Student Teachers’ Key Learning Experiences – Mapping the Steps for Becoming a Professional Teacher

Elsi Ahonen,Janne Pietarinen,Kirsi Pyhältö,Tiina Soini

doi:10.5430/ijhe.v4n1p151

Elsi Ahonen, Janne Pietarinen + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v4n1p151

Copy DOI

Abstract

Teacher education provides the central forum for student teacher learning. Student teachers are advised to learn about teaching and undergo professional transformation during this instruction. However, research on student teacher learning often focuses on a certain time period and on how students should learn instead of analysing what are the actual key learning experiences of student teachers. In this study, 19 student teachers’ interviews are used to analyse key learning experiences during primary teacher education in a large city university’s MA programme. The results showed that students undergo several experiences during their studies, and that there are similarities with temporal and contextual location of the incidents and perceived learning outcomes. The results imply that teacher studies entail meaningful, positive and powering learning experiences as well as contradictory and negative learning experiences. Especially, in powering and positive learning experiences student teachers valued pedagogical action that simultaneously promoted their professional beliefs, knowledge and practice. The results also suggest that more attention should be paid to promoting student teachers’ active learning during education.

Highlights

Student teacher learning is key to becoming a skilful teacher, and continuing professional development (Edwards & Protheroe, 2003)
We argue that in order to better understand and develop more fluent educational path for student teachers we must know more about the steps on the way; when and where the crucial points of professional learning are, and what happens and is learned in them
This study aims to mapping the terrain of teacher education and add to the volume of prior literature on student teacher learning by shedding light on the temporal and contextual location of the key learning experiences student teachers undergo during their studies and by analysing the contents and the quality of these experiences

Summary

Introduction

Student teacher learning is key to becoming a skilful teacher, and continuing professional development (Edwards & Protheroe, 2003). There is evidence that especially, early career teachers have a tendency to move away from innovative teaching methods and adopt a more authoritative stance towards their students along with more traditional styles of teaching, during their first years of teaching (Ng, Nicholas, & Williams, 2010; Rozelle & Wilson, 2012) These shortages in the learning to become a teacher may turn problematic deficiencies of future professionalism as a teacher, since the ways in which student teachers perceive and learn to promote their own learning seems to be related to the way they think about educational practices in their own teaching (e.g., Van Petegem & Donche, 2006)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion