education program (e.g., Conant, 1963; Hermanowicz, 1966). Indeed, amid this widespread approval of student teaching, there is a recent trend to increase the emphasis on clinical experiences in pre-service programs (Barnett, 1975). There are many educators like Kalick (1974) who believe that teacher education can be truly effective only if a substantial portion of the educational sequence is devoted to the training of prospective teachers in public school classrooms. While this assumption seems plausible, several research reports reveal contradictory findings and question the taken-for-granted value of the experience (Iannaccone & Button, 1964; Hoy & Rees, 1977). In the study reported here, we examined the student teaching semester of an elementary teacher education program at a large midwestern university. We were interested in the formation of professional teaching perspectives as a group of student teachers moved through the final phase of their formal preparation program. Specifically, this study sought to explore the students' developing beliefs about teaching and about themselves as teachers. Additionally, we were interested in how students acted in student teaching roles in classrooms. The correspondence between student teachers' beliefs and actions was then used as the basis for inferences about the degree to which programmatic assumptions were met regarding the relationship of planned experiences to outcomes, both anticipated and unanticipated. Educational research cannot take for granted that because a practice or procedure is described, its implementation takes the form and has the social meaning that its originators intended. Research designs for the 'study of teacher education must be able to examine how professional life is interpreted and acted upon as people participate in its ongoing affairs. Although there have been hundreds of studies conducted on the student teaching experience (see Peck & Tucker, 1973; Zeichner, 1978), there has been little or no systematic study of its processes as they evolve over a period of time) Instead, most studies, reflecting the assumptions of an empirical-analytic paradigm (Heyl, 1975), rely almost entirely on the pre-and post-administration of questionnaires and surveys for their data. This limited focus of many studies has prevented us from addressing many of the important issues in the field (Popkewitz et al., 1979).

2010

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the practicum program at the Hashemite University on the concerns of student teachers. These concerns were detected through utilizing a modified form of the Teacher Concerns Checklist developed by Fuller and Borich (1988) after translating it into Arabic. The study sample consisted of 30 science field teachers enrolled in the practicum course during the academic year 2003/2004. The 45-item instrument is a self-report indicating student teachers' personal judgment about the level of their teaching concerns, as related to the three areas: self, task, and impact. The findings showed that the area of concern that appeared to feature more highly, prior and after the practicum course, is the self, and the highest change in concerns occurred in the impact. Moreover, the results revealed that the practicum course had an effect on increasing student teachers' task and impact concerns. In light of the findings, academic supervisor...

Educational Studies, 2010

This paper reports on research that suggests a new view of assessment of thepracticum in teacher education. By transcending the stereotypes of-'failing-'student teachers who do not achieve traditional benchmarks, this new lens highlights the complexity, diversity and inequality of experiences through listening to the voices of the student teachers and their mentors. By valuing context and focusing on progress and development rather than absolute attainment, teacher educators are challenged to reflect on their own role as mentors and educators through guiding principles of practicum learning. These guiding principles of practicum learning are the result of significant observation in the practicum classroom followed by critical analysis of data provided as narrative. A more humane, trusting and respectful attitude towards assessment is suggested.

The focus of the current research was to determine the role of Notre Dame Institute of Education (NDIE) Practicum in enhancing student teachers' teaching skills. A small scale panel survey was conducted to analyze 46 NDIE student teachers' teaching skills (i.e. professional growth) throughout the year 2007-2008. Two types of questionnaires were used to gather data. The focus of the first questionnaire was to determine student teachers' own views about their professional growth during the preparation phase. This questionnaire was administered at the end of the Classroom Teaching and Management (CTM) course. The focus of the second questionnaire was to determine student teachers' professional growth during the first and the second rounds of school experience phase. This questionnaire was administered twice in a year: after the first round of school experience; and again after the second round of school experience. Student teachers' views about their own teaching skills were cross checked with those of 45 cooperating teachers and five NDIE mentors. The analysis of data suggested that the NDIE Practicum played a significant role in the year 2007-2008 in enhancing student teachers' practical classroom skills.

ICERI2018 Proceedings, 2018

In the last decade with the reforms required by the Bologna process the role of practicum in preservice teacher education has been emphasized, making it a central component of European curricula. It has been observed over the years that this dimension has been mainly approached in terms of organization and supervision processes and cannot be found many studies that focus effectively on what it represents for the actors and its contributions for professional development. This study aims to understand the practicum at pre-service early childhood teacher education. The objectives of the study are: (i) to identify the role of the practicum for professional learning and development of early childhood teachers; (ii) to know the difficulties and critical factors experienced by student teachers at practicum. The methodology used is the mix-method research and data was collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The participants are early childhood teachers that have graduated in the last three years from different Portuguese Higher Education Institutions. The qualitative data was analyzed through content analyze and descriptive statistic was used to analyze the quantitative data. To ensure confidentiality no information is disclosed without participant's consent and the interviews were transcribed. The results confirm the centrality of practicum for early childhood teachers' professional development. The construction of professional knowledge emerges as one of the main contributions of practicum. Another contribution is the student teachers' awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses in terms of theoretical and practical knowledge. The data also show that the relationships with the educational context and with the different practicum actors (supervisors, cooperating teachers) has a supportive role for student teachers' success. The study points out several difficulties experienced by the student teachers, namely: lack of time to respond to all the academic tasks; the interconnection theory practice; the development of reflection and research skills.

Vie et miracles de saint Nicolas, 1981

Traduction de l’arabe par le Père Jean-Philippe Lachèse (1981), extrait de Bolletino di San Nicola, n°12, déc. 1981, 3-22 Lachèse (Jean-Philippe, o.p. 27 mai 1928, à Toulon- 20 mai 2009, couvent des dominicains du Caire)