Perspectives Of Student Teachers Research Articles

School-university Partnerships in Teacher Education

Myanmar, a country of developing status, is facing many challenges in reforming its education system. This article investigates the current practices of school-university partnerships from the perspective of student teachers and mentor teachers in Myanmar, where there is an ongoing process of teacher education reform. The aim of this article is to investigate the practices of school-university partnerships and the tension between partners in the training of pre-service teachers within the context of teacher education. A qualitative research method is applied in this study where six candidates were interviewed individually. Participants include three student teachers from educational universities and three mentor teachers from basic education high schools in Myanmar. The results showed that, except for student teachers’ practice teaching, there is no intensive collaboration between schools and universities. Trust is a major problem between student teachers and mentor teachers. Different opinions and perspectives towards teaching and learning are also causing tension between partners. Although there is tension between mentor teachers and student teachers, they handle this through alternative collaboration activities and negotiation between partners.

Bridging the Gaps between Teacher Educators and Student Teachers’ Perceptions about the Attributes of Effective Teacher Educators

The present study attempts to investigate effective EFL teacher educators from the perspectives of student teachers and teacher educators. A survey design was employed to examine student teachers' and teacher educators' perceptions of the attributes of effective EFL teacher educators. Furthermore, an adapted questionnaire was administered online to 408 participants (334 student teachers, and 74 teacher educators) to obtain data about effective EFL teacher educators using four categories of attributes of effective teacher educators, namely subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), organization and communication skills (OCS), and socio-affective skills (SAS). Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted for the measurement of central tendency. The findings revealed the student teachers and teacher educators have different perceptions of how they perceived effective EFL teacher educators. There was a significant statistical difference between student teachers and teacher educators' perceptions of the three categories of attributes, namely SMK, PK, and OCS. Meanwhile, there was no significant statistical difference between student teachers and teacher educators' perceptions of SAS. The results of the present study may serve several pedagogical implications in the program of teacher education context.Keywords: EFL student teachers, teacher Educators, effective teacher, perceptions

دراسة تقويمية للمعوّّوقات التي تواجه برامج التّّتربية العمليّّية لمعلم المجال في كلية التربية في جامعة بيت لحم ومقترحات لتطويرها من وجهة نظر الطلبة والمعلمين المرشدين

This study aimed to evaluate the obstacles facing the practicum program of subject area teacher at the Faculty of Education, Bethlehem University and to find ways for improvement from the perspective of student-teachers and school mentors. The study sample consisted of 92 mentors, 124 students in 2017/2018. A descriptive analytic approach was used based on two questionnaires. The results showed that the most problematic area for the senior students is related to the assessment tools and school visits and that second, third and fourth year students agreed with mentors that the most problematic area was “awareness of the importance and purpose of the practicum,” and the need for introducing students to learning resources. The findings also revealed that the most common obstacles relating to “initial school experience” was connected with the recognition of the duties of the principal, teacher, supervisor, and various school committees. Results also showed that students regarded the location of practicum schools and the cost of transportation as most problematic, while mentors considered overcrowding in classes, lack of cooperation, and the focus on certain schools to be most problematic. However, both mentors and students agreed about the need for varying mentors and schools and for considering the students' residence (in the choice of training school). Results also showed that there was a statistically significant difference only in the first hypothesis related to the mentors due to gender in favor of females, and in the fourth hypothesis related to the students in favor of the second year. There was no statistical difference regarding the second and third hypotheses relating to both mentors and students. Based on the findings, the study recommended developing the structure and materials of the practicum courses, and taking students' needs into consideration.

Talk of Teacher Burnout among Student Teachers

ABSTRACT Student teachers recurrently and spontaneously talk about burnout when considering challenges of teaching. The following paper aims to address burnout from the perspectives of student teachers, as well as how they prepare to deal with the threat of burnout. There is a lack of research from a student teacher’s perspective concerning burnout. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were analysed using constructivist grounded theory. The findings reveal that student teachers engaged in a learning process related to (a) making sense of the perceived causes of burnout, and (b) constructing proactive strategies. The perceived causes of burnout were understood as individual work ethics, systemic reasons, collegial negativity and personal deficits. These perceived causes were related to strategies to protect against burnout.

Initial Teacher Education and the Relationship with Research: Student Teachers’ Perspectives

During the past few years, higher education institutions have been working to strengthen the link between research and teaching, which is widely referred to as the research–teaching (RT) nexus. This nexus is important because engagement with research is a distinctive feature of learning in higher education and because, in the specific case of teacher education, it is a crucial element for the professional development of teachers, contributing to enhancing their professional practices and, at the same time, improving the status of the teaching profession. The aim of this paper is to identify the perspectives of student teachers regarding the RT nexus within initial teacher education. To accomplish this, data were collected through semi-structured group interviews with Portuguese and English student teachers in different initial teacher education programmes in order to highlight their perspectives and their contributions to understanding and strengthening the RT nexus. The analysis shows that national contexts play a significant role in the way initial teacher education programmes are organized, the way research is valued, and, consequently, how student teachers are engaged with research.

Higher Education in Law: A Student-Teacher Perspective

Higher Education in Law: A Student-Teacher Perspective

Stakeholders’ roles in field experience: some empirical evidence

Purpose Field experience (FE) has long been a crucial component of the process of teacher education. Clearly, a range of stakeholders can affect student-teachers’ achievements in FE. Given the importance of these stakeholders in FE, it may be possible to improve FE practices by clarifying the involvement of different parties in the FE process. Since student-teachers are the major beneficiaries in FE, their voices should not be ignored. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore student-teachers’ perceptions of the roles played by different stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach In a qualitative research design, 18 student-teachers took part in this study. Content analysis was used to classify and compress the large amount of text provided by the informants into a manageable number of categories to track trends, patterns, frameworks and typologies. Findings In addition to those of the five major stakeholders of FE (i.e. student-teachers, cooperating teachers, institute supervisors, schools and institutes), this study identified the roles of three other stakeholders (i.e. students, other student-teachers and parents) that had not been widely focused in previous studies. Originality/value The present research took the first step to investigate the roles played by different parties in FE from the perspective of student-teachers and offered insights for enhancing student-teachers’ performance in FE.

Spaces of inclusion: investigating place, positioning and perspective in educational settings through photo-elicitation

ABSTRACTThis paper presents findings from a collaborative research study which sought to explore perspectives and understandings of the concept of inclusion, as played out in schools and colleges in northwest England, via the use of images. The research had two parts: in the first part, children and young people took photographs in their school setting that they felt represented inclusion or exclusion, offering an explanation for their choice. Some of these photographs and the accompanying comments were anonymised and formed the second part of the research that sought the viewpoints and perspectives of student-teachers, serving teachers, teaching assistants and academics via seminars and workshops. It is the responses received in the seminars and workshops that form the focus of this paper. Four images and a range of responses to them have been selected for discussion and are framed within three key inter-related themes of place, positioning and perspective. Such an analysis is made to consider how self-positioning might inform diverse interpretations of the cultural construction and visual representation of inclusion and exclusion.

Opportunities and Barriers of Practicum from the Perspectives of English Language Student Teachers

The study investigated the perspectives of student teachers regarding the opportunities provided by Practicum course, in addition to the barriers that potentially inhibited their performance as teachers. The descriptive approach was used to identify these opportunities and barriers. Participants were (27) females and (31) males. They were all enrolled in the Practicum course offered by the department of curriculum and instruction to students majoring in English at Najran University. A two-part questionnaire was the main instrument of data collection. The first part investigated the opportunities while the second one sought to identify the barriers. Results showed that Practicum course was effective in certain areas such as developing student teachers' supportive relationships with various participants in the Practicum setting; improving their teaching accomplishments and professional achievements; and enhancing their feelings of self-efficacy in being able to affect positively the students under their care. Findings however revealed many shortcomings or obstacles that hindered their performance as teaching practitioners. Such shortcomings were not related to one specific party but many parties such as academic supervisors, school principals, and cooperating teachers. No significant differences among Participants' perspectives regarding the course's opportunities or barriers were found due to their gender or university accumulative average.

Student teaching from the perspectives of cooperating teachers and pupils

AbstractTo facilitate student-teachers’ transition from internship to permanent positions, they are advised to meticulously learn from real experiences of practicum process as it might form their future teaching practices. To help promote the effectiveness of this process, investigating student-teaching from stakeholder perspectives could be enriching. Research on the cooperating teacher has mainly dealt with the perspective of student-teachers; however, this study focuses on student teaching process from the perspective of both cooperating teachers and the pupils in student-teacher’s classes of EFL in a Turkish teaching context. We administered open-ended questionnaires to 21 teachers and 114 pupils and carried out inductive qualitative content analysis to analyze the data. The study elaborates on the cooperating teachers’ and pupils’ perceptions of the student-teachers as well as the impact of their teaching. Results reveal that the arrival of student-teachers was highly welcomed by most of the students...

An Examination of University Supervision in a Physical Education Teacher Education Program

The purpose of this descriptive study was to analyze university supervision from the perspective of student teachers (STs), and to examine postlesson conference discourse between STs and university supervisors (USs) to determine if STs perspectives on supervisory models aligned with what actually occurred. Determining STs expectations and desires regarding supervisory model preferences and then providing a forum for STs to comment on the actual university supervision that they experienced fills a void in the literature, as student voice pertaining to this area of university supervision is missing. Data were collected via ST opportunities to answer written questions before and after their capstone experience. A total of 80 postobservation conferences were audio-recorded, transcribed and inductively analyzed to determine conference discourse. Results determined that the 28 STs overwhelmingly (96%) expressed a preference for a collaborative supervision approach, which ultimately they declared they experienced. Word counts revealed that for all postobservation conferences, STs (58%) spoke more often than USs (42%), which suggests that a collaborative model of supervision did actually occur. Analysis of idea units demonstrated that USs asked a lot of questions (31% of all their idea units) and a majority of them (73%) were categorized as higher order—such as reflective or evaluative questions versus lower order questions such as informational questions. This led to a great deal of ST reflection on their lessons during the postobservation conferences.

Defining grammatical difficulty: a student teacher perspective

Numerous second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have tried to define grammatical difficulty in second and foreign language acquisition – often as part of an attempt to relate the efficacy of different types of instruction to the degree of difficulty of grammatical structures. The resulting proliferation of definitions and the lack of a unifying framework have made the easy–difficult distinction a muddled concept. This paper attempts to clear up some of the confusion by reviewing the definitions SLA literature offers and relating these to (student) teachers’ cognitions on grammatical difficulty, a perspective largely ignored in SLA publications despite its potential for a more integrative and holistic view on the topic. To this end, a total of 727 undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers of English were surveyed in two empirical studies. Quantitative and qualitative analyses – in combination with the findings from SLA literature – yielded a model comprising four interrelated categories of factors that determine grammatical difficulty: (1) grammar feature; (2) pedagogical arrangement; (3) teacher quality; and (4) learner characteristics. In addition, the resulting model is discussed as a basis for future research into the changing cognitions of student teachers as they become more experienced.

Student teachers, socialisation, school placement and schizophrenia: the case of curriculum change

The dissonance between the socialisation experiences of student teachers during their own schooling and practicums and university-based teacher education programmes is indicative of the broader theory/practice dichotomy in education. While this dichotomy is of considerable interest to all teacher educators, studies of students’ pre- and post-placement professional beliefs are rare. The authors availed of the publication of alternative curriculum pathways for Ireland to investigate the curriculum beliefs of student teachers immediately before and after their final school placement. Important contextual aspects of the study including school and teacher culture and the proposed curriculum pathways are introduced. The stark contrast between student teachers’ preferences and their views regarding the feasibility of the various pathways and their commitment to pupil-centred learning are among the main findings of the current study. A positive relationship emerged between respondents’ curriculum preferences and their grades in curriculum studies. These emerging themes are considered from the perspectives of student teachers’ beliefs about pupil learning, the theory/practice dichotomy and the importance of developing school–university partnerships.

Investigating the Management of Practice Teaching Visits for 3rd Year Level Student Teachers by Limpopo University Supervisors: A Perspective of Student Teachers

The study aims at investigating the perspective of student teachers on how Limpopo University supervisors manage practice teaching visits for 3rd year student teachers. The research question guiding the study is : to what extent is practice teaching visits for 3rd year student teachers taken seriously by both student teachers themselves and the University supervisors?. The research methods employed to emerge with data germane to the study were document analysis and an interviewing technique. Out of the population of 586 3rdyear student teachers, 41 were conveniently sampled. Three of the extra-ordinary findings which the research inquiry unearthed are that 3rd level year student teachers are immensely scared of practice teaching since it forces them to deliver lessons in the presence of supervisors. They also harbour an idea that practice teaching should be cancelled for the 3rd years until they do a final year. University supervisors lament an inadequate time allotted for practice teaching with huge numbers to supervise twice. As part of the conclusion, the researcher regards it to be advisable that further studies around this issue of practice teaching for the 3rd level year student teachers be undertaken. This is in acknowledgement and recognition of the enigma and its uniqueness. Commencing with intensive and extensive practice teaching at the 1st level of study could familiarise student teachers to it quite early. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n14p188

The role of theory in teacher education: reconsidered from a student teacher perspective

With the persistent criticism of teacher education as a backdrop, this article explores the common perception that teacher education is too theoretical. This article takes the view that the student teachers’ assumptions regarding the concept of theory affect how they engage with theory during initial teacher education. Using a qualitative approach, this study examines student teachers’ conceptualizations of the nature and role of theory in teacher education. The results indicate conflicts between student teachers’ assumptions about theory in general and pedagogical theories in particular, and also between a narrow conception of the nature of theory and a more nuanced understanding of the purpose of theory. Student teachers’ encounter with pedagogy as an academic discipline—with a different epistemology than the one they know from their discipline-specific studies—seems to cause considerable struggle that often ends in a devaluation and denigration of theory in teacher education. The implications of these findings for teacher education are discussed.

Joint observation of student teaching and related tripartite dialogue during field experience: Partner perspectives

This article explores joint observation implemented as part of a partnership between schools and a teacher education institution during field experience (practicum) from the perspectives of student teachers, supporter (cooperating) teachers and tutors (university teacher educators). Joint observation comprising the viewing of student teacher practice in the classroom context by supporter teacher and tutor, and related tripartite dialogue, were implemented with a view to strengthening such collaborative partnership. In this exploratory study, qualitative and quantitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Findings identified the benefits and challenges of joint observation. Implications of the study are discussed.

Práticas de formação colaborativa de professores/as de inglês: representações de uma experiência no Pibid

Este estudo tem o objetivo de analisar representações de práticas de formação colaborativa de professores/as de inglês, pela perspectiva de licenciandos/ as envolvidos/as no Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência (Pibid) Letras-Inglês-Universidade Estadual de Londrina (Capes 01/2011). Os dados, gerados por meio de um questionário em escala Likert e de um grupo focal, foram analisados com base na análise de discurso crítica, com destaque às categorias de metáfora e de avaliação. Os resultados indicam tensões entre representações que giram ao redor das metáforas troca de ideias e troca de figurinhas, cada uma representando aspectos em termos de regras de participação e de papéis sociais (in)desejáveis. O estudo aponta para implicações que as posições híbridas trazem para as práticas de formação de professores/as no interior do Pibid.

Student Teaching: Reflections of a Relentless Journey

This action research article shares the story of a student teacher and the arduous, but rewarding process of self-reflection. The authors integrate real life examples of the implementation of self-reflective strategies of a student teacher with self-efficacy, teacher life cycle, and effectiveness literature to analyze the student teacher's perspective. Strategies that encouraged positive changes during the student teaching semester are examined and discussed along with implications.

The target language revisited

This article reports on a study on the use of the target language (TL) in foreign language classrooms, drawing on the perspectives of student teachers and practising teachers. Observational and group discussion data showed that TL use was not extensive. While student teachers and practising teachers shared a commitment to using the TL, this was undermined by several factors, notably inconsistencies between university and school positions on TL use, challenging classes, external inspection and examinations. Lack of coherence between student teachers' experiences at university and in schools has implications not only for languages but also other subjects in teacher preparation.

Perceived usefulness of Facebook for teaching and learning: the student teacher's perspective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived usefulness of Facebook in education and possible ways of using Facebook for teaching and learning from the perspective of student teachers. One hundred seventy-three student teachers participated in this study. They were tasked to explore various components of Facebook and write reflections on the potential usefulness of Facebook for their subject teaching. Their reflections were analysed by following a qualitative research method. Results showed that the most useful components of Facebook for teaching and learning included educational applications, games, and certain features like the wall and group page. The participants also felt that Facebook could be potentially used for learning assessment, self-directed learning, collaborative learning, and as a learning management system. This paper describes the perceived useful components of Facebook and its possible ways for teaching and learning. Issues emerged from this study are discussed at the end of the paper.