Rethinking the practicum: limitations and possibilities

By L. Grudnoff. 2011

133 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Teachers and policy makers often view the practicum as being the critical component of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. While numerous studies have investigated the practicum in ITE, less attention has been given to the role practicum plays in the transition from preparation to teaching. This study investigated 12 New Zealand first-year primary teachers' perceptions of how their practicum experiences prepared them for starting teaching. The data for this qualitative study were gathered over a 15-month period using semi-structured individual interviews. The study showed that, while the beginning teachers consistently viewed the practicum as being a key part of their ITE, their practicum experiences were not always helpful in supporting their move into teaching. While acknowledging that the practicum cannot replicate the conditions of full-time teaching, the findings suggest that the practicum should be reconsidered in order to more effectively prepare student teachers for the complexities and demands of beginning teaching.

Subfields: Education

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4472fa19b6b5d60425ea44a3fab5b0876c6f4acb

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In Education

1. Feng Teng
2. Rui (Eric) Yuan
3. Icy Lee
4. John Trent
5. Shulin Yu
6. (Mark) Feng Teng
7. N. Storch
8. A. Hamouda

Citations in the corpus

• Emotional Development and Construction of Teacher Identity: Narrative Interactions about the Pre-Service Teachers' Practicum Experiences. (2017, background): “pre-service teachers’ teaching; learning; classroom management; and interactions with students, school mentors, and students’ parents (Grudnoff, 2011).”
• From learner to teacher: practice, language, and identity in a teaching practicum (2013, background): “This research suggests that if the benefits of the teaching practicum for pre-service teachers are to be realised, providing opportunities for practice will not be sufficient (Grudnoff, 2011).”
• ‘I need to be strong and competent’: a narrative inquiry of a student-teacher’s emotions and identities in teaching practicum (2016, background): “messy, involving a variety of challenges in relation to teaching, classroom management, and interaction with students, school mentors, and parents (Grudnoff, 2011; Veenman, 1984), pre-service teachers are likely to encounter emotional ups and downs, which may have a direct bearing on their professio”