Luận văn thạc sĩ student teachers self reported challenges during the practicum (a qualitative study)

Output file VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC STUDENT TEACHERS’ SELF REPORTED CHALLENGES DURING T[.]

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC STUDENT TEACHERS’ SELF-REPORTED CHALLENGES DURING THE PRACTICUM A QUALITATIVE STUDY Nghiên cứu định tính khó khăn giáo sinh thời gian thực tập sư phạm M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI - 2010 z VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC STUDENT TEACHERS’ SELF-REPORTED CHALLENGES DURING THE PRACTICUM A QUALITATIVE STUDY Nghiên cứu định tính khó khăn giáo sinh thời gian thực tập sư phạm M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Lê Văn Canh, M.A HANOI - 2010 z iv Table of contentS Page Acknowledgements i Abstract ii Part A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Scope, aims, research design and significance of the study 2.1 Aims of the study 2.2 Research design 2.3 Scope of the study 2.4 Significance of the study Structure of the Thesis PartB: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: literature review 1.1 The Practicum 1.2 The Challenges of the Practicum 1.3 The Roles of Cooperating Teachers (Mentors) in the Practicum 11 1.4 The Practicum Supervisor 13 Summary 15 Chapter 2: The study 16 2.1 The Context of the Study 16 2.2 Participants 17 2.3 Research Methods 17 2.4 Instruments 18 2.4.1 The Diary 18 2.4.2 Interviews 20 2.5 Data Collection Procedures 20 Summary 21 Chapter 3: Data analysis and discussion 22 3.1 Data analysis 22 3.1.1 Challenges in students' behaviour 22 3.1.2 Challenges in lesson planning 24 z v 3.1.3 Challenges in using the blacboard 26 3.1.4 Challenges in classroom teaching 27 3.1.5 Challenges in the relationship with mentors 31 3.1.6 The need of a college supervisor in the practicum 33 3.1.7 The benefits of the practicum 35 Summary 36 Part c: conclusion 37 Conclusions 37 Suggestions for the Teacher Education Programme 37 Limitations of the Study 38 Suggestions for Futher Research 38 References……………………………………………………………………….39-44 Appendix 1: Guidance on writing diary during the practicum I z Part A: introduction Rationale In recent years, the Ministry of Education and Training has paid much attention to raising the standard of learning and teaching English as a compulsory subject from the primary to the tertiary level of education Educational quality depends on the teacher quality, which is dependent on the training quality Therefore emphasis should be on all three training components of learning: subject matter (content) knowledge, pedagogical knowledge (pedagogy), and professional experience (the practicum) For the subject matter knowledge, student teachers are supplied with basic foundation knowledge of the subject they will teach Regarding the pedagogical knowledge, they are provided with theories of language, theories of language learning, and classroom management strategies as well as how to interact with the students in the classroom These two first components of teacher education programmes are carried out in the university or college And then in the practicum, which takes place in schools, they apply what they have learned to the actual classrooms with real students The practicum is, thus, to help the student teachers gain the professional experience needed for their learning to teach The 6-week practicum is the last stage in a teacher education course This is the time for pre-service teacher to transfer the theory into practice During this time they can feel stressful because they may be faced with the unpredictable challenges of carrying out two important tasks at the same time: teaching, and learning to teach They are expected to tasks like: planning lessons, preparing visual aids, teaching in the classroom, interacting with students…In addition, they try to build good relationship with their cooperating teachers (mentors) All of these give them tensions and challenges because what they believe about effective teaching and learning may conflict with the reality of teaching in the school context While there have been studies investigating the different aspects of student teachers‟ learning to teach, however, little has been documented concerning how pre-service EFL teachers prepare for their learning to teach (Gomez,1990; Kelley, 2005), especially in Vietnamese contexts I believe that insights into student teachers‟ challenges during the z practicum can inform changes which are to prepare the student teachers better by narrowing the gap between the teacher education programme and the real teaching in the school This study sets out to explore the challenges and tensions of the student teachers through their diaries written during the practicum Scope, Aims, Research Design and Significance of the Study 2.1 Aims of the study The study aims at: - Exploring the challenges of the student teachers through their diaries - Identifying the gaps between the existing teacher education programme and the reality in the school context - Giving some suggestions for the improvement of the existing teacher education programme 2.2 Research Design Given the aims of the study, which are to explore the challenges encountered by the student teachers during the practicum, a qualitative design was employed Data were collected from the student teachers‟ diaries and follow-up interviews, and then analysed qualitatively in order to find common challenges encountered by the student teachers participating in this study In addition to the common patterns of challenges, particulars were also attended to 2.3 Scope of the study The study limits itself to the investigation of the challenges of the student teachers during their practicum Information was collected from a small group of student teachers‟ diaries and the follow-up interviews The study is not intended to look into student teachers‟ classroom teaching practices Nor is it intended to explore the benefits gained by the student teachers in the practicum 2.4 Significance of the Study As stated in the Rationale, this study will contribute to the understanding of the relevance of the existing teacher education programme at Nghe An Teachers‟ College to the z real teaching at the lower secondary school, where student teachers are assigned to teach upon their graduation Specifically, findings of the study will identify the space for improvement of the existing teacher education programme in a bid to prepare the student teachers better Structure of the Thesis The thesis is composed of three parts with each part consisting of different chapters Part A is the introduction, which consists of the rational, scope, aims, research design, significance, and structure of the study Part B is the development of the thesis which comprises chapters Chapter reviews the literature relevant to the topic of the research and summarizes some selected studies on challenges of student teachers in the practicum, which serves as a theoretical and methodological foundation of the study Chapter presents the research methodology of the study It provides information about the participants, the resources, the data collection procedure and data analysis Chapter is the main part of the study which reports and discusses the main findings according to research matter Part C is the conclusion that presents the author‟s reflection and limitations of the study and finally gives the implication of the study and some suggestions for further research Part B:development z Chapter I: Literature review This chapter reviews the literature on the practicum It first discusses the role of the practicum in the teacher education programme Next, it reviews the challenges of the student teachers during the practicum such as their relationship with the mentors or cooperating teachers, and other challenges Then the roles of mentors or cooperating teachers are mentioned Finally, the role of the supervisor in the practicum is reviewed 1.1 The Practicum If education plays a crucial role in developing the human capital required for the economic and social growth of societies (Anamuah-Mensah, 2002), teachers play a decisive role in this undertaking Teacher quality constitutes a critical factor on which the quality of the human capital depends It is said that “if they [teachers] acquire the professional competence and attitudes that enable them to effectively perform their multiple tasks in the classroom, in the school and in the community, teachers become the single most important contributing factor in ensuring quality educational provision” (Dave & Rajput, 2000) Teachers‟ professional competence is developed first of all in the teacher education programmes of which the practicum is an inseparable part According to Hawes & Hawes (1982), the practicum is considered as a course or student exercise involving practical experience as well as theoretical study It is a “supervised experience in counselling as part of professional pre-service education of counselors” (p.498) For other scholars, the practicum is one of the most important aspects of a student teacher‟s education (e.g Clarke & Collins, 2007; Farrell, 2008) In fact, the importance of the practicum is specified by scholars For example, Collinson, Kozina, Lin, Ling, Matheson, Newcobe, & Zogla (2009) view the practicum as an important induction into the profession “both to improve teachers‟ skills and to extend the body of knowledge on effective teaching practices” For Purdy and Gibson (2008), teaching practice plans a role in education similar to internship or field attachment in other professions such as medicine, law, and engineering by offering exposure to practical classroom experiences in the context of a mainstream school From the perspective of learning to teach, Johnson (1996) has noted that “For most student teachers, the practicum is z considered to be one of the most important learning experiences in learning to teach” through reasoning about their practices, supported by their educators (p.30 ) Extended teaching practice could give the student teachers considerable “exposure to practices of experienced teachers” (Zeichner, 2006:333) Especially, the practicum may provide feedback to the teacher education institution regarding the progress to their students and provide a basis as to whether they should be qualified to teach or not It also enables the teacher education institution to identify aspects of their programme to improve (Derrick & Dicks, 2005) Johnson (1996) concludes her study that A better understanding of pre-service teachers‟ perceptions of the practicum may enable the field of second language teacher education to better understand how second language teachers learn to teach and how teacher preparation programmes can effectively enhance this development process (p 47) This is also the aim of the present study, which is to find out the space for improvement in the existing teacher education programme at Nghe An Teachers‟ College It is evident that the practicum provides a useful opportunity for student teachers to learn to teach, to try applying the theories they have acquired from the teacher education programmes into the real classroom It also provides an opportunity for student teacher to learn the practical teaching skills from the experienced teachers in the role of mentoring or cooperating teachers As discussed above, not only the student teachers benefit the practicum, but also the teacher education provider, i.e., the teacher education institution, can also improve the quality of the programme through the feedback and the progress of the student teachers during the practicum Anamuah-Mensah (2002, p 121) has pointed out that the practicum is aimed at:  Strengthening the development of specific teaching competencies;  Providing opportunities for self reflection;  Providing opportunities for sharing experiences with a mentor, supervisor and peers; z  Promoting problem solving capacity and team skill in student teachers and an appreciation of the life of the whole school as distinct from teaching in individual classroom;  Encourage formation of learning communities and promotion of team work;  Developing collaborative capacities in student teachers as a basis for successful participation in teaching teams and partnership arrangements at school;  Providing opportunity for student teachers to establish themselves as generative and innovative teaching professionals through authentic participation in school and community activities;  Meeting real pupils/learners and real situations enables student teachers to develop a repertoire of skills in dealing with different learning situations; and  Developing competencies as teacher-researcher through action research projects However, the benefits of the practicum are not autonomous, or come from the vacuum In other words, student teachers‟ gains from the practicum depends on a variety of different factors such as the skills of the mentoring or cooperating teachers, the motivation of the student teachers, etc The most decisive factor to the desired success of the practicum is the organisation and management of the practicum This point has been noted by AnamuahMensah (2002) that: As a major component of the training of teachers, practicum experience for initial teacher education should have in-built flexibility to enable teachers who go through it to be able to meet future demands The role of practicum in any teacher education programme will depend on the structure of the practicum While some have six-week experience others have 16-32 week experience that embraces different activities and different objectives This suggests multiple roles for the practicum experience (p.118) Thus, the practicum is considered an important aspect of teacher education that is getting increased attention of researchers in the field (Ong‟ondo & Jwan, 2009) It is a complex stage which is approached very differently in various parts of the world It is also a central part of student teacher development in many countries and is crucial for implementing EFL education reform (Anderson,2004; Stewart, 2004) These field experiences allow student z ... mentoring teachers, and the pressure from the students and from the school These challenges will be discussed in the following section 1.2 The Challenges of the Practicum The school where the practicum. .. discusses the role of the practicum in the teacher education programme Next, it reviews the challenges of the student teachers during the practicum such as their relationship with the mentors... Scope of the study The study limits itself to the investigation of the challenges of the student teachers during their practicum Information was collected from a small group of student teachers? ??