Abstract
ABSTRACTThis small study examines how one group (n = 59) of first-year undergraduate students developed their knowledge through co-construction using an online forum as a platform as part of a three-year Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programme. Professional dialogue at the online interface supported them to cope with the challenges they faced during teaching practice. The data showed that there were gains in student subject and pedagogical knowledge, observed to a greater extent among the peripheral learners. The data presented provide an alternative view from that published in the existing literature about the size and type of both peripheral and core online interactions that were useful in building the confidence and competence of students in the role of teachers in a primary classroom. Ultimately, the online knowledge exchange among peripheral participants provided agency in learning over actions and the ability to cope during teaching practice. This was corroborated by student self-assessment using post-online reflective brainstorms. Sixty-four per cent of the students concluded that they would use this new subject and pedagogical knowledge when in school as part of their teaching practice.
Highlights
The context for the research was focused within a UK University of Higher Education (HE) the training of a year one group of fifty-nine Initial Teacher Training (ITT) students studying a professional studies module as part of a three-year BA Primary Teaching Programme
Research Questions The researcher proposed to examine in more detail the following research questions: 1. How do ITT student perceptions of a personal level of subject and pedagogical knowledge affect their participation in online professional dialogue?
It is important to note here that twenty-seven percent of the whole student group were mature, which is defined by the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS, 2016) as ‘anyone over the age of twenty-one who did not go to university after school or college’
Summary
The context for the research was focused within a UK University of Higher Education (HE) the training of a year one group of fifty-nine ITT students studying a professional studies module as part of a three-year BA Primary Teaching Programme. The taught course encompassed a blended approach to learning and teaching. The taught programme comprised of a weekly two-hour, face-to-face lecture, supported by online professional dialogue around problematised teaching practice scenarios. Blended learning is not a new methodology, in this small study the lecturer facilitated the ‘getting started’ in the conversations online by posing a question based on the problematised scenarios but quickly became an on-looker. The online space re-defined the teacher-student roles and empowered the students to take control of their own learning, at their own pace, in a way that was not observed during face-to-face lectures, where the lecturer was seen as the teacher. How do ITT student perceptions of a personal level of subject and pedagogical knowledge affect their participation in online professional dialogue? Research Questions The researcher proposed to examine in more detail the following research questions: 1. How do ITT student perceptions of a personal level of subject and pedagogical knowledge affect their participation in online professional dialogue?
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