Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice

ISSN: 2630-5984

Scrutinizing Practicum for a More Powerful Teacher Education: A Longitudinal Study with Pre-service Teachers

Hande Serdar Tülüce
Department of English Language Teacher Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, İstanbul Bilgi University, Eski Silahtarağa Elektrik Santrali Eyüp İstanbul 34060 Turkey
Sevdeğer Çeçen
Department of English Language Teacher Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, İstanbul Bilgi University, İstanbul, Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to explore the role of school-based practicum in promoting pre-service English language teachers’ professional development through the use of a longitudinal design in combination with qualitative methods. To achieve this aim, pre-service teachers were asked to successively reflect on video-recordings of their micro-lessons in their university-based methodology courses directly after delivering the micro-lessons and retrospectively after their practicum experience. The participants of this study were 13 pre-service English language teachers studying at a foundation university in Istanbul, Turkey. The same data collection methodology was adapted before and after the practicum to gain a deeper understanding of the learning stemming from school-based practicum. The data for the study came from pre- and post-self-evaluation reports as well as pre- and post-focus-group interviews that had been collected based on the pre-service teachers’ video-recorded microteaching simulations. The findings indicate that pre-service teachers commented on the same pedagogical, psychological, and physical factors they had noticed regarding their micro-lesson before and after the practicum. However, some qualitative changes were detected in their views over time as they had become more learner-oriented and had developed a more reflective view of teaching following the practicum. These findings have implications for the impact of practicum for future teacher education programs.

Keywords
Pre-service teacher, Reflection, Practicum, Microteaching.