Abstract

Teaching practice: a make or break phase for student teachers

Highlights

  • Teaching practice is an important component of becoming a teacher

  • All Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) student teachers at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) for the year 2006 were included in the sample (n = 24).Almost 90% of the student teachers were from other countries so they could not understand the local language Data were collected, mainly through semi-structured interviews with all 24 student teachers in the PGCE programme from the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), at the end of a 10-week teaching practice period

  • Adequate preparation of student teachers/ability to translate theory into practice In contrast to the findings in the study by Marais & Meier (2004:228) where respondents found a discrepancy between theory of education and reality of instruction, and where respondents indicated that they could not reconcile the teaching methods as explained during their lectures with those used in schools by teachers, the respondents in this study indicated that they were prepared and able to translate theory into practice and that they were able to apply the education theory learnt at university into practice during the teaching practice

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Summary

Introduction

Teaching practice is an important component of becoming a teacher. It grants student teachers experience in the actual teaching and learning environment (Ngidi & Sibaya, 2003:18; Marais & Meier, 2004:220; Perry, 2004:2). Marais and Meier (2004:221) further argue that teaching practice is a challenging but important part of teacher training, especially in developing countries such as South Africa, where the effectiveness of the teaching practice can be diminished or eroded by a range of challenges, such as geographical distance, low and uneven levels of teacher expertise, a wide-ranging lack of resources as well as a lack of discipline among a wide cross-section of learners and educators These challenges, if not addressed, may affect student teachers’ performance during teaching practice and may in the long run affect their perception of the teaching profession

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