Professional Development in training and Tutoring Have I really gained experience and skill through training and tutoring sessions? Case of: a special third year student, language sciences and didactics (SLD), Department of English, University of Bejaia

Abstract

Practitioner engagement is not an easy task in teaching in higher education. In fact, there is much evidence now to propose a strong relationship between active engagement and the quality of the teaching experience. But what exactly do we mean by ‘engagement’? For many it simply refers to assisting students to connect with the subject material in a way that generates interest, enjoyment and interaction. Generating active participation is particularly important in tutorials or small group teaching, where tutorials ‘by design’, are intended to provide students a different kind of learning experience than the lecture. It is also through active engagement that both, teachers and students take greater ownership for their teaching craft and learning process. This concept assists in the development of an overall design or structure to support such engagement and active participation. The more organized and clear the teachers and students are, the more likely it is that they will get the desired and target results. In addition to this, active engagement of teachers should be reinforced by a reflective practice which is an active process too of attending to their own experience of teaching in order to explore it in some depth. It is in fact a ‘dialogue of thinking and doing through which teachers become more skilled. This process develops by thinking critically and deeply about what teachers are doing in order that they may transform that experience and reapply it in new contexts. In many respects, Professional Development in training and tutoring has been designed to motivate reflection on one’s teaching practice and mostly where teachers have an opportunity to see others in practice. The article’s results have been derived from the interpretation of the data collected through designing an interview addressed to the only special student of the department and show the researcher’s experience as a teacher and an administrator with Abdenour, this is how I like to call him, a blind student, but his determination and willingness to succeed in his higher studies made of him a remarkable young man. Special tutoring and training sessions have been designed to enable him fully integrate the learning community. Therefore, this article has been directed to focalize on the pedagogical decisions based on implementing and considering the training and tutoring sessions as a necessity to develop first the teaching craft and then help, advise and guide our students towards more success in their studies. Is not it mentioned in the official document (Journal officiel de la République Algérienne N°23 du 4 Mai, 2008 ; articles 33,34, 35, …) « to receive the students 3 hours/week to advise and orient them »?