Logo image
Back
Pre service teachers make sense of teacher engagement and teacher identity through a looking-glass world
Conference paper   Peer reviewed

Pre service teachers make sense of teacher engagement and teacher identity through a looking-glass world

Anne Drabble, Georgina Gordon, Louise Lyndon, Nathan Zahra, Sarah Middleton, Maddison Wilkins and Shaylie Watson
Proceedings of the Joint Conference: Australian Association of Research in Education Conference and New Zealand Association for Research in Education, pp.1-12
Joint Conference: Australian Association of Research in Education Conference and New Zealand Association for Research in Education (AARE/NZARE): Speaking back through research, 2014 (Brisbane, Australia, 30-Nov-2014–04-Dec-2014)
Australian Association for Research in Education
2014
url
https://www.aare.edu.au/View
Webpage

Abstract

Specialist Studies in Education
Pre service teachers are required to engage in a number of Supervised Professional Experiences (SPE) during their Education Program. The opportunity to participate as a member of a school community, interact with students and implement the knowledge acquired during their coursework is generally met with enthusiasm. However, research suggests that pre service teachers completing SPEs in rural and remote communities often face professional and personal loneliness and experience readjustment difficulties in managing the cultural context of their placement. Of particular concern for pre service teachers is the mismatch and confusion between what has been learned in their course work and the realities of the context in which they have been placed to teach. During the SPE, teaching becomes more than just knowing content knowledge, rather knowing how to use knowledge in ways that meet the needs of students is fundamental in integrating knowledge and practice. This initial study examines the contribution of a prolonged Wider Field Experience (WFE) in affording pre service teachers with valuable opportunities to practice and rehearse their knowledge and skills in readiness for the SPE. The WFE was carried out in a rural primary school with nearly 100% students representing as Indigenous. The study reports on ways in which the pre service teachers engaged in a community of teaching practice that supported a culture of sense making; where they learned by immersion in authentic practice of the discipline. In this context, the pre service teachers conducted themselves in a similar manner as in-service teachers exploring new ideas for the first time. The quality of communication exchanged between the pre service teachers and the quality of the experiences they engaged in during the WFE increased their knowledge and understanding of teaching and their ability to develop, test and reconstruct their learning successfully with the community in which they were participating.

Details

Metrics

498 Record Views
Logo image