Community perceptions as a source of knowledge for transforming teaching and teacher education in Vietnam

Abstract

ABSTRACT Rather than being confined to academic knowledge provided by university-based programmes, there are calls for teacher education to embrace the knowledge situated within local communities. Drawing on the theories of community knowledge in teaching and teacher education, this paper reports the results of a study that explores community members’ perceptions of teachers, teaching and teacher education in Vietnam. Using in-depth interviews, the study considered the perceptions and experiences of 20 community members in a large Vietnamese city. The results imply that community members consider K-12 school teachers’ knowledge to be inadequate, criticising the pedagogical practices of these teachers as ‘traditional’ and ‘inflexible’. The challenges confronting K-12 schools in Vietnam are, according to the participants, partly caused by the existing policies and practices of teacher education. Suggestions for addressing these concerns through collaboration between community members, teacher educators, teacher candidates and K-12 teachers with the aim of transforming teaching and teacher education within Vietnam are discussed and implications for future research considered.