Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum: A Global Perspective 9781351209885, 9780815381686

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Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum

Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum establishes a forum to identify the characteristics of good practices of teaching practicum and debates key concepts and emerging themes in the field. The book takes a closer look at practicum from various dimensions and aims to obtain a deeper understanding of how it is perceived and whether the stakeholders in the practicum triad – university-based teacher educators, pre-service teachers and school-based mentor teachers – share a common view in the same context. It provides opportunities for personal and professional growth for teacher candidates, and an increased familiarity with international employment settings. With contributions throughout from the USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Finland, Norway and Turkey, the book begins with a critical review of teaching practicum studies and goes on to consider such important topics as pre-service teachers’ views of developing professional practice, virtual tools for teacher training, internationalization and creativity in teacher education programs. The book clarifies these key issues from the lens of research and practice by taking a closer look at practicum from various angles, including new trends and practices as a response to changing needs in teacher education. Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum will be of great interest to researchers and students in the teacher education field and will also appeal to teacher educators, policy makers in education and pre-service teachers. Melek Çakmak is a Professor at the Faculty of Education, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. Müge Gündüz is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Routledge Research in Teacher Education

This series aims to present the latest research from right across the field of education. It is not confined to any particular area or school of thought and seeks to provide coverage of a broad range of topics, theories and issues from around the world.

Recent titles in the series include: Learning Beyond the School International Perspectives on the Schooled Society Edited by Julian Sefton-Green and Ola Erstad Building Trust and Resilience among Black Male High School Students Boys to Men Stuart Rhoden Researching and Enacting Change in Postsecondary Education Leveraging Instructors’ Social Networks Charles Henderson, Chris Rasmussen, Alexis V. Knaub, Naneh Apkarian, Kathleen Quardokus Fisher, and Alan J. Daly Education and Muslim Identity During a Time of Tension Inside an American Islamic School Melanie C. Brooks Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum A Global Perspective Edited by Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz

For a complete list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Research-in-Education/book-series/SE0393

Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum

A Global Perspective

Edited by Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz

First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 selection and editorial matter, Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Cakmak, Melek, editor. | Geundeuz, Meuge, editor. Title: Dimensions and emerging themes in teaching practicum : a global perspective / edited by Melek Cakmak and Meuge Geundeuz. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2018020859 (print) | LCCN 2018031969 (ebook) | ISBN 9781351209885 (E-book) | ISBN 9780815381686 (hbk) | ISBN 9781351209885 (ebk) Subjects: LCSH: Student teaching. | Student teachers. Classification: LCC LB2157.A3 (ebook) | LCC LB2157.A3 D55 2019 (print) | DDC 370.71/1—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018020859 ISBN: 978-0-8153-8168-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-351-20988-5 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Dedication For Seren, Dilek and my parents Melek Çakmak For Utku, Ertan, Özlem and my parents Müge Gündüz

Contents

List of figures and tableix Contributorsx Acknowledgementsxi Prefacexii Introduction

1

MELEK ÇAKMAK AND MÜGE GÜNDÜZ

1 A critical review of teaching practicum studies

5

MELEK ÇAKMAK AND MÜGE GÜNDÜZ

2 Developing professional practice through the turbulent spaces of the practicum: pre-service teachers’ views

24

HUGH BUSHER

3 The role of teaching practice in Finnish teacher education, with particular reference to university teacher training school in Joensuu

36

EIJA LIISA SOKKA-MEANEY AND MINNA HARING

4 Virtual tools for teacher training and practicum interaction

52

NORA C. CLARKE AND DENESE WOLFF

5 Internationalization in teacher education programs as a door opener for inclusion: two insights from practice MEIKE KRICKE

72

viii Contents

6 Applying teaching practicum experiences to challenging situations: a study on newly qualified teachers

85

ANNE BERIT EMSTAD

7 Teachers’ learning in reflecting teams: processes and premises

99

MAY BRITT POSTHOLM

8 STEAM education: creativity in teacher education programs

117

BRONWEN WADE-LEEUWEN

Conclusion

133

MELEK ÇAKMAK AND MÜGE GÜNDÜZ

Index135

Figures and table

Figures 3.1 7.1 7.2 8.1

Teaching practice as four expanding circles 41 Plan for observation and reflection 101 The expansive learning circle 103 Parents’ Guide (BOSTES, 2017) to the Primary Syllabus 118 in Australia 8.2 STEAM after-school and in-school program content (2018) 122 8.3 STEAM learning framework with seven interconnected capabilities123 8.4 Digital augment craft used in STEAM workshops 124

Table 3.1 The structure of teaching practice and related theoretical studies

39

Contributors

Hugh Busher is associate professor in Education at the University of Leicester. Melek Çakmak is a professor at the Faculty of Education, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. Nora C. Clarke has been an adjunct professor at the University of Phoenix since 2004 and has spent 36 years in education, serving as an elementary, intermediate, secondary, and college instructor. Anne Berit Emstad is an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Müge Gündüz is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Minna Haring is a lecturer, class teacher and a teacher trainer at the University Teacher Training School in Joensuu, University of Eastern Finland (UEF). Meike Kricke, Dr., a former primary education teacher, is a project leader at the Montag Foundation Youth and Society (Bonn). May Britt Postholm, Institute for Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, is professor in pedagogy and qualitative methodology. Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney is a former lecturer, class teacher and teacher trainer at the University Teacher Training School in Joensuu, UEF, from 1981 to 2015. Bronwen Wade-Leeuwen, Dr., is a creative arts lecturer working in primary and early childhood education at Macquarie University’s School of Educational Studies, Australia. Denese Wolff, EdD, a retired elementary principal, has been associate faculty at Houston Community College since 1995, and at the University of Phoenix since 2001.

Acknowledgements

Our journey began with Routledge’s kind invitation to the first editor of the book, Dr. Çakmak. After sharing this thrilling opportunity with the second editor, Dr. Gündüz, our collaborative work had a start. We decided to write our book on practicum since it was a great opportunity to use and share our experiences as teacher educators and build on our research backgrounds. With this excitement, we invited our colleagues who have also been very much into the field of practicum in teacher education. During this enjoyable period, we have received considerable help and encouragement from different people. Thus many debts of gratitude have accumulated. First, our thanks go to Routledge who gave us the opportunity to compile this edited book. Without their support and guidance, this piece of work could not have been accomplished. Special thanks to Heidi Lowther, Aiyana Curtis and Will Bateman and Alice Gray, who have read, checked and provided positive comments and extremely helpful feedback during the revision process, from beginning to end. We are also indebted to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions throughout. Finally, we are most grateful to the editorial, design and production team at Routledge, for their professional expertise and support. Our particular appreciation goes to the contributors who made this publication possible. We take this opportunity to extend our thanks to our colleagues who accepted our invitations to write a chapter and provide different perspectives to our book with their valuable contributions. We would also like to express our deep gratitude to colleagues and friends. Last but not least, we would both like to send our thanks to our families for their encouragement, support, patience and endurance during our exciting and enjoyable journey. Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz April 2018

Preface

This is a book about teaching practicum and its various application in different educational settings throughout the world. Teaching practicum is an indispensable dimension in teacher education programmes and regardless of the education systems in the world, this dimension is considered to be crucial in any educational context. Therefore, practicum always attracted many researchers’ attention and growing interest on the issue has been extensively studied in recent years. Practicum has also been a topic of both interest and concern to primary practitioners. We hope that researching on the practicum process offer new ways of thinking to primarily, for teacher educators, researchers in the teacher education field, policy makers in education and pre-service teachers. It is hoped that this book establish a forum in order to discuss key dimensions and emerging themes in the field. The themes for the proposed book emerged from our previous research studies on teaching practicum. Therefore, all the chapters are related to the dimensions and the stakeholders which can be considered to be important in the practicum, regardless of any context. The current book might provide some implications especially for teacher educators since it provides a better understanding of different practices and procedures in teacher education programmes in different countries. Finally, it is also hoped that the book provides some food for thought on some theoretical issues and gives insight into teaching practicum practices from different perspectives by drawing on previous research studies and describing the current status of the proposed topic. Melek Çakmak & Müge Gündüz April 2018

Introduction Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz

The teaching practicum is an indispensable dimension of initial teacher education which is considered to be crucial in any educational context. There has been growing interest on the issue in the literature and as a result of it, the teaching practicum has been extensively studied in recent years. The term ‘practicum’ embraces all the learning experiences of student teachers in schools. The practicum experience in a teacher education context is a phase in which student teachers observe, get familiar with school context and pupils’ learning styles and begin preparing their own lesson plans. Teacher candidates gradually develop the necessary skills and the knowledge for teaching during the practicum by doing observations and getting experiences in real classroom environments in contrast to the artificial environment of the lecturing process in the university. They also receive some feedback on their practice in schools from their mentors and their university tutors. As Zeichner (1996; cited in Tuli & File, 2009) points out, a practicum is educative if it leads student teachers to understand the full scope of a teacher’s role, to improve their capacity to learn from future experiences and to accomplish the central purpose of teaching. It should be noted that in related literature, there is no generally accepted term to describe the supervised practice experiences in higher education and therefore, the term ‘practicum’ has been used interchangeably with some other terms such as ‘field experience’, ‘school experience’, ‘practice teaching’, etc., in different educational contexts. Accordingly, the authors of this book introduced their local usage while referring ‘practicum’. This book mainly focuses on presenting the holistic complexity of the issues involved in the teaching practicum process. Not only does it put forward the current applications of the practicum but also it tries to reveal the new trends in different educational settings. This book aims to establish a forum to identify the characteristics and the key dimensions of the teaching practicum and to debate emerging themes in the field to meet the challenges of the 21st-century classrooms and workplaces in various contexts.To do this effectively, it is necessary to provide a better understanding of a particular practice and procedure in teacher education programmes in different countries.

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It is obvious that an increase in information and in communication speed is a reality known to all of us. This phenomenon has affected many countries and educational systems worldwide. Countries come closer to each other through knowledge and communication technologies that are needed to establish strong bonds between them. New cooperative fields, partnerships and solidarities make education necessary to be analysed from the perspective of new approaches (Budak, Çakmak, & Gündüz, 2015). These facts unavoidably influence teacher education programmes and attach considerable role and functions to teacher education programmes. This book recognizes this convergence by having an international through its chapters. It is hoped that the book provides some food for thought on some issues proposed by each chapter and gives insight into teaching practicum practices from different national perspectives. In this respect, all the chapters are also related various dimensions of teaching practicum and the stakeholders including students, teacher educators, mentors, etc., which can be considered to be important in the practicum, regardless of the context. The contributors to this book are mainly concerned with role of the teaching practicum in the framework of teacher education and with the current practices in different education systems and future direction of practicum. Each chapter is designed to present a theoretical framework of the proposed topic and has a common format to draw upon various applications of teaching practicum. Authors then describe and discuss the current practicum practices and the nature of key issues of practicum in their own context and reflect on them. All the contributors to this book have a concern for and commitment to matters associated with teacher education, in particular ‘teaching practicum’. In this respect, all the chapters are also related to the various dimensions and the stakeholders of teaching practicum regardless of the educational context. Some of the chapters in the book provide an opportunity for the authors to reflect upon their research studies and share their research findings with the readers. Overall, the main aim of the book is to make some practical contributions to the field of teacher education. The practicum aspect is intertwined with the quality of teacher education and it is, therefore, the subject of much concern in many countries around the world. The opening chapter, written by Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz, presents a critical review of some of the current issues associated with teaching practicum. It provides an insight into current trends in teaching practicum from the perspectives of researchers from different educational settings.There have been a great deal of practicum studies which have chosen different research paradigms, focused on the dimensions of practicum and agents are involved in forming practice in teacher education. The authors in this chapter try to present a review of themes which emerge and discuss changing themes from past to present. The following two chapters (2 and 3) focus on the current teaching practicum practices in England, Turkey and Finland, and reflect on what makes practicum successful and how practicum foster pre-service teachers’ professional development. Chapter 2, written by Hugh Busher from the UK, is particularly

Introduction 3

concerned with the process of student teachers’ transformation into serving teachers and the development of their pedagogical thinking through schoolbased practicum. This chapter also provides a framework on student teachers’ journey to become successful teachers and their transformation process into teachers in service. Chapter 3, by Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring from Finland, is particularly concerned with the effect of teacher training curriculum change on the current teaching practices with the emphasis on effective guidance. This chapter focuses on the role of the Teacher Training School in this process and it describes the structure and content of teaching practice, which has a strong emphasis on developing the student’s awareness of their professional development. Chapter 4, written by the authors from the USA, bring some alternative approaches to the teaching practicum by introducing some of the current trends which explore information technology and application to the teaching practicum in order to prepare future teachers. Chapter 4, by Nora C. Clarke and Denese Wolff, discusses the implementation of the new information and communication technologies and explores the technological opportunities to stimulate more interactive teaching practicum for the student teachers, mentors and cooperating teachers. Clarke and Wolff also suggest that the teaching practicum should model the use of Web 2.0 tools to train future teachers to use these in their classrooms. In preparing future teachers, the demands of education programmes should be centred upon not only technology but also the efficiency in a global and changing world. Hence new teachers should have the necessary knowledge and skills for the future workforce and therefore teacher education programmes need to react to the worldwide development of global citizenships and integrate an international view into teaching practicum. In this framework, Chapter 5, by Meike Kricke from Germany, outlines the benefits of an international view in teacher education programmes by emphasizing internationalization. The author handles the issue by providing contexts and opportunities for all student teachers to experience diversity and participation in a playful, multi-perspectival and interactive environment by introducing ‘International Teacher Education Laboratory’, as an example for implementing international elements in the university-based teacher education programmes. The following chapters focus on qualified teachers. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7, written by the authors from Norway, draw attention to the stage of teaching practicum where teachers encounter real-life challenges. Beginning to teach is a demanding task. It has been well documented through the literature, the transition from pre-service education to full-time teaching should be continually followed up in order to evaluate teacher education programmes and provide opportunities for teacher educators to reflect on their practices. In that sense, Chapter 6, by Anne Berit Emstad, draws on newly qualified teachers and explores the effect of challenging situations encountered by beginning teachers. The author also discusses the strategies the student teachers developed to cope with such challenges, while Chapter 7, by May Britt Postholm, focuses

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on relatively experienced teachers and specifically deals with newly qualified teachers’ experiences and their reflections on difficult situations that they encounter in schools. In addition, the author examines how teachers’ reflections enhance their teaching practices. Finally, in the concluding chapter (Chapter 8), Bronwen Wade-Leeuwen from Australia, emphasizes that 21th-century active learning environments require pre-service and in-service teachers develop practical skills and knowledge as well as their reflective capacities including critical and creative thinking skills. Therefore, this chapter outlines the benefits and challenges experienced through reflective teaching applications while employing an innovative pedagogical model that has the potential to enrich teachers’ understanding of the reflective process in the context of STEAM education. In the process of globalization, new trends and topics have also emerged with their different dimensions and contents. Featuring some research examples from various countries, this book offers glimpses into the world of teaching practicum. This book can be valuable to teacher educators, researchers in the teacher education field, policy makers in education and pre-service teachers since it presents an overall insight regarding the stakeholders’ views of their practicum and demonstrates some applications of it in different settings. Moreover, most of the contributors of the book present their individual pieces of research about practices drawn in a particular framework. Hence the book provides a different perspective by putting the argument and practice together. However, it should be noted that the main purpose of this book is not to make generalizations but to establish a platform in which different practices are exemplified and various aspects of practicum are discussed. The proposed book makes an important contribution by giving an insight into both research and practice on dimensions and emerging themes in teaching practicum.That is to say, bridging practice and research enhances the understanding of the richness of teaching practicum, raises the awareness of different applications around the world and develops new perspectives on the whole picture of practicum in the 21st century. It is hoped that this book will clarify some key issues in teaching practicum from the lens of research and practice by taking a closer look at practicum from various dimensions, including new trends and changing practices as a response to changing needs in teacher education.

Chapter 1

A critical review of teaching practicum studies Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz

Introduction The concept of “teaching” is multifaceted and comprehensive. As Capel, Leask and Turner (1995) point out teaching is a continuously creative and a problemsolving activity. Teaching is a creative act, and it helps to define what is or is not effective teaching (Smith, 1995). Effective teaching also requires effective teaching skills. Teacher has a major role in establishing and transferring these effective teaching skills into real context. As Leask (1995) stated, the teacher’s main job is to ensure that pupils learn.Therefore, teaching knowledge, skills and competence appear to be crucial, and effective schools require well-trained highly competent teachers as Scheeler (2008) notes. Because teaching requires the transformation of the necessary knowledge into suitable tasks which lead to learning (Leask, 1995). At that point, what Scheeler (2008) suggest seems to be quite important: Unfortunately skills and techniques that teachers learn and practice in college classrooms are not always maintained over time, nor do these skills necessarily transfer to actual classrooms with children. It is one thing to identify critical teaching skills, but to what extent are teacher preparation programs promoting mastery of these skills? (p. 2) This suggest that newly certified teachers may be highly qualified because of coursework, but it does not ensure that they can transfer these qualifications into real classroom environment. In that context, the content and the process of teacher education have an important role in training teacher candidates in a sense that teaching the practicum process has a special contribution to make to the content and the process of teacher education effective.

The role of practicum in teacher education Related literature confirms that teaching is a complex process, and the teaching practicum is one of the most critical components and an integral

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part of teacher education (Ong’ondo & Jwan, 2009; Trent, 2010; CantaliniWilliams et al., 2014; Morales-Cortes, 2016; Sulistiyo et al., 2017; Banegas, 2018). Teacher education programmes involves the policies and procedures designed to develop student teachers’ knowledge, skills and characters in order to prepare them to educate students effectively and professionally at schools. In a sense, teacher education is a multifaceted responsibility, with universities and schools as main stakeholders. University academics provide information about theories, research studies in the field and connections to practice, with mentor teachers facilitating the pre-service teacher’s practical studies in school contexts (Hudson, 2014). Danyluk et al. (2015), in their article based on the literature on practicum, emphasised that practicum held in faculties of education provides student teachers various opportunities to achieve the purpose of the theory they have been studied in the university including classroom management models, pedagogical theories and teaching strategies in order to prepare them competent teachers. Field experiences are integrated into these courses in order to enable students understand the conceptual and theoretical knowledge provided (Hixon & So, 2009). Moreover, Cheng (2013) also states that pre-service teachers find opportunities to put theories into practice in the real school environment. According to Salvatori (2010, p. 6), the practicum lets teacher candidates “integrate theoretical, practical, and experiential knowledge in the understanding of and resolution of professional issues”. Practicum might emphasise different ideas, aspects and qualities in different universities and settings, and, therefore, practicum in teacher education is dealt with in different ways at different universities. Different models of practicum can be identified and applied depending on different national, regional and local contexts. These modals represent different views on how professional practice knowledge is best nurtured. They could be categorised under nine models as follows (Mattsson, Eilertsen, & Rorrison, 2011): (1) the Master-Apprentice Model, (2) the Laboratory Model, (3) the Partnership Model, (4) the Community Development Model, (5) the Integrated Model, (6) the Case-Based Model, (7) the Platform Model, (8) the Community of Practice Model, (9) the Research and Development Model.

What does research say about practicum? Importance of the practicum has been one of the major areas of interest in the literature since the practicum is considered one of the most important aspects of a student teacher’s education (Clarke & Collins, 2007; Farrell, 2008). As Karchmer-Klein (2007) points out that “practicum placements have been integral components of the teacher preparation process for many years” (p. 121). Therefore, many researchers attempted to define and clarify the meaning of practicum. Although there are different perspectives presented by the various authors, it is also possible to encounter some common points

A critical review of teaching practicum 7

in these definitions. According to Agustiana (2014), teaching practicum is the activity of teaching practice in real classrooms and the students are required to fulfill this practicum process during their training in Faculty of Teacher Education. Zeichner (1992) uses the term practicum to include all varieties of observation and teaching experiences in a pre-service teacher education programme – namely, field experiences that precede professional education coursework, early field experiences that tied to professional courses and student teaching and internship experiences. Manzar-Abbas and Lu (2013) also define practicum as a transition of roles from a student to a professional worker, and it links the theory to practice. According to Ong’ondo and Jwan (2009), practicum or teaching practice is a session that requires students to take part in a teaching experience in a school or any other learning institution where they can interact with actual learners. Darling-Hammond (2010, p. 40) asserts, “Learning to practice in practice, with expert guidance, is essential to becoming a great teacher of students with a wide range of needs”. The implementation of teaching practicum is important to bridge the gap between what student teachers have learnt in the programme and the reality of teaching practice in real classroom contexts (Darling-Hammond, 2006; cited in Sulistiyo et al., 2017). Practicum placements are essential for promoting cohesion between theory and practice in teacher education programmes (Falkenberg & Smits, 2010; Le Cornu & Ewing, 2008; cited in CantaliniWilliams, et al., 2014). Ngidi and Sibaya (2003) define practicum as a field experience when prospective teachers teach in schools and apply their learnt knowledge in the real situation, while Chireshe and Chireshe (2010) viewed it as a supervised and guided teaching experience of prospective teachers under an experienced mentor. As Agudo (2016, p. 36) suggests, “The teaching practicum process constitutes a fundamental experience for the professional preparation of every candidate teacher”. It is necessary to emphasise that a well-planned practicum is crucial in teacher education programmes, and according to Manzar-Abbas and Lu (2013), a well-planned practicum should provide a real field to apply the acquired knowledge, a real field to understand the real context of professional understanding, a laboratory to validate the choice of career and commitment to it, feedback for further development and an opportunity to become a reflective practitioner provides and the prospective teachers to observe and experience diverse contexts. From a different perspective, Cheng (2009) suggests that preservice teachers’ understanding of their professional and self-efficacy is shaped by Teaching practicum (TP). Overall, the review of research literature on all aspects of teaching practicum reveals that the practicum is a complex stage which is approached very differently in various parts of the world, and the key issues that have been raised by the research on the practicum can be summarised as follows (Ong’ondo & Jwan, 2009): student teacher training, collaboration amongst student teachers,

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collaboration with cooperating teachers, supervision during the practicum and organisation of teaching practice. In sum, teaching practicum is the most important part of teacher education programmes as discussed earlier in the light of related literature. As a concept practice teaching, which exists in educational systems throughout the world, used interchangeably and defined by the researchers with different terminology, such as practicum, clinical training or internship, depending on the discipline. In some literature, it is also called induction (e.g. Colinson et al., 2009) or internship (e.g. Darling-Hammond, 2006). In this book, the term “teaching practicum” is referred to as field placements and teaching practice.

Stakeholders of practicum The main and well-known stakeholders of practicum are student teachers, mentors and teacher educators. However, there are also some other influential stakeholders who have relatively little interest to many research studies (e.g. students, administrative staff). In a sense, we need to think of the practicum process as a whole which includes all the stakeholders and integrates them into the “team”.Therefore, the school-based experiences of the student teacher depend on a three-way partnership between the school, the student and the higher education institution (Leask, 1995). School-university partnerships have the potential to bridge this gap between theory and practice, and they also open opportunities for the sharing of knowledge and skills between the stakeholders of the practicum. However, despite the suggested benefits of partnership, many argue that collaborative arrangements between schools and universities remain weak (e.g. Zeichner, 2006, 2010).

Student teachers Johnson and Perry (1967; cited in Agustiana, 2014) refer to pre-service teachers as college students who are engaged in an assigned student teaching experience. The teaching experience is a very important component of teachers’ preparation (Morales-Cortes, 2016) for student teachers. Student teaching has a significant impact on the development of teachers, and this effect gets strengthened during the early years of a teacher’s career (Tabachnick & Zeichner, 1984). Field experiences, which are considered to be a foundation in pre-service teacher education programmes, have numerous benefits, such as helping students decide if teaching is the right career choice, enabling pre-service teachers to practice their skills prior to student teaching, supporting the process being a teacher. Richards (2002) states that the teaching practicum enriches student teachers’ general understanding of teaching and, more importantly, provides an opportunity for continue academic and professional growth. Ralph (2005) developed some instructional categories which defined the source of the core objectives for the extended practicum, the basic knowledge and skill set that the interns

A critical review of teaching practicum 9

develop throughout the term, and the key criteria upon which the candidates’ teaching performance during the internship in a university in Canada is judged. Those categories are Personal and Professional Attributes, Lesson and Unit Planning: Presenting Classroom Management, Questioning and Responding, Employing a Variety of Instructional Methods and Assessment/Evaluation of Pupils.

Teacher educators One of the crucial corner stone involved in the process of practicum and influence this process deeply are teacher educators. Teacher educators take major roles in preparing future teachers in the practicum process. Koster et al. (2005) define a teacher educator “as someone who provides instruction or who gives guidance and support to student teachers, and who thus renders a substantial contribution to the development of students into competent teachers” (p. 157). Danyluk et al. (2015) refer to “university supervisors” as university faculty members who teach and who are also hired by the university to supervise student teachers in the field during field practicums. Teacher educators have various roles, including teaching, research and management activities (Murray, Czerniawski, & Barber, 2011); designing curriculum; and working with schoolbased mentors (Izadinia, 2014); they also take on some responsibilities during the practicum process. Related studies revealed that effective teaching requires highly qualified and competent teachers since effective teachers have a positive impact on pupil learning in school. “Student-teachers is directly impacted by who is teaching them as much as by the content of the programme” (Furlong et al., 2000, p. 36; cited in White, 2014). In the study conducted by Akyeampong (2015), it was concluded that teacher educators’ practice and vision of good teaching continue to influence pre-service teachers’ practice despite the incorporation of practicum. This emphasises the importance of understanding teacher educators’ roles in improving student teachers’ instruction. As Fuller (1969; cited in Korthagen & Kessels, 1999) emphasises, teacher educators’ main competencies as follows: 1) Create suitable learning experiences for student teachers in which these student teachers can develop adequate 2) Promote further awareness and reflection in student teachers on their experiences 3) Offer theoretical notions from empirical research which would enable student teachers to perceive more in the specific and in similar situations, and are able to act upon their heightened awareness 4) Train the student teachers in acting in a productive manner.

Mentors and mentoring Mentors are one of the components of practicum process which attract researchers to a great extent. As Clarke, Triggs and Nielsen (2014) suggested, the role of cooperating teacher has always been regarded as an important issue within the teacher education. Mentor and the process of mentoring have been

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a focus for many research studies and been explored from different aspects. It is important to acknowledge that different terminologies, such as “school tutor”, “cooperating teacher”, “collaborative teacher”, “associate teacher” and “support teacher” in different education systems throughout the world, even though the term “mentor” has been used widely in the field. The mentor is generally an experienced teacher who “looks after” mentees when they get involved in the practicum in a school (Kwan & Lopez-Real, 2005). Moreover, mentors’ roles have received a great attention by the practitioners and the researchers in the field since novice teachers make the difficult transition from student to teacher happen. In that context, it is observed that different responsibilities and roles attributed to mentors. Based on the literature, quite a few researchers pointed out some key roles, such as a supporter, sponsor, guide, counselor, psychological supporter, protector, encourager and confident, supervisor, teaching model, feedback, professional knowledge provider, technical assistant, helper, sharer, trouble shooter (Sudzina, Giebelhaus, & Coolican, 1997; Iancu-Haddad & Oplatka, 2009; Izadinia, 2015). Kwan and Lopez-Real (2005), in their study, defined the roles and provided some insight into these roles as follows: observer, provider of feedback, role model, counselor, critical friend, instructor, manager, assessor, quality controller and equal partner. Butler and Cuenca (2012) categorise the roles of teachers under the three themes which summarise the roles of mentor in the mentoring process discussed so far: (1) The role of instructional coach which helps pre-service teachers refine practice, deepen collegiality, increase professional dialogue and think more deeply about their work. (2) The role of emotional supporter which helps students develop confidence in themselves and overcome their fears. (3) The role of socialising agent which refers to mentor teachers’ influence in shaping student teachers’ perspectives and practices. Thus all the mentor roles presented earlier require and initiate an effective mentoring process and it leads us to question “what is mentoring”. Pitton (2006, p. 1) defines mentoring as “an intentional pairing of an inexperienced person with an experienced partner to guide and nurture his or her development”. Mentoring has also been defined as a “nurturing process in which a skilled or more experienced person teaches, sponsors, encourages, and counsels a less skilled or less experienced person for the purpose of promoting the latter’s professional and/or personal development” (Anderson & Shannon, 1988, p. 40; cited in Iancu-Haddad & Oplatka, 2009). Mentoring refers to the partnering of a veteran teacher with a beginning teacher to provide “systematic and sustained assistance” to novice teachers (Huling-Austin, 1990; cited in Iancu-Haddad & Oplatka, 2009). One aim of mentoring should be to develop “critical and reflective thinking, self-direction, autonomy, creativity and praxis” (Galbraith, 2003, p. 11). There is a growing body of knowledge concerning “good mentoring” (Rajuan, Beijaard, & Verloop, 2007). From a different perspective, mentoring has also been identified as a mechanism for supporting teaching practice, and it is influential in the development of perspective (Cheng, 2013).

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In sum, mentoring is a complex activity involving awareness of the process and function for both the mentor and the mentee (Sudzina, Giebelhaus, & Coolican, 1997). As Hudson (2014) pointed out, mentors play a key role in developing pre-service teachers for their chosen careers and mentoring preservice teachers (mentees) involves responsibility for ensuring the quality of the profession for the future. The match between mentors and novices is crucial in a sense that the relationship between the two parties ensure novice teachers to survive their initial teaching experiences, develop their teaching competencies and define their teaching lives. As the research suggested, novice teachers in successful mentoring relationships tend to develop more positive outlooks on teaching and tend to stay in teaching longer (van Ginkel et al., 2016). At that point, it should be acknowledged that a fundamental factor influencing the mentoring relationship is the identity of the mentor teacher, and the concept of “educative mentoring” becomes important in interpreting student behaviours and meanings, and helping the novice discover how to further his/her learning (Iancu-Haddad & Oplatka, 2009). Mentors play a key role in developing pre-service teachers for their chosen careers, and mentoring pre-service teachers (mentees) involves responsibility for ensuring the quality of the profession for the future. Classroom teachers play a critical role in pre-service teacher education (Clarke, 2001) and heavily influence student teachers’ teaching styles through direct contact (Yan & He, 2010). Providing feedback appears as a significant relational interaction between the mentor and mentee that assists in guiding the mentee’s practices; indeed, mentor-mentee discourse appears as one of the key actions within the mentoring process, despite variability in the quality of discourse. One teacher candidate may receive quality attention from the mentor and another very little input. The type of relationship which the mentor has with the mentee and the ways in which the mentor guides the mentee’s development is considered to be crucial in confidence-building within the school context. Mentor’s attributes and practices, and the environment or context within which they operate are key factors that underpin the quality of the relationship between a mentor and a mentee (Hudson, 2013). It is clear that the mentor plays a crucial role in pre-service teachers’ development at various stages which have an impact on the mentee’s practices, particularly as a result of discussing practices, modelling teaching and providing feedback (Hudson, 2014). Finally, under the guidance and support of their school mentors’ practicum, opportunities for pre-service teachers to internalise the theories learnt in the campus courses into their own knowledge by practising the theories in a real classroom environment are provided (Cheng, 2013).

Issues in the framework of the teaching practicum The teaching practicum has many aspects; therefore, the issues focused on by the researchers in that context vary accordingly. However, some common

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themes emerged in the studies conducted by researchers from different education systems throughout the world. In the rest of this chapter, newly emerged themes and the core issues including internationalisation, reflective practices and use of technology in the practicum process, which have been subject to this edited book, will be discussed briefly. One of the major and long-standing challenges of pre-service teacher education programmes is preparing teachers who know theory and do not know much about practice (Levine, 2006).

Relationship between triads (student teacher– mentor teacher educator) The pre-service teacher faces many emotional peaks and valleys during field experiences. Conflict and stress accompany most of the phases, and stakeholders encountered during this period, including school mentors, university supervisors and students, often trigger upheaval (McIntyre, 1983). This entails that the student’s mentor in school and the supervisor at the university have to relate to practice and theory. As none of the parties may claim exclusive ownership of one of the knowledge areas, this may ease the tension between theory and practice – namely, between the school mentor and the university supervisor. However, tensions could emerge because of power dynamics and assumptions about what kind of knowledge is the most valuable; these are debates any leader has to engage in (Lillejord & Borte, 2016). Some researchers in the field reported that the practicum has a significant impact on teacher learning and has illuminated central tendencies with regard to the socialising influence of many specific people and factors within the practicum and its contexts (e.g. pupils, peers, cooperating teachers, college supervisors, school structure, etc.) (Zeichner, 1986). Although the importance of teacher education in the practicum process has been assured by the literature, it is also claimed that there have been some possible problems experienced during the process. Le Cornu and White (2000), for instance, summarised some problems recognised in the practicum literature and pointed out that one of these problems is that “disconnection” between school and university and a “university supervisor” is often used to attempt to make some connections between the two contexts. Pressured timetables and teachers’ commitments do not lend themselves to peers working together or university lecturers engaging with teachers, and that makes linking between the two contexts quite difficult. Moreover, placed in a classroom in a school, student teachers are often isolated from university lecturers and coursework, as well as from their peers. These issues, together with the limited time available for university supervisors, continue to make practicum supervision problematic. There are some studies emphasised the problems encountered between mentor and a mentee during the process. For example, providing feedback appears as a significant relational interaction between a mentor and a mentee, and the quality of this discourse

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varies. In other words, one teacher candidate may receive quality attention from the mentor and another very little input (Hudson, 2014). Ralph, Walker and Wimmer (2007) investigated the views of 431 Canadian teacher candidates concerning the most positive and the most negative aspects of their 16-week extended practicum, and they reported three positive themes reflected in the teacher candidates’ responses: (a) the supportive relationships that they developed during the practicum (b) respondents’ perceptions of their successful teaching accomplishments and professional achievements; and (c) the teacher candidates’ feelings of self-efficacy. Ralph, Walker and Wimmer (2007) also summarised the negative elements of pre-service teachers’ practicum experiences: individual personal/professional challenges, site-based interpersonal concerns, university-related policy/procedural problems and practicum-office difficulties. The researchers concluded that policy makers must develop programme policies, procedures and practices not only to enhance the positive aspects identified in this study but also to reduce the negative ones. Carpintero (2015) interviewed 33 former pre-service teachers in Spain and identified the following most valued qualities that mentors should possess: 1) nearness: a combination of being sensitive to the problems and circumstances of the students, approachable, receptive and easygoing; 2) experience: being guided by someone with enough experience; and 3) open mind: teacher candidates like the idea of being mentored by someone with a broad view of the possibilities of their professional development. Allen (2011) also contributed to the argument by claiming that misunderstandings and/or disagreements between members of the triad (namely, the student teacher, supervising teacher and university supervisor) in the practicum are the norm rather than the exception. In another study, Hudson and Hudson (2010) conducted a research on mentor educators’ practical ideas towards implementing a mentoring programme, and findings revealed that these mentor educators influence the quality of preservice teacher education.

Internationalisation Internationalisation in teaching practicum has been one of the newly emerged themes in the context of teacher education, and therefore it has a great influence on teaching practicum. Quezada (2010, p. 2) indicates that there is also a need for internationalisation teacher preparation programmes, which requires clarifying some issues regarding the following questions: 1) How do we as faculty define internationalisation in teacher education? 2) What does it mean to be a competent 21st-century global teacher? 3) What do “voices from the field” share and reflect as to how internationalisation has had an impact on teaching, programme development, and professional development? 4) How can teacher education faculty have the opportunities to be competent international educators themselves?

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International training courses for teacher candidates, international field experiences, in-service training courses and exchange activities for candidate teachers can be organised in order to enhance the teaching and learning process in response to changing needs and priorities as a consequence of globalisation. In a sense, competences which teacher candidates should have to be qualified and effective teachers in the era of globalisation (Budak, Çakmak, & Gündüz, 2015). This indicates that it is necessary to develop and implement internationalised teacher education curricula. In order to be able to do so, however, teacher educators with the requisite dispositions, knowledge, skills and understanding are required (Pachler & Rodondo, 2015). Although it is a newly emerged concept in the area of teacher education, there have recently been some studies focused on different aspects of teacher education. Barton, Hartwig and Cain (2015), for instance, refers to internationalisation in teaching practicum includes the diversity of international student cohorts and the associated policies, practices and assessments related to international students in higher education, and how international students operate in workplace environments such as practicum in school settings. They gathered data from 14 international students who were interviewed about their work placement and their opportunities, as well as the challenges they encountered, and what they felt needed to be improved in terms of both the university’s and school’s approaches to the practicum experience. Findings revealed there are some generalisations that can be applied to the understanding of international students’ experience during practicum; however, each student had individual attributes that affected the overall experience. There is potential for this research to inform the development of carefully structured and a culturally sensitive work placement programmes for international students studying education worldwide. Parr (2012), in his research study, gave a critical account of a particular experience of an Australian teacher educator leading an international teaching practicum in South Africa, and the account showed that how multiple factors play out in the practice of a teacher educator working in transcultural spaces using “border pedagogy”.

Feedback and assessment Assessing student performance is also a critical aspect in the teaching practices. Patrick et al. (2008), for example, investigated the perceptions of Australian primary and secondary student teachers, and their supervising practicum teachers as they relate to the nature and role of assessment; the findings highlight the need for a strong partnership between stakeholders, especially in relation to assessment. According to Cheng (2013), after collecting students’ feedback, pre-service teachers need to take students’ learning difficulties and their misconceptions into the instructional design and formulate the next lesson in their teaching practicum. Agudo (2016) also investigated Spanish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers’ needs and expectations from their

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school mentors’ feedback in the practicum setting, and the findings revealed a high degree of satisfaction among the surveyed student teachers concerning the quality of school mentor feedback, meeting their needs and expectations in a very substantial manner. White (2007), in her study, asked a group of pre-service teachers in New Zealand to state what they understood by the term feedback, what they expected to gain from the feedback they received and what they found useful, particularly in relation to influencing their professional teaching practice. The findings revealed that specific, spoken feedback was the most consistently given and useful type of feedback they received. As Smith (2010) suggested, one of the most important components of teacher education is an assessment of the candidates’ performance, and the results indicate that there is considerable disagreement about assessment in the practicum between the two parties – namely, mentors and candidates. It is suggested that these disagreements can be exploited to initiate professional learning for the candidates rather than seeing them as obstacles to valid assessment. Allen (2011) also focuses on the assessment of student teachers during practicum by collecting data from student teachers and supervising teachers, and the data indicates that the lack of common understanding adversely affects students’ experiences of assessment. Assessment for learning throughout the practice teaching and mentoring programme requires a common understanding to facilitate learning which will help the student teachers to analyse their practice and will help identify and bridge gaps for improvement (Tillema, Smith, & Leshem, 2011).

Reflective practices The practicum is aimed to make the teacher candidates as reflective professionals and field experiences have great potential to practice reflective practice for pre-service teachers (Moore, 2003; Manzar-Abbas & Lu, 2013). Moreover, reflective practices may enable the student teachers more aware of learning processes in order to negotiate participation within schools and academy (I’anson, Rodrigues, & Wilson, 2003). Equipped with some theoretical understandings of teaching and learning, student teachers practice in school and reflect on their teaching to achieve the required standards of teaching competencies (Mok, 2005). In general terms, reflection has been described in many ways. Koszalka, Song and Grabowski (2002, p. 1) defined reflection as “active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or practice”. According to Insuasty and Castillo (2010), reflection should be a basic component of teacher development because pre-service and in-service teachers are expected to evaluate and improve their teaching in order to optimise the teaching-learning process. As Akcan (2010) suggests that reflection on one’s teaching should be encouraged from the beginning of the “learning to teach” process in order to enable teacher candidates

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to become more confident in their actions and decisions, and in order to help them make more informed decisions about their teaching practice. Wright (2010) reports on a case study with eight participants during a teaching practicum examining how microblogging (a Web 2 tool, working in similar ways to texting) helps student teachers develop self-reflective practices. An identified benefit by the participants was a sense of community, and they appreciated reading others’ tweets and receiving messages of support when they faced challenging situations.

Technology Recently, as Hixon and So (2009) suggest, more attention has been paid to the role technology in practicum and field experiences may play in helping teacher candidates learn how to integrate technology into their teaching effectively because one of the multiple realities of implementing quality preparation and support of teacher educators is inclusion of 21st century technology skills in teaching (Karchmer-Klein, 2007). Extensive innovations with the application of information and communication technology (ICT) play a key role in ensuring the paradigm shift in pre-service teacher education (Cheng, 2009). Preparing students to compete in the “technologically driven world” is considered to be quite important; however, effective technology use by the host teacher is rarely a consideration. This could be due to the fact that few mentor teachers have appropriate skills and capabilities to implement and model effective use of technology (Karchmer-Klein, 2007). Because of the absence of effective technology use in most practicum placements, the National Educational Technology Plan (2005), for example, developed by the US Department of Education, urges teachers to rethink traditional methods of teaching and learning to take advantage of the Internet’s capabilities, Hixon and So (2009) examined technology’s role in field experiences by analysing relevant studies in the literature of teacher education. They revealed that there are a variety of ways that technology can be implemented in conjunction with field experiences, and they concluded that providing pre-service teachers with opportunities to observe and interact with classroom environments, real or simulated, is critically important to educating high quality, well-prepared teachers in the future. The use of various forms of technology can enhance critical reflection and promote communication and interaction between peers and/or supervisors. With the availability and widespread of the Internet and the ongoing changing of the information age, e-mentoring is gaining popularity in many settings, including education. Typically, e-mentoring is defined as using ICT, the mentoring relationship or programme in which the primary form of contact between mentor and mentee is made through primarily using electronic communications, such as email, list servers, etc., interactive websites, email, electronic newsletter, virtual classrooms and discussion groups. Ligadu and Anthony (2015) investigated the preliminary outcomes of the e-mentor

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portal that was implemented during the practicum in order to design, to foster and to provide mentoring support for students in a local university in Malaysia. This portal provided the opportunity for mentors and mentees to interact online. A qualitative case study was employed to explore the experiences of 2 mentors and 23 mentees who had the opportunity to interact online. The findings indicated that the effect of using the e-mentoring was generally positive; however, there were some constraints faced during the implementation. As Wentworth et al. (2000) point out, school visits are often difficult to arrange and maintain. Even when teacher students are seen by their university instructors, conversations between the university lecturers and pre-service teachers are often short and usually focus on immediate classroom practices and events of the day. The constraints are not conducive to serious reflections on their practice of teaching. Le Cornu and White (2000) designed a study to investigate how ICT can be used most effectively in the practicum in the Australian context in order to foster communication, and they investigated pre-service teachers’ and their supervisors’ experiences with “email supervision”. This model of supervision required the pre-service teachers to email their university supervisors twice throughout the practicum and make weekly contact with a peer, known as a “critical friend”.The findings revealed that that “email supervision” can be used very effectively by student teachers and teacher educators.

Novice teachers’ experiences following the practicum For beginning teachers, some anxiety or stress is both inevitable and desirable. Commitment needs to be tested, and personality has to prove itself adaptable since teaching quality is shaped by determination, consistency and effort, as well as by empathy and ability (Wright, 1989). Teachers cannot generalise skills they have not adequately learnt; therefore, it is crucial that teacher preparation programmes promote mastery of the skills that novice teachers need to have. Beginning teachers may be highly qualified because of coursework, yet not be very effective once in their own classrooms, because they do not generalise newly acquired teaching techniques and skills to real-world settings (Scheeler, 2008).

Conclusion The teaching practicum is one of the most important component of teacher education; however, it is also believed that it is one of the most frustrating, stressful and challenging experiences of pre-service teachers’ professional preparation. “The teaching practicum is psychologically demanding period of professional preparation since pre-service teachers must juggle demands from students, mentor teachers, school administrators, and university supervisors in a compressed time frame all in what is typically a new work environment” (Agudo, 2016, p. 36).

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Cortés and Andrés (2016) emphasise that novice teachers need to be in touch with real teaching contexts in order to build up a realistic view of what this job entails. From that realistic view, teacher candidates are allowed to understand, reflect and work in order to improve their teaching practice. As Aydın et al. (2015) put forward, the quality of pre-service teacher education is important since it ensures that individuals enter the teaching profession with more classroom experience and deeper knowledge. Moreover, the practicum strongly influenced the way student teachers changed their views and understanding on the roles of teachers from the first to the fourth year of the programme (Smith & Lev-Ari, 2005). Student teachers in teacher education programme are expected to do practice teaching teachers (Ngidi & Sibaya, 2003). Practicum placements have been integral components of the teacher preparation process for many years, and they were mainly designed to help pre-service teachers’ transfer theory to practice by providing opportunities to implement university course content in real classroom contexts (Karchmer-Klein, 2007). This core category makes an analogy of the way in which a bird is hatched, raised, and prepared for being an adult.As a bird is hatched, the pre-service teachers were born in a range of attitudes toward their profession. The novice teachers were settled in a nest (the English pedagogical practicum) that was the birthplace for good and bad feelings regarding the teaching profession. (Morales-Cortes, 2016, p. 52)

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A critical review of teaching practicum 19 Barton, G. M., Hartwig, K. A., & Cain, M. (2015). International students’ experience of practicum in teacher education: An exploration through internationalisation and professional socialisation. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(8). Budak,Y., Çakmak, M., & Gündüz, M. (2015). An overview of integrating globalization and internationalization in teacher education context. In M. Kricke & L. Kürten (Eds.), Internationalisierung der lehrerInnenbildung: Perspektiven aus theorie und praxis (pp. 57–66). Muenster: Waxmann Verlag. Butler, B. M., & Cuenca, A. (2012). Conceptualizing the roles of mentor teachers during student teaching. Action in Teacher Education, 34(4), 296–308. Cantalini-Williams, M., Cooper, L., Grierson, A., Maynes, N., Rich, S.,Tessaro, M. L., Brewer, C. A., Tedesco, S.,  & Wideman-Johnston, T. (2014). Innovative Practicum Models in Teacher Education: The Benefits, Challenges and Implementation Implications of Peer Mentorship, Service Learning, and International Practicum Experiences. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Capel, S., Leask, M., & Turner, T. (Eds) (1995). Learning to Teach in the Secondary School. London: Routledge. Carpintero, S. (2015). Qualities that mentors in the university setting should have. ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences, 197, 255–258. Cheng, E. C. K. (2013). Enhancing the quality of pre-service teachers’ learning in teaching practicum. Review of Educational Research, 84(2), 163–202. Cheng,Y. C. (2009). Paradigm shift in pre-service teacher education: Implications for innovation and practice. In C. P. Lim, K. Cock, G. Lock, & C. Brook (Eds.), Innovative Practices in Pre-service Teacher Education: An Asia-Pacific Perspective (pp. 3–22). Rotterdam/Boston/ Taipei: Sense Publishers. Chireshe, R., & Chireshe, E. (2010). Student teachers’ perceptions towards teaching practice assessment. South African Journal of Higher Education, 24(4), 511–524. Clarke, A. (2001). Characteristics of co-operating teachers. Canadian Journal of Education, 26(2), 237–256. Clarke, A., & Collins, S. (2007). Complexity science and student teacher supervision. Teaching & Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 23(2), 160–172. Clarke, A.,Triggs,V., & Nielsen,W. (2014). Cooperating teacher participation in teacher education: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 84(2), 163–202. Colinson,V., Kozina, E., Lin,Y-H., Ling, L., Matheson, I., Newcombe, L., & Zogla, I. (2009). Professional development for teachers: A world of change. European Journal of Teacher Education, 32(1), 1–18. Cortés, M., & Andrés, Y. (2016) Unveiling pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward teaching: The role of pedagogical practicums. Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 18(2), 47–61. Danyluk, P. J., Luhanga, F., Gwekweree, Y. N., MacEwan, L., & Larocque, S. (2015). Failure to fail in a final pre-service teaching practicum. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(3), 1–14. Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Powerful Teacher Education: Lesson from Exemplary Programs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Teacher education and the American future. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1–2), 35–47. Falkenberg,T., & Smits, H. (Eds.). (2010). Field Experiences in the Context of Reform of Canadian Teacher Education Programs (Vol. 1). Winnipeg, Canada: Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba.

20  Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz Farrell, T. (2008). Critical incidents in ELT initial teacher training. ELT Journal, 62, 3–10. Fuller, F. (1969). Concerns of teachers: A developmental conceptualization. American Educational Research Journal, 6(2), 207–226. Furlong, J., et al. (2000). Teacher Education in Transition. Buckingham: Open University Press. Galbraith, M. W. (2003). Mentoring toward self-directedness. Adult Learning, 14(4), 9–11. Hixon, E., & So, H-J. (2009). Technology’s role in field experiences for preservice teacher training. Educational Technology & Society, 12(4), 294–304. Hudson, P. (2013). Mentoring as professional development: ‘growth for both’ mentor and mentee. Professional Development in Education, 39(5), 771–783. DOI:10.1080/19415257.2 012.749415 Hudson, P. (2014). Feedback consistencies and inconsistencies: Eight mentors’ observations on one preservice teacher’s lesson. European Journal of Teacher Education, 37(1), 63–73. Hudson, P., & Hudson, S. (2010). “Mentor educators” understandings of mentoring preservice primary teachers’. International Journal of Learning, 17(2), 157–170. Huling-Austin, L. (1990). Teacher induction programs and internships. In W. R. Houston, M. Haberman, & J. Sikula (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: A Project of the Association of Teacher Educators (pp. 535–548). New York: Macmillan. Iancu-Haddad, D., & Oplatka, I. (2009) Mentoring novice teachers: Motives, process, and outcomes from the mentor’s point of view. The New Educator, 5, 45–65. I’anson, J., Rodrigues, S., & Wilson, G. (2003). Mirrors, reflections and refractions: The contribution of microteaching to reflective practice. European Journal of Teacher Education, 26(2), 189–199. Insuasty, E. A., & Castillo, L. C. Z. (2010). Exploring reflective teaching through informed journal keeping and blog group discussion in the teaching practicum. Profile, 12(2), 87–105. Izadinia, M. (2014). Teacher educators’ identity: A review of literature. European Journal of Teacher Education, 37(4), 426–441. Izadinia, M. (2015).Talking the talk and walking the walk: Pre-service teachers’ evaluation of their mentors. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 23(4), 341–353. Johnson, J. & Perry, F. (1967). Readings in Student Teaching: For Those Who Work with Students. Dubuque, IA: WM. C. Brown Co. Inc. Karchmer-Klein, R. (2007). Reexamining the practicum placement: How to leverage technology to prepare preservice teachers for the demands of the 21st century Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 23(4), 121–128. Korthagen, F. A. J., & Kessels, J. P. A. M. (1999). Linking theory and practice: Changing the pedagogy of teacher education. Educational Researcher, 28(4), 4–17. Koster, B., Brekelmans, M., Korthagen, F., & Wubbels, T. (2005). Quality requirements for teacher educators. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21, 157–176. Koszalka,T. A., Song, H.D., & Grabowski, B. (2002). Examining Learning Environmental Design Issues for Prompting Reflective Thinking in Web-Enhanced PBL. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. New Orleans, LO, April 1–5. Kwan, T., & Lopez-Real, F. (2005). Mentors’ perceptions of their roles in mentoring student teachers. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 33(3), 275–287. Le Cornu, A., & White, D. S. (2000). Email Supervision in the Practicum: What Do Student Teachers Think? University of South Australia. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Cardiff University, September 7–10. Le Cornu, R., & Ewing, R. (2008). Reconceptualizing professional experiences in preservice teacher education: Reconstructing the past to embrace the future. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 1799–1812.

A critical review of teaching practicum 21 Leask, M. (1995). Becoming a teacher. In Susan Capel, Marilyn Leask, & Tony Turner (Eds.), Learning to Teach in the Secondary School. London: Routledge. Levine, A. (2006). Educating School Teachers. Princeton, NJ: The Education Schools Project. Ligadu, C., & Anthony, P. (2015). E-mentoring “mentor Tokou”: Support for mentors and mentees during the practicum. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 186, 410–415. Lillejord, S., & Borte, K. (2016). Partnership in teacher education – a research mapping. European Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 550–563. Manzar-Abbas, S., & Lu, L. (2013). Keeping the practicum of Chinese preservice teacher education in world’s perspective. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(4), 172–186. Mattsson, M., Eilertsen, T. V., & Rorrison, D. (2011). What is practice in teacher education? In M. Mattsson, T.V. Eilertsen, & D. Rorrison (Eds.), A Practicum Turn in Teacher Education (pp. 1–15). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. McIntyre, D. J. (1983). Field Experiences in Teacher Education: From Student to Teacher. Foundation for Excellence in Teacher Education, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 610, Washington, DC 20036. Mok, Y. F. (2005). A philosophy of teaching practicum: Construction of a personal theory teaching and learning. Teacher Development, 9(1), 43–57. Moore, R. (2003). Reexamining the field experiences of preservice teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(1), 31–42. Morales-Cortés, Y. A. (2016). Unveiling pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward teaching: The role of pedagogical practicums. Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 18(2), 47–61. Murray, J., Czerniawski, G., & Barber, P. (2011). Teacher educators’ identities and work in England at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century. Journal of Education for Teaching, 37(3), 261–277. Ngidi, D. P., & Sibaya, P. T. (2003). Student teacher anxieties related to practice teaching. South African Journal of Education, 23(1), 18–22. Ong’ondo, C. O., & Jwan, J. O. (2009). Research on student teacher learning, collaboration and supervision during the practicum: A literature review. Educational Research and Review, 4(11), 515–524. Pachler, N., & Rodondo, A. (2015). Internationalisation in (teacher) education. In M. Kricke & L. Kürten (Eds.), Internationalisierung der lehrerInnenbildung: Perspektiven aus theorie und praxis (pp. 57–66). Muenster: Waxmann Verlag. Parr, G. (2012). Leading an international teaching practicum: Negotiating tensions in a site of border pedagogy. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 40(2), 97–109. Patrick, C-J., Peach, D., & Pocknee, C. (2008). The WIL [Work Integrated Learning] Report: A National Scoping Study [Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Final Report]. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology. Pitton, D. E. (2006). Mentoring Novice Teachers: Fostering a Dialogue Process. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Quezada, R. L. (2010). Internationalization of teacher education: Creating global competent teachers and teacher educators for the 21st century. Teaching Education, 2(1), 1–5. Rajuan, M., Beijaard, D., & Verloop, N. (2007).The role of the cooperating teacher: Bridging the gap between the expectations of cooperating teachers and student teachers. Mentoring  & Tutoring, 15(3), 223–242. Ralph, E. G. (2005). Factors affecting teacher-candidates’ practicum evaluations. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 3(2), 29–46.

22  Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz Ralph, R., Walker, K., & Wimmer, R. (2007). The practicum in professional education: Preservice students’ experiences. Practicum in Professional Education: Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal, 1(2), 1–17. Richards, J. C. (2002). 30 years of TEFL/TESL: A personal reflection. RELC Journal, 33(2), 1–35. Salvatori, M. (2010). Contemporary Practices in Ontario Programs of Professional Education: Practice Teaching Resource. Ontario: Ontario College of Teachers Canada. Scheeler, M. C. (2008). Generalizing effective teaching skills: The missing link in teacher preparation. Journal of Behavioural Education, 17(2), 145–159. Smith, K. (2010). Assessing the practicum in teacher education – do we want candidates and mentors to agree? Studies in Educational Evaluation, 36, 36–41. Smith, K., & Lev-Ari, L. (2005).The place of the practicum in pre-service teacher education: The voice of the students. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 33(3), 289–302. Smith, R. (1995).What makes a good teacher? In B. Moon & A. S. Mayes (Eds.), Teaching and Learning in the Secondary Schools. Routledge. Sudzina, M., Giebelhaus, C., & Coolican, M. (1997). Mentor or tormentor: The role of the cooperating teacher in student teacher success or failure. Action in Teacher Education, 18(4), 23–35. Sulistiyo, U., Mukminin, A., Abdurrahman, K., & Haryanto, E. (2017). Learning to teach: A case study of student teachers’ practicum and policy recommendations. The Qualitative Report, 22(3), 712–731. Tabachnick, B. R., & Zeichner, K. M. (1984).The impact of the student teaching experience on the development of teacher perspectives. Journal of Teacher Education, 29, 28–36. Tillema, H. H., Smith, K., & Leshem, S. (2011). Dual roles – conflicting purposes: A comparative study on perceptions on assessment in mentoring relations during practicum. European Journal of Teacher Education, 34(2), 139–159. Trent, J. (2010). ‘My Two Masters’: Conflict, contestation, and identity construction within a teaching practicum. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(7). van Ginkel, G., Oolbekkink, H., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2016). Adapting mentoring to individual differences in novice teacher learning: The mentor’s viewpoint. Teachers and Teaching, 22(2), 198–218. Wentworth, N., Monroe, E., Orme, M., & Lynes, B. J. (2000). Enriching preservice field experience through email mentoring. In D. Willis, J. Price, & J. Willis (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2000 – Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 1411–1416). Chesapeake,VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved June 12, 2018 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/15843 White, E. (2014). Being a teacher and a teacher educator – developing a new identity? Professional Development in Education, 40(3), 436–449. White, S. (2007). Investigating effective feedback practices for pre-service teacher education students on practicum. Teaching Education, 18(4), 299–311. Wright, E. (1989). Good Morning Class: I Love You. Rolling Hills, CA: Jalmar Press. Wright, N. (2010). Twittering in teacher education: Reflecting on practicum experiences. Open Learning:The journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 25(3), 259–265. Yan, C., & He, C. (2010). Transforming the existing model of teaching practicum: A study of Chinese EFL student teachers’ perceptions. Journal of Education for Teaching, 36(1), 57–73. Zeichner, K. (1986). The practicum as an occasion for learning to teach. The South Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 14(2), 11–17.

A critical review of teaching practicum 23 Zeichner, K. (1992). Rethinking the practicum in the professional development school partnership. Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4), 296–307. Zeichner, K. (2006). Reflections of a university-based teacher educator on the future of college and university-based teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3), 326–340. Zeichner, K. (2010). Rethinking the connections between campus courses and field experiences in college- and university-based teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1–2), 89–99.

Chapter 2

Developing professional practice through the turbulent spaces of the practicum Pre-service teachers’ views Hugh Busher Introduction School practicums (school placements for pre-service teachers) and their contribution to the learning of pre-service teachers is an area of interest to researchers, teacher-educators, mentors and teachers. Some studies have focused on the support provided to pre-service teachers by mentors. These are usually experienced teachers in the practicum schools who help pre-service teachers to adapt to the socio-cultural contexts of a school (Smith, 2007) as well as to teaching the concepts of their subject disciplines (Goh & Matthews, 2011). Other studies have focused on pre-service teachers and their concerns relating to their school placements (Lawson et al., 2015) but pre-service teachers and their mentors consistently regard highly the value of practicums to teacher education (Schulz & Mandzuk, 2005). Other studies have focused on the work of teachereducators who help pre-service teachers to develop their theoretical understandings of education and recognise how this knowledge can be applied to practice in schools and classrooms (Trumbull & Fluet, 2008). These people are usually based in universities, but, in England, occasionally visit schools to support school-based mentors. Along with mentors, they help pre-service teachers to reflect on their practice (Harrison, Lawson, & Wortley, 2005) – a central aspect of learning to become successful teachers (Harford & MacRuairc, 2008). This chapter focuses on pre-service teachers’ experiences of the practicum. It is based on the findings of a study (hereafter referred to as ‘The Study’) carried out in Turkey and England in 2011–12, which focused on the views of primary and secondary school pre-service teachers in three university teacher education departments (Busher et al., 2015; Lawson et al., 2015).The following discussion applies equally to pre-service teachers in primary or secondary schools since it is about how novice teachers engage with school surroundings to develop their practices before they are licenced as qualified teachers. ‘The Study’ investigated the views of 480 pre-service teachers and their university teacher-educators and school-based mentors about pre-service teachers’ experiences during their practicums, using questionnaires with open-and-closed items for the pre-service teachers and semi-structured interviews for their

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mentors and teacher-educators. The open items of the questionnaire were analysed inductively, the closed items with simple descriptive statistics. Studies of practicums have tended to be small scale and use qualitative methods, including vignettes, concept maps and student logs to triangulate and strengthen the trustworthiness and transferability of their findings (Lawson et al., 2015). The practical transformation of pre-service teachers into people holding qualified teacher status (Shields, 2003) is enabled by pre-service teachers’ performances in the liminal social spaces of their practicums. Liminal spaces are places where people are between different social statuses. In these spaces, people often lack power to influence what goes on until they learn to understand the social processes, rules and flows of power that make these places work (Bhabha, 1994). When pre-service teachers enter the spaces of the practicum, they are uncertain about their knowledge of schools, students, teaching, other staff and parents, and how they should relate to and negotiate with these people (Pierce, 2007). As with new entrants into any field of work, pre-service teachers’ initial unsophisticated cultural knowledge of their placement schools compared with that of other members of them often leaves the pre-service teachers feeling unsure about how to assert their agency with staff and students, and act like teachers (Paechter, 2007; Youdell, 2012). During the course of the practicum, usually with the help of mentors and teacher-educators, most pre-service teachers acquire enough knowledge about the practicalities of teaching and the cultures of schools and classrooms to reduce their uncertainties sufficiently to allow them to have some sense of empowerment or control over these entities. Practicums, as zones or spaces of transition and transformation, (O’Donnell & Tobbell, 2007) are intended to help pre-service teachers develop professional knowledge by understanding and enacting the complex processes of teacher practice. This allows pre-service teachers to change their identities from those of students with only theoretical knowledge about education and teaching to those of qualified teachers who also have practical knowledge about helping students to learn in a differentiated manner (Schon, 1987; Glazier, 2009). Initially, pre-service teachers play a peripheral role with teachers and students in different classes in their placement schools, but through time and interacting with people of different status in a school, most pre-service teachers learn how to play the part of a teacher and become accepted members of teacher and classroom communities of practice (Busher et al., 2014). Practicums can take many forms depending on how their constructors view the relationship between theoretical and practical knowledge. In a dichotomous model of teacher education where theoretical and practical knowledge about teaching and learning are thought to be separate if related entities, the field (school) practice of pre-service teachers complements and comes after the university-based learning about the theoretical aspects of teaching. This model assumes that only once the relevant theoretical knowledge has been acquired should pre-service teachers be allowed to face the challenges of real classroom environments. In the field setting of these environments, pre-service teachers

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are encouraged to begin to develop their practice, usually under the watchful eye of school-based mentors with occasional support from university-based teacher-educators (Wilkins & Lall, 2010). On the other hand, in social constructivist notions of pedagogy (Vygotsky, 1978), which emphasise the social nature of teaching and learning, pre-service teachers are encouraged to be active participants alongside their mentors and teacher-educators in the co-construction of knowledge about how to teach successfully. An example of this approach are the internship models of the practicum (Hagger et al., 2008) which encourage pre-service teachers to construct knowledge through reflecting on teaching experiences (Schön, 1987) rather than using previously acquired theoretical knowledge as a template for developing the practice of teaching. This model is said to help pre-service teachers take ownership of their learning more effectively and develop more easily their identities as effective teachers capable of critical reflective practice.

Turbulent spaces of the practicum: coping with uncertainty The liminal spaces of the practicum are fraught with asymmetrical balances of power and uncertainty which lead pre-service teachers to feel they lack power to assert themselves and act in the ways they prefer. In part, this occurs because schools are sites in which national policies and local perspectives intersect as people struggle to implement education policies and practices (Riley & Docking, 2002) that reflect particular but contested values (Starratt, 2007). The importance of schools and schooling in shaping social constructions, such as society’s views on identity, pluralism and social cohesion, has been increasingly acknowledged by national governments within Europe and by the European Union. In the two countries in ‘The Study’, educational systems are strongly centralised under government control, prescribing how teachers should act in schools and what curriculum should be followed by school students of different ages and by pre-service teachers. Although both systems emphasise the importance of including all students in education, they use performative approaches to evaluate schools’, teachers’ and students’ achievements, in large measure to keep control of education (Jeffrey & Troman, 2012). Most pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ became clearly aware of the demands of their practicum school’s social and political contexts on them and their schools, as well as becoming broadly aware of school protocols and general routines. Developing an understanding of these pressures and expectations helps pre-service teachers to recognize better what schools are as sites of education and how to meet the challenges they face in teaching in their practicum schools. Although it is necessary to learn technical skills to become a successful teacher (Conway & Clark, 2003), some pre-service teachers believe they benefit most from more rounded discussions of what teaching and learning in particular policy and social contexts entails (Rajuan, 2008). Some pre-service

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teachers in ‘The Study’ acknowledged the importance of developing these understandings so that other people would begin to perceive them as someone who was becoming a ‘real’ teacher (Kelchtermans & Hamilton, 2004) rather than a trainee. Developing these understandings also helped them to hone their classroom management techniques and lesson planning skills to meet the disparate needs of the students in their practicum schools. As a result of national and local expectations of schools, and different teachers’ and pre-service teachers’ interpretations of what is meant by education and appropriate relationships with students in constructing learning, let alone students’ views of learning and teaching, schools become sites and conduits for struggles about how to construct social processes and relationships (Foucault, 1976), as well as about how to carry out technical curriculum processes. Preservice teachers find these tensions very challenging but can use the practicum to learn to manage these and (re)construct their practices and identities (Giddens, 1991; Paechter, 2007) so that they transform themselves from being novices to becoming competent, if inexperienced, teachers. The pursuit and enactment of self-identity is central to the development of agency (Giddens, 1991) through which people assert themselves, their values and the preferences when interacting with others and with constructed social systems/structures to produce themselves (Paechter, 2007;Youdell, 2012).

Learning to practice Pre-service teachers often only dimly perceive the social and technical complexities of teaching when they begin their practicums, contributing to their sense of uncertainty and powerlessness, and not knowing what they need to know. However, by the end of the practicum, most pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ thought that the practicum had helped them to improve their practice by identifying their weaknesses as beginning teachers and helping them to alter their practices in those aspects that needed to change. Pre-service teachers need to acquire a range of technical and social skills, such as classroom management and effective instruction (Field & Latta, 2001), if they are to gain a greater sense of control or agency in the turbulent contexts of their practicum schools and begin to ‘look like’ or acquire the status of effective teachers. Consequently, practicums often focus on technical skills rather than on encouraging pre-service teachers to reflect deeply on their professional values and identities. Developing a balance between learning the technical skills of teaching and encouraging a deeper level of critical reflection on performance is seen as difficult to achieve (Koerner, Rust, with Baumgartner, 2002), although some teacher-educators argue that more educative dialogues should be developed between mentors and pre-service teachers (Smith & Avetisian, 2011). To gain the technical skills of teaching, pre-service teachers undertake a variety of activities such as observing established teachers at work, preparing instructional materials for activities with school students whom they then

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teach with or without the help of a mentor and planning and preparing lessons to teach to classes of school students, often observed by their mentors. To hone their skills and reduce their senses of uncertainty, and lack of control in the liminal spaces of their practicums, pre-service teachers are encouraged by their mentors and teacher-educators to consult with school and university colleagues, experiment with the ideas and theories studied in university (Sim, 2006) and reflect on their experiences of practice in their practicum schools (Myles, Cheng, & Wang, 2006). These approaches challenge pre-service teachers to (re)interpret their theoretical and practical knowledge of schools and classrooms in the light of their relationships with and the needs of the school students, teachers and school organisations with whom they are working during their practicums. This challenge can be all the greater because pre-service teachers’ theoretical ad practical knowledge not only comes from their training courses but also from their prior experiences as learners and their personal histories (Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, & Bransford, 2005). Pre-service teachers appear to be divided in their opinions about how their practicums should be organised. Some prefer to observe experienced teachers first, while others prefer to be immersed in their own hands-on experiences (Pinder, 2008).While the former strategy allows pre-service teachers to develop their knowledge by considering the practices of more experienced teachers in the light of their own theoretical knowledge of teaching, extensive observation of lessons at the start of the practicum can cause problems. According to some pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ extensive observation jeopardised their relationships with school students, because, they claimed, students perceived them merely as trainees, undermining their preferred status as novice, inexperienced teachers. Further, extensive observation reduces the amount of hands-on classroom teaching experience that pre-service teachers are able to gain, making it more difficult for them to get to know and communicate properly with their practicum schools’ students. Pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ appreciated being in real classrooms with real students because it helped them learn about the dynamics of classroom relationships and how to construct reasonable classroom management strategies that worked for them. These were built on developing appropriate relationships with their students by learning how to communicate appropriately with them and how to respond effectively to misbehaving students. They were also built on focusing on students’ curriculum and learning needs, and helping preservice teachers to prepare appropriate lesson plans and choose appropriate teaching strategies and resources to meet these needs. As well as learning to differentiate work for students with different learning needs in a class, it allowed pre-service teachers to develop a range of teaching and assessment strategies they might use in classrooms and schools. Gaining this practical knowledge enhanced pre-service teachers’ senses of control, which, in turn, helped them to develop identities as effective teachers and gained them status in the eyes of students and teachers as being competent at their job.

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Critical incidents in the practicum can also facilitate pre-service teachers’ learning, provoking crises that shift their cognitive and emotional understandings of the teacher’s role (Whitcomb, Borko, & Liston, 2008). However, this notion of learning through immersion in conflict can be taken too far and may mitigate against giving pre-service teachers the support that they need to develop. One pre-service teacher in ‘The Study’ complained that having a class that she perceived as entirely unresponsive to her efforts did not help to develop her behaviour management skills.

Navigating the shoals of the practicum As in any liminal spaces of uncertainty, worry and limited power to assert agency, and gaining support from other people is an important means of building confidence and shifting identity and status towards a sense of being and being perceived as competent. In schools, pre-service teachers are formally given support by mentors to help them to overcome the emotional stress and political ignorance of school processes (Pierce, 2007). They help to reduce pre-service teachers’ senses of uncertainty and lack of control, and promote a professional or pedagogic identity (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004). Some pre-service teachers have asserted that the work of mentors is crucial (Wilkins & Lall, 2010) in helping them to develop practical knowledge of teaching, schools and classrooms that draws on the educational theory they have learnt at university (Tin, 2006). For mentors to work successfully with pre-service teachers, they need to develop effective cooperation with them (Bradbury & Koballa, 2008) because good relationships assist the mentee’s learning (Hudson & Millwater, 2008), as pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ attested. To achieve these relationships, mentors undertake a range of functions from role model to advisor (Haigh & Ward, 2004) or ‘friend’ (Li, 2009), using a variety of styles from the directive to the collaborative (McNay & Graham, 2007). Although some researchers emphasise the importance of collaboration between pre-service teachers and mentors (Akcan & Tatar, 2010), others emphasise the use of questioning preservice teachers at a deep level by mentors (Jyrhama, 2001), while still others emphasise the importance of the professional knowledge that mentors can convey to pre-service teachers (Parker-Katz & Bay, 2008). Providing feedback is a crucial aspect of the relationship between mentors and pre-service teachers (Lawson et al., 2015), as this contributes to the development of pre-service teachers’ teaching skills and other wider dispositions for becoming a teacher, such as the ability to analyse one’s own performance critically (Tang & Chow, 2007). However, how feedback is provided depends on cultural practices and curriculum frameworks (Wang, 2001), and the different power relationships people argue mentoring can or should construct (Anderson, 2007).While some pre-service teachers welcome feedback as essential for developing their skills and identities as teachers, others find it difficult

30  Hugh Busher

to resolve the tension between the developmental and assessment purposes of observation and feedback (Brandt, 2008). Pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ welcomed feedback from mentors, university teacher-educators and classmates who helped them to evaluate and improve themselves, as well as take control of the uncertainties of their liminal practicum spaces. Successful relationships between mentors and pre-service teachers often lead to a positive assessment of pre-service teachers’ work at the end of the practicum (Hudson, 2007). Many pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ shared this view as well as welcoming the opportunity to work with other experienced teachers and discuss with them ideas about how to be a successful teacher. They also welcomed the time their schools gave them away from classrooms for lesson planning. However, a few reported being belittled by experienced teachers or receiving little help from their school either in terms of feedback or in terms of emotional support. The quality of support pre-service teachers receive often depends on how classroom teachers, mentors and practicum schools perceive the role of preservice teachers. In some cases, pre-service teachers have criticised schools for not having confidence in their capabilities (Taskin, 2006) or being unwilling to encourage them to be independent (Glenn, 2006). In these schools, pre-service teachers have been treated merely as subordinates (Laker, Laker, & Lea, 2008) or as teaching assistants who are required to copy their supervisory teachers (Moody, 2009). In ‘The Study’, some pre-service teachers complained that their subject departments had made it difficult for them to practice their own ideas for teaching because they had to copy existing departmental practices. Constraining contexts such as these diminish pre-service teachers’ senses of control and deprive them of opportunities to assert their own agency and to develop practices and identities as competent teachers that reflect their own values. Alongside the formal support given to pre-service teachers in their practicum schools and by teacher-educators, pre-service teachers also gain help from their peers, fellow pre-service teachers. These may teach in the same practicum school or be members of the same teacher education courses at university. Peer support is viewed positively by pre-service teachers (Britton & Anderson, 2010) and arguably helps to build emergent communities of practice amongst them (Busher et al., 2014). Sometimes referred to as peer coaching, it appears to have much value for pre-service teacher education (Lu, 2010) and can take formal and informal forms. The former might be regular meetings with other pre-service teachers in a practicum school or in a university. The latter might occur face-to-face in various physical environments or online. These peer meetings help pre-service teachers to evaluate their experiences in classrooms and schools, and develop solutions to problems with other inexperienced teachers who face similar situations, rather than just relying on the views and resources offered by mentors and other experienced teachers. It helps novice teachers to become self-reliant in finding ways to respond to their own self-critical questioning of their practices. In ‘The Study’, during

Developing professional practice 31

university-based sessions led by teacher-educators, some pre-service teachers said they shared ideas about lesson planning in national and school contexts, about different methods and strategies for teaching and helping students to learn, about the usefulness of a wide range of resources for teaching and about classroom management. As well as building better practical knowledge about the complexities of teaching, this process helped pre-service teachers to assert agency more successfully in their practicum schools and to develop their identities and status as competent and self-critical practitioners of teaching. In the processes of transition and transformation (O’Donnell & Tobbell, 2007) that mark the passage of pre-service teachers through the liminal spaces of the practicum, pre-service teachers change their status from that of novice to that of capable teacher. This shift in status and identity is important for preservice teachers’ senses of competence as teachers and their ability to perform being a teacher in schools other than in the one in which they undergo their practicum. Pre-service teachers’ developing senses of being competent arise from them gaining a belief that they can assert control in teaching situations through the exercise of their expertise as teachers and the relationships they build with students and other teachers (Ng, Nicholas, & Williams, 2010). Pre-service teachers in ‘The Study’ thought that the practicum gave them a chance to connect theory to practice in the classroom and develop effective teaching techniques through working collaboratively with other teachers. It also gave them a chance to observe student behaviour carefully and to learn more about students in a school environment, and how to work successfully with students with different learning needs. However, various incidents and episodes during the course of their practicums also helped them to gain greater understanding of themselves as teachers. In particular, this helped them to manage themselves in stressful teaching situations by coping better with their anxieties. Seeing the real working conditions of a school and understanding more clearly how a school system works helps pre-service teachers to gain confidence in their practices in the classroom and develop their practical thinking and decision-making skills. The changing senses of self-identity and status that arose from this development of their practical skills as teachers, as well as from their developing understandings of themselves as teachers, in ‘The Study’ was usually supported by the observations of other teachers in their practicum schools giving feedback on their practices.

Conclusion This chapter has discussed the practicum as a liminal space through which preservice teachers change their status from that of novice to that of competent, if inexperienced, teachers. Understanding the practicum as a liminal space allows it to be analysed as a turbulent and complex space in which pre-service teachers initially experience great uncertainty and lack a sense of control, which they often find unnerving. In coming to terms with the technical and social

32  Hugh Busher

complexities of teaching, pre-service teachers learn to develop a range of social and technical skills which allow them to assert themselves and begin to take control of classroom processes and other spaces in which they work with students with a variety of social and learning needs. However, this change in competence and the transformation in identity which goes with it is not achieved by pre-service teachers on their own but through their collaboration with others, including school students, their mentors and other experienced teachers and fellow pre-service teachers. In this enterprise, their peers seem to be a very valuable adjunct to the more formal mentoring provided by the school in which they undertake their practicums. In the asymmetrical power spaces of the practicum, pre-service teachers need to learn how to gain control not only by using a range of teaching techniques but also by acting in acceptable values-based ways and by negotiating with a range of people. To achieve the last, pre-service teachers need to understand how the social structures and protocols of a school articulate and influence their work and working environment. Grasping this practical and theoretical knowledge allows pre-service teachers to assert themselves effectively and, by the end of the practicum, to have become and begun to be perceived as having the status of competent, if inexperienced, teachers.

Resume This chapter discusses the practicum as a liminal space through which preservice teachers change their status from that of novice to that of competent if inexperienced practitioners.This change in competence and the transformation in identity which goes with it is not achieved by pre-service teachers on their own but through their engagement in classroom practice and the construction of collaborative relationships with their mentors and other experienced teachers who help to guide pre-service teachers in their development. The chapter is loosely based on the findings of a study in Turkey and England about novice teachers’ experiences of the practicum (Busher et al., 2015; Lawson et al., 2015).

References Akcan, S., & Tatar, S. (2010). An investigation of the nature of feedback given to student English teachers during their practice teaching experience. Teacher Development, 14(2), 153–172. Anderson, D. (2007). The role of cooperating teacher’s power in student teaching. Education, 128(2), 307–323. Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107–128. Bhabha, H. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. Bradbury, L., & Koballa,T. R. (2008). Borders to cross: Identifying sources of tension in mentor – İntern relationships. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(8), 2132–2145. Brandt, C. (2008). Integrating feedback and reflection in teacher preparation. ELT Journal, 62(1), 37–46.

Developing professional practice 33 Britton, L. R., & Anderson, K. A. (2010). Peer coaching and pre-service teachers: Examining an underutilised concept. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(2), 306–314. Busher, H., Gündüz, M., Çakmak, M., & Lawson,T. (2015). Student teachers’ views of practicums (Teacher training Placements) in Turkish and English contexts: A comparative study. Compare, 45, 445–466. Busher, H., James, N., Piela, A., & Palmer, A-M. (2014). Transforming marginalised adult learners’ views of themselves: Access to higher education courses in England. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 35(5), 800–817. Conway, P. F., & Clark, C. M. (2003). The journey inward and outward: A re-examination of Fuller’s concerns-based model of teacher development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(5), 465–482. Field, J. C., & Latta, M. M. (2001). What constitutes becoming experienced in teaching and learning? Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(8), 885–895. Foucault, M. (1976[1980]). Truth and power. In C. Gordon (Ed.), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings by Michel Foucault, 1972–1977 (pp. 109–133). 1980. New York: Pantheon Books. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity Press. Glazier, J. A. (2009).The challenge of repositioning:Teacher learning in the company of others. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(6), 826–834. Glenn, W. (2006). Model versus mentor: Defining the qualities of the effective cooperating teacher. Teacher Education Quarterly, 33(1), 85–95. Goh, P. S., & Matthews, B. (2011). Listening to the concerns of student teachers in Malaysia during teaching practice. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(3), 92–103. Hagger, H., Burn, K., Mutton, T., & Brindley, S. (2008). Practice makes perfect? Learning to learn as a teacher. Oxford Review of Education, 34(2), 159–178. Haigh, M., & Ward, G. (2004). Problematising practicum relationships: Questioning the “taken for granted”. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 48(2), 134–148. Hammerness, K., Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (2005). How teachers learn and develop. In L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing Teachers for a Changing World (pp. 358–389). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Harford, J., & MacRuairc, G. (2008). Engaging student teachers in meaningful reflective practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(7), 1884–1892. Harrison, J. K., Lawson, T., and Wortley, A. (2005). Mentoring the beginning teacher: Developing professional autonomy through critical reflection on practice. Journal of Reflective Practice, 6(3), 419–441. Hudson, P. (2007). Examining mentors’ practices for enhancing student teachers’ pedagogical development in mathematics and science. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 15(2), 201–217. Hudson, P., & Millwater, J. (2008). Mentors’ views about developing effective English teaching practices. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(7), 29–42. Jeffrey, B., & Troman, G. (2012). Introduction. In B. Jeffrey & G. Troman (Eds.), Performativity across UK Education: Ethnographic Cases of Its Effects, Agency and Reconstructions. Painswick: E&E Publishing. Jyrhama, R. (2001). What Are the “right” Questions and What Are the “right” Answers in Teaching Practice Supervision? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching, Faro, Portugal, September 21–25. Kelchtermans, G., & Hamilton, M. L. (2004). The dialectics of passion and theory: Exploring the relationship between self-study and emotion. In J. J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton,

34  Hugh Busher V. Kubler LaBuskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International Handbook of Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices (pp. 785–819). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. Koerner, M., Rust, F., with Baumgartner, F. (2002). Exploring roles in student teaching placements. Teacher Education Quarterly, 29(2), 35–58. Laker, A., Laker, J., & Lea, S. (2008). Sources of support for student teachers during school experience. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 16(2), 135–140. Lawson, A., Çakmak M., Gündüz, M., & Busher, H. (2015). Research on the teaching practicum – a systematic review. European Journal of Teacher Education, 38(3), 392–407. Li, Y. (2009). The perspectives and experiences of Hong Kong preschool teacher mentors: Implications for mentoring. Teacher Development, 13(2), 147–158. Lu, H-L. (2010). Research on peer coaching in preservice teacher education – A review of literature. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(4), 748–753. McNay, M., & Graham, R. (2007). Promising practice: Can cooperating teachers help student teachers develop a vision of education? The Teacher Educator, 42(3): 224–236. Moody, J. (2009). Key elements in a positive practicum: Insights from Australian post-primary student teachers. Irish Educational Studies, 28(2), 155–175. Myles, J., Cheng, L., & Wang, H. (2006). Teaching in elementary school: Perceptions of foreign-trained teacher candidates on their teaching practicum. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(2), 233–245. Ng, W., Nicholas, H.,& Williams, A. (2010). School experience influences on pre-service teachers’ evolving beliefs about effective teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(2), 278–289. O’Donnell, V. L., & Tobbell, J. (2007). The transition of adult students to higher education: Legitimate peripheral participation in a community of practice? Adult Education Quarterly, 57(4), 312–328. Paechter, C. (2007). Being Boys, Being Girls: Learning Masculinities and Femininities. Abingdon: McGraw Hill. Parker-Katz, M., & Bay, M. (2008). Conceptualizing mentor knowledge: Learning from the insiders. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(5), 1259–1269. Pierce, K. A. (2007). Betwixt and between: Liminality in beginning teaching. The New Educator, 3(1), 31–49. Pinder, H. (2008). Navigating the Practicum: Student Teacher Perspectives on Their Learning. Paper presented to the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, HeriotWatt University, Edinburgh, September 3–6. Rajuan, M. (2008). Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Learning to Teach as a Basis for Supervision of the Mentoring Relationship. Doctoral thesis, University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Riley, K., & Docking, J. (2002). Perceptions of Schooling among Disadvantaged Pupils. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Annual Conference, Exeter, September. Schon, D. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Towards a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Schulz, R., & Mandzuk, D. (2005). Learning to teach, learning to inquire: A 3-year study of teacher candidates’ experiences. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(3), 315–331. Shields, R. (2003). The Virtual. London: Routledge. Sim, C. (2006). Preparing for professional experiences-incorporating student teachers as “communities of practice”. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(1), 77–83. Smith, E. R., & Avetisian, V. (2011). Learning to teach with two mentors: Revisiting the “Two-worlds Pitfall” in student teaching. The Teacher Educator, 46(4), 335–354.

Developing professional practice 35 Smith, R. (2007). Developing professional identities and knowledge: Becoming primary teachers. Teachers and Teaching:Theory and Practice, 13(4), 378–397. Starratt, R. (2007). Leading a community of learners. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 35(2), 165–183. Tang, S.Y. F., & Chow, A. W. K. (2007). Communicating feedback in teaching practice supervision in a learning-oriented field experience assessment framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(7), 1066–1085. Taskin, C. S. (2006). Student teachers in the classroom:Their perceptions of teaching practice. Educational Studies, 32(4), 387–398. Tin, T. B. (2006). Looking at teaching through multiple lenses. ELT Journal, 60(3), 253–261. Trumbull, D. J., & Fluet, K. (2008).What can be learned from writing about early field experiences? Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(6), 1672–1685. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wang, J. (2001). Contexts of mentoring and opportunities for learning to teach: A comparative study of mentoring practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(1), 51–73. Whitcomb, J. A., Borko, H., & Liston, D. (2008).Why teach? Journal of Teacher Education, 59(1), 3–9. Wilkins, C., & Lall, R. (2010). “Getting by” or getting on? Black student teachers’ experiences of initial teacher education. Race Equality Teaching, 28(2), 19–26. Youdell, D. (2012). Fabricating “Pacific Islander”: Pedagogies of expropriation, return and resistance and other lessons from a “Multicultural Day”. Race Ethnicity and Education, 15, 141–155.

Chapter 3

The role of teaching practice in Finnish teacher education, with particular reference to university teacher training school in Joensuu Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring How we got to where we are Teaching practice has been an integral part of Finnish teacher education since the beginning of the 19th century, although it has taken different forms in primary school teacher training and secondary school teacher training. The first primary level teacher training college was established in Jyväskylä in 1863 by Uno Cygnaeus,1 whose thinking about teacher education showed considerable influences from Germany and Switzerland (Nurmi, 1964, 1995; Kuikka, 2010). Both men and women studied at the college, in parallel classes, and their training lasted four years (Kuikka, 1978, 2010). They did several practice periods in the college’s own “model school,” which taught grades 1–4 (i.e., pupils aged 8–12). The school’s primary purpose was to give the students practical teaching experience, but Cygnaeus also intended the practice school to be a model for other primary schools (Kuikka, 1981, p. 3). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 11 other teacher training colleges, each with its own model school, were established in various parts of Finland, including Sortavala in 1880, which is in that part of North Karelia ceded to the Soviet Union in 1944. After World War II, the Sortavala Training College was renamed the Eastern Finland Teacher Training College and dispersed to several locations in Finland. In 1956, it relocated to Joensuu as a teacher training college for men, and in 1969, it was incorporated into the new University of Joensuu (now the University of Eastern Finland (UEF)) (Act 462/1969) (Nurmi, 1995; Kemppinen, 1969, pp. 269–273, 304–306). The training of secondary school teachers followed a different path: first the students took a university degree in a particular academic subject, and then they trained for a teaching qualification at a “normal school,” so-called because its task was to set norms for teaching. Secondary school teachers tended to see themselves as subject specialists rather than educators (Vähä, 2016, pp. 38–40). Systematic teacher training and teaching practice began in Helsinki in 1864, when the Swedish language Normalskolan i Helsingfors was established to train graduates from the Imperial Alexander University of Finland, now the

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 37

University of Helsinki. Three years later, it established a Finnish language section (Vähä, 2016, p. 25). Helsinki got a second normal school in 1934, and normal schools were later established in Jyväskylä (1955), Turku (1957), Oulu (1960), Tampere and Joensuu (1962) (Nurmi, 1979, p. 188;Vähä, 2016, p. 45). The roots of Joensuu Normal School – i.e., University Teacher Training School in Joensuu2 – go back to Värtsilä Grammar School, which was founded in 1907. After World War II, it moved to Joensuu and was renamed Pielisensuun yhteislyseo. It then became the new normal school in 1962 (Kuusisto, 2007, pp. 11–18). At the beginning of the 1970s, Finland carried out a major overhaul of its school system when the existing arrangement of primary and middle schools was replaced by a nine-year comprehensive school system, comprising six years of primary education followed by three years of (lower) secondary.The changeover began in 1972 and was complete by 1977. It also required changes in the training of teachers because the central goal of the comprehensive school reform was to strengthen educational and social equality, regionally, socio-economically and in both official languages – Finnish and Swedish (Laki koulujärjestelmän perusteista, School system act, 467/1968, later 476/1983; Peruskouluasetus, Basic education decree, 443/1970). Work on reforming teacher education had been going on since the mid-1960s, and the result was an act of parliament in 1971, which codified a new organisation of teacher training whereby both class teacher training and subject teacher training would be carried out by the universities (Aho, Pitkänen, & Sahlberg, 2006, pp. 49–51; Teacher Training Act 844/1971; Kuikka, 2010). The new system came into effect in 1974. The teacher training colleges and independent normal schools were incorporated into the nearest university or, in some cases, closed. The Eastern Finland Teacher Training College in Joensuu and the Savonlinna Teacher Training College became part of the Department of Education at the University of Joensuu, which meant that the university had teacher training on two campuses (Kuikka, 2010; Nurmi, 1995, pp. 339–340). The subject teacher programmes were different – Savonlinna specialised in the teaching of practical subjects, such as textiles, technical crafts and home economics, while Joensuu dealt with academic subjects, such as history, languages and science – but both had classroom teacher training (Kuusisto, 2007). Another major change in teacher training came at the beginning of the 1980s, as the result of a new act on university degrees (530/1978), which required students in teacher training to take a master’s degree.This came into effect in 1981, when the first students began the new master’s programme. Teachers in comprehensive and upper secondary schools are required to have a master’s degree, and they train as classroom teachers or subject teachers. (Decree 986/1998) In other types of schools, the requirements vary: for example, teachers of practical subjects in vocational secondary schools need to have a degree from a university of applied sciences (Act on Vocational Teacher Training 488/2013), while kindergarten and pre-primary teachers take a bachelor’s

38  Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring

degree (Decree 794/2004). The act (576/1995) on teaching qualifications and teacher education sets out a framework, but it gives each university the freedom to organise its degree programme in its own way (Universities Act 558/2009; Degree programme, 2014–20173).

The present-day teacher training programmes In Finland, teaching has long been a prestigious profession, and this is reflected in the strong competition for acceptance into a teacher training programme: for example, nationally, there are about ten applicants for each place in primary school teacher training.4 Consequently, those who are accepted are highly motivated and well equipped with the necessary academic skills. Since newly graduated teachers have a master’s degree, they are expected not only to use the knowledge, skills and tools which they have attained in their training but also to reflect on them and develop their professional abilities accordingly. Finnish teachers are expected to be independent and cooperative professionals (Husu & Toom, 2016, Sahlberg, 2011, pp. 75–85). Guidelines are set out by the Finnish National Teacher Training Forum, which was established in 2016 by the Ministry of Education and Culture to promote the development of teacher and in-service education during the period 2016– 2018.5 According to these, the aim is to produce teachers who can develop their knowledge and teaching on the basis of research and evaluation. A Finnish teacher is expected to be a future-oriented and creative professional, who is able to make autonomous decisions and understands the importance of human interaction and social skills for learning in all teaching, studying and learning environments (Opettajankoulutuksen kehittämisen suutaviivoja, 2016).

The structure of teaching practice at the UEF The teacher training programmes are organised so as to integrate educational theory, practice and research. Each programme represents a spiral sequence of theoretical knowledge, practical training (i.e. teaching practice) and researchoriented studies (Sahlberg, 2011, pp. 78–85). It calls for close cooperation between the training school teachers and the teachers and professors in the Department of Education. Both parties – including student representatives – work together in planning and structuring the teacher training curriculum and in various research projects.6 Students can participate in the latter during their practice periods and/or write their master’s theses within them. The teacher training school is represented in all the work groups and administrative units involved in the programmes. Students who are going to be class teachers major in education, while those aiming at becoming subject teachers major in such subjects as history, English, physics, mathematics, etc., and do a programme of teacher training. The programme for both types of students consists of theoretical studies together with teaching practice which is integrated into the structure of their educational

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 39

studies. The curriculum is regularly revised. Table 3.1 shows the current structure of teaching practice and the associated theoretical studies.7 Class teacher and special teacher training differ from subject teacher training with respect to the timing of teaching practice. In class and special teacher training, the practice periods are spread throughout the student’s studies, whereas in subject teacher training, they generally take place over one or two years, replicating the traditional model of teaching practice. The rationale for this has been that teachers in secondary education must have a thorough grasp of their subject. Currently, students must have at least 40 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) in their major subject before they can begin their first teaching practice, and, consequently, their practice periods do not follow the same year-to-year sequence as those of class and special teacher students (Table 3.1). Subject teachers do a minimum of 60 ECTS in education studies. It has been suggested that these should be spread over at least two years rather than one, or even longer when the students have been selected for teacher training in their first year of studies. A recent survey (Husu & Toom, 2016) recommends that in order to give enough time for professional growth and development, the Table 3.1  The structure of teaching practice and related theoretical studies Class teacher education, special teacher education and subject teacher education Study year Degree

Practice period Integrated course

Location

First year autumn

Bachelor’s degree/basic studies in education

Orientation practice period, 3 ECTS (P1)

Introduction to teaching and education, 3 ECTS

University teacher training school

Third year autumn

Bachelor’s degree/ intermediate studies in education

Basic teaching practice period, 7 ECTS (P2)

The planning, realisation and assessment of the teaching and learning processes, 3 ECTS

University teacher training school

Fourth year Master’s spring degree

Advanced practice, 7 ECTS (P3)

The integration of teaching and teacher as a researcher, 3 ECTS

University teacher training school

Fifth year autumn

Applied practice, 5 ECTS (P4)

Master’s degree

Some other educational institution or school in Finland or abroad

40  Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring

teaching practice needs to be spread over at least two years. Research shows that if the training period is short, its impact tends to be short-lasting (Virta, Kaartinen, & Eloranta, 2001; Husu & Toom, 2016, pp. 23–24). Class teachers and special education teachers follow the sequencing in Table 3.1. Before they begin each teaching practice, the students have to have completed certain theoretical courses. In order to start their basic practice (2017), they need to have a minimum of 50 ECTS in multi-disciplinary basic studies and a certain number of educational studies.

Teaching practice periods and professional development The core of teacher education is the integration of theoretical knowledge and practice during the practice periods. This has a long tradition in Finland, deriving from the seminal ideas of the German philosopher and educationalist Johann Friedrich Herbart (Kuikka, 1981, p. 42). In present-day teacher training, each teaching practice period focuses on certain areas of teaching and theory. It is organised around a particular theme and is integrated with a course given by the teacher training department.8 The ground covered and the demands on the student increases with each successive teaching period, 9 and at the same time, the student’s understanding of what a teacher’s work involves and how a teacher functions as a social force is expected to grow and develop.This type of training concept resembles and reflects Bronfenbrenner’s10 ecological system theory: teaching practices can be seen as being like four expanding circles (Figure 3.1). A key element in each teaching practice period is the experiences which the students get from observing, preparing and carrying out lessons and other activities. These experiences are discussed and reflected on in individual meetings with the students’ teacher mentor, who may be a class teacher or subject teacher, in small groups in the classroom and in large groups where the students attend and participate in interactive lectures on current school matters such as curriculum, assessment, the use of information technology and classroom discipline. The aim of these discussions is to help the students to develop their concepts of learning and teaching, and in so doing gradually build up their own personal practical theories and professional identity. Students are also mentored by lecturers in the Education Department in follow-up tutorials related to the lecture courses (Ohjattu harjoittelu, 2017; Opinto-opas, 2017–2018). In orientation practice (P1, 3 ECTS), the students’ tasks reflect the goals of this practice period. The students familiarise themselves with the school environment and the teacher’s various duties – i.e., planning, teaching and other tasks. They plan and carry out some small teaching tasks, usually together with other students or with the teacher. They learn to recognise the age-related developmental features of the pupils. They begin to collect material for a portfolio, which will be kept as part of each teaching practice period.They gradually learn

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 41

ing) ach te

P

d

practice (i.e. resea chhing ba eac t se d e c h c i a n e g pr sic t act Ba ic 2. e

P3. Ad va n

ork life practice perio d P4. W

P1. Orientation teaching practice

Figure 3.1  Teaching practice as four expanding circles

to relate their own experiences and thinking to various theoretical approaches and begin to construct a personal practical theory. In basic practice (P2, 7 ECTS) the learning circle is wider. The students become more familiar with those parts of the current curriculum (National Core Curriculum for Basic Education, 2014, 2016) which concern the subjects they will be teaching during the practice period. They learn to plan and teach lessons and learning units in various learning environments, applying an appropriate theoretical approach, and to review and analyse them afterwards. They learn to recognise the various needs of the pupils and devise suitable methods for satisfying them. They learn to assess and evaluate the learning process and its results. They teach in the classroom, mostly on their own, but they also learn the principles of team teaching with their fellow students and learn how to put them into effect by helping each other during the lessons and teaching some of the lessons together. In advanced practice (P3, 7 ECTS), the requirements are more demanding. The basis of this practice period is transversal competencies and multi-disciplinary learning units. The students continue developing their teaching skills in longer time units and learn to see wider connections between their actions and teaching in the classroom – i.e., the more advanced the students are in their study programmes, the more responsibility they are given.

42  Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring

In the applied practice period (P4, 5 ECTS), the students are required to teach and carry out other teaching-related tasks in another school or educational organisation. They are responsible for finding a practice place themselves, and they can take their own particular interests into account.They might spend this period in a primary school, for example, or an international organisation or a school in another country, to mention just three possibilities. Another key element in the organisation of teaching practice is the concept of professional development as a process. Korthagen (2004) calls this as an “onion model”: it has three outer levels – environment, behaviour and competencies – and three inner levels – beliefs, identity and mission. The six levels are discussed in mentoring situations and in related tasks during each practice period. The outer levels may influence the inner levels and vice versa. Recently, Korthagen (2017) has written about the importance of the deeper levels as a driving force, often unconscious, in teacher development. After each teaching practice period, the school collects feedback from the students by means of an online questionnaire. The aim of the questionnaire is to give the student an opportunity to reflect on the practice period and provide feedback on its organisation which can be taken into account in the further planning and developing of the teaching practice. The questions aim at finding out how successful the general organisation of the period has been and to what extent the set aims of the teaching practice period have been achieved. Feedback is also asked for on portfolio work and the quality of mentoring. After the final teaching practice period, P3, there are also questions concerning the student’s professional development. The questionnaire answers are discussed in a feedback session involving all the students and three or four of the teacher mentors. Thus the students have an opportunity to say what they think about the practice periods and how they might be further developed. The results of the feedback questionnaire are discussed in several staff meetings. In the autumn of 2017, 89 (66.42 %) of the 134 students who were in basic practice (P2) answered the questionnaire, which contains 39 multiple-choice questions and three open questions, two for general comments and one on the portfolio. The multiple-choice questions use a 1–5 Likert-type scale where 1 = disagree/ not useful, 5 = strongly agree/very useful and 0 = no opinion. In analysing the responses, arithmetic means, M; standard deviations, SD; and medians, Mdn, were calculated for each question. The questions are divided into four groups (Eskola, 1967, pp. 210–220;Vahervuo, Kalimo, 1968, pp. 11–100). The questions 1–12 are about how well the student felt their basic teaching skills had developed. The means varied from 2.66 to 4.11, the SDs were between 0.83 and 1.12 and the Ms were between 2.0 and 4.0. One of the questions had M 2.0, but eight questions had M 4.0. So it looks like the students feel they have benefited a lot from this practice. Questions 13–26 concern the student’s experiences of the mentoring and the general organisation of the practice period. The means varied between

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 43

2.64–4.17. The lowest mean, 2.64, was for Q24 concerning the integration of theoretical studies into the practice period (SD 1.21, Mdn 2.0). This shows that the students can find it difficult to see the connection between theoretical studies and teaching practice. Otherwise, the students’ responses in this section were very positive. High averages, narrow deviations and high medians for Questions 13, 14 and 16, “There have been enough lessons to observe” (M 4.17), “I have had sufficient guidance” (M 3.91) and “The guidance has been of a high standard” (M 3.96) seem to indicate that the students have been satisfied with what they have learned and the mentoring they have had. Similarly, the responses to Q22, “The atmosphere has been positive” (M 4.19, SD 0.91, Mdn 4.0), and Q23, “Co-operation between the students has functioned well” (M 4.25, SD 0.9, Mdn 4), show that the students were happy with the working atmosphere during the practice period. Questions 27–28 concern the portfolio and are dealt with in the section on the portfolio that follows. Questions 29–39 have to do with the large group mentoring sessions which are organised in every practice period. Here the means varied between 2.98– 3.65, and the medians varied between 3.0–4.0. The students seem to have found these informative and useful.This is also reflected in some of the written comments. The first open question asked the student to describe “my best moment during the practice period.” The students’ responses included such experiences as having had a successful lesson, feeling that they had succeeded in motivating the pupils, receiving words of thanks from them, getting positive feedback from them, seeing the pupils happy with their art or craft work and seeing that they had grasped what the student had been teaching them. In general, the students were happiest when they had had successful interaction with their pupils. They also felt satisfied when they noticed how they had developed during the teaching practice period. The second open question invited the student to suggest how the practice periods might be further developed. In their responses, students said that it would be good if they could take part in parent-teacher evenings and other extracurricular activities, that there ought to be more flexibility in the scheduling of their classes and teaching practice, that they could be more involved in multi-professional meetings and that they should get to know more about the pupils’ learning support arrangements. A desire for better coordination in the scheduling of their faculty courses and teaching practice was mentioned in several comments.The students also said that teachers varied in what they required of the students and wished for more consistency in that respect.

Mentoring At the very start of teacher training, each student already has certain preconceptions about such matters as what it means to be a teacher, what teaching

44  Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring

involves, what makes a good teacher and what makes a bad one. Such preconceptions are known to be very strong, and they can be highly resistant to change. Consequently, the student needs to be made aware that there are internal factors which are known to contribute to the formation of their professional identity as well as external ones (Rodgers & Scott, 2008). In their mentoring, most teachers use constructive-developmental theory (Kegan, 1980, 1982). The teacher mentor needs to be able to identify and explain to the student where their strengths lie and what areas they need to pay more attention to. They have to be able to recognise what kind of mentoring each student needs: although students may be at the same stage in their studies and doing the same teaching practice period, they are each at their own developmental level in their growth towards being a teacher and thus need individualised personal guidance (Martikainen & Sivelius, 2017, pp. 50–60). That this view is shared by the students is evident from feedback11 and interviews carried out in the autumn of 2017 with students who had completed the basic practice period. The areas of personal development in which the students felt they needed support and personal guidance from the teacher varied from student to student. The students and their teacher mentor have group sessions in the classroom covering certain pre-agreed topics, which have been specified by the school’s teaching practice planning committee. These are as follows: • • • • • • • • • •

setting personal goals teaching content classes and groups observation tasks teaching period plans the learning environment teaching and working methods pupil assessment writing a report on the practice period compiling a personal portfolio

Although these areas of discussion seem very practical and relate to the outer levels of professional development (Korthagen, 2017), they are nevertheless an important part of a student’s inner development as a teaching professional in that they call for meaning-oriented reflection. This is something that seems to be recognised by the students themselves. In addition to the aforementioned, the teacher mentors12 have found certain other areas in which students seem to need guidance.13 For example, they point out that the students need a great deal of help with the subject content of the lessons, particularly in arts, crafts, physical education, music and mathematics. However, the need for such guidance decreases as the students advance in their studies.

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 45

In their interview feedback, students14 said that they needed help with activating pupils, helping them and dealing with their learning difficulties, planning lessons efficiently and creating good classroom routines, and developing their own classroom management skills. So there is some overlap in the areas mentioned by the students and those mentioned by the teachers. All the students felt that they had developed considerably since their first practice period. Areas of progress included mastery of subject content, understanding of how different pupils can be, classroom and pupil management, selfconfidence in the classroom, courage to experiment with different methods and materials, confidence and ability to adapt to classroom situations more flexibly and change lesson plans on the spot and team teaching. Several of them also mentioned improvements in the reflection skills that are so important for their professional development (Korthagen, 1999, pp. 191–207).

The portfolio Throughout their studies, students compile a working portfolio which consists of prescribed components (their expectations, lesson observation reports, peer evaluations, lesson plans, reflections on the lessons they had taught and a final report), teaching materials, reflections on their pedagogical thinking and any other materials they consider relevant. The immediate aim of this is to create a tool for reflection, for making their thinking overt, for making the unconscious conscious and for enabling them to perceive their personal development (Dorlöchter, 2016; Korthagen, 2017). It is also meant to be of use to them after they have graduated. For example, they can draw on it to produce a sample portfolio which they can then present when they apply for teaching positions and are asked in interviews about where they feel their strengths lie and where they still need to develop. This is in line with the plans of the National Teacher Training Forum (2016)15 The National Teacher Training Forum envisions that in the future, all teachers will have a plan for their professional development. This has been anticipated in UEF teacher training: at the end of their studies, the students are expected to add a personal development plan to their portfolio. Nowadays, this plan is often asked for in recruitment interviews (Opettajankoulutuksen kehittämisen suuntaviivoja, 2016). Students are given an opportunity to provide feedback on the portfolio when they give feedback on the whole practice period. Interviews16 and quantitative and qualitative feedback17 from the students tend to show that they are rather critical of portfolio work until they near the end of their studies and begin to see it in a more positive light. Criticism of the portfolio was a common feature of the online feedback from students at the end of the basic practice period in 2017, although the qualitative feedback was slightly more positive. Some students regarded the portfolio as something of a burden or had mixed feelings about it, but others felt that compiling the portfolio had indeed contributed to

46  Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring

their personal professional development.This dual experience of the portfolio is well reflected in the title of in Jeskanen’s (2012) research on the subject, “Piina vai pelastus?” (“Torment or Salvation?”). Jeskanen (2012, pp. 102–115) found that students with a positive attitude towards portfolio work felt that it helped them to get a clearer sense of the development of their professional identity. The online questionnaire contains three questions on the portfolio. Two of these use the Likert-type scale: Q27 I have had sufficient guidance on how to compile a portfolio. Q28 The portfolio has helped my development towards being a teacher. The third is an open question: Answer some or all of the following questions. What kind of problems have you met with in compiling your portfolio? What have you included beyond what is required? How has it helped you in your development towards being a teacher? The mean for Q27 about the guidance for portfolio development was 1.9 and SD 1.0 and Mdn 2.0. The scores for Q28 were also low: M 1.98, SD 1.08 and Mdn 2.0. Typical of the criticisms made by the students in their responses to the open question were comments such as, “The biggest problem is we don’t have proper, coherent instructions.” “The portfolio is a big question mark without meaning. It’s been easy to put all the tasks and reflections in it, so they stay safe there.” “I don’t understand the meaning of the portfolio, and I don’t believe it will be useful in the future.” Several students said they had put only the compulsory components in their portfolio. Positive feedback came from students who felt that compiling the portfolio had indeed contributed to their professional development: “The self-reflection [required for] the portfolio is educative.” “Doing these tasks has helped me to think about things from many different angles and noticing this has enriched my teaching.” “The portfolio is good in that you keep track of your own progress.” ”Through the tasks of the portfolio one can go back to one’s thoughts during the first practice period and think about what kind of changes have happened.” A few students had found the portfolio work unproblematic. One wrote, “I have not met any problems. Creating a portfolio is useful for the development of the professional identity.” After the general feedback session, six of the students, two male and four female, volunteered to be interviewed. They were asked five questions about the portfolio. 1 Before beginning this practice period did you review your orientation practice portfolio? 2 Have you continued to maintain your portfolio? 3 How have you done this?

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 47

4 How useful has it been? 5 What kind of challenges has it involved? Three of the interviewees said they had started to update their portfolio; the other three said they were planning to do so. All of them had completed the prescribed components of their portfolio and saved them in digital form. All but one of the students had something positive to say about the idea of keeping a portfolio. At least it gives you an idea that there is continuity from one teaching practice to the next, even if its realization is a torso, as I know it is for many others [i.e. students]. (S1) It collects in particular my experiences of the practice period and my reflections on it and I have found it useful. (S2) Well, I feel that it has just been scratching the surface so far. It has made it possible to see how my own thinking is developing in this area. (S4) It could be useful in applying for a job and in developing one’s thinking so that one sees the arc of one’s development. It has not been emphasized enough. (S5) Perhaps the biggest benefit has been that when one stops to think about the future or the past and tries to create meanings for the things that happen, more permanent traces are left in one’s memory. (S6) The student who said that the portfolio was not useful had in fact collected all the material, but she had done it in her own way and in responding to Q5 she said, “I think it is rather more fun. After every course I collect everything there [computer]. I have a system on that computer” (S3).Three of the students complained explicitly about the quality of the instructions they had been given: The instructions have been bad. (S1) At first it was hard to understand what this is, that it’s good put everything into one packet. . . . I am not really sure what is worth putting into it. (S2)

48  Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring

I think that people need instructions that are more concrete or then there should be someone whose baby it is who could tell us all what it is. (S4) One student wondered whether they were ready yet for the kind of reflection called for in the portfolio. I feel that, in this form, the portfolio’s relevance is shaky . . . the idea of a portfolio as such is really great, but are people really ready yet to reflect on these kinds of questions or is it just superficial. Professional development should start with values. (S6) On the whole, the interviewees’ responses reflected those made by other students in the questionnaire.The common criticism that they had had inadequate guidance is clearly something that must be addressed by the teachers, both in the general guidance they give in the portfolio lecture and in their individual mentoring. There needs to be greater emphasis on the importance of portfolio work if it is to fulfil its role in the student’s personal development plan during their studies and after graduation (see also Kricke, 2016, pp. 164–177).

Where do we go from here? Finnish teacher training will continue to be based on the integration of theory and practice. The strength of such an approach is that the practical experience gained from the integration of the practice periods with their other education studies gives the students, and particularly class teacher students, a chance to see what their work as teachers will be like.They experience their theoretical studies as more meaningful and relevant, and this increases their motivation. It also facilitates the development of a clear professional identity from an early stage. Of course, the students’ professional development does not stop when they graduate but continues throughout their professional life. The Teacher Training Forum has recommended that more attention needs to be paid to in-service training (Husu & Toom, 2016). For example, support for newly graduated teachers is not systematically organised in the municipalities (Sahlberg, 2011, p. 86; Jokinen & Välijärvi, 2006; Jokinen,Taajamo, & Välijärvi, 2014), and spending on the induction phase and in-service training varies considerably from municipality to municipality, putting teachers in an unequal position. However, in recent years, the Ministry of Education and Culture has taken steps to address this problem: it has allocated money and resources for the induction phase and in-service training in various forms (Husu & Toom, 2016). It has also envisioned the teacher training schools playing a major role in this area.The University Teacher Training School in Joensuu has lengthy experience in in-service training and is thus well placed to meet the challenges to come.

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 49

Notes 1 The recommendations of the committee for planning teacher seminars, Cygnaeus, 1861, Nurmi, 1964; Kuikka, 1981, pp. 3–5. 2 www.uef.fi/en/web/jnor/in-english 3 Degree programme in the University of Eastern, Finland Class Teacher Education, Joensuu campus 2014–2017. Available at: www.uef.fi/en/web/skope/luokanopettajakoulutusjoensuu 4 Finnish National Agency for Education current issues available at www.oph.fi/english/ current_issues/101/0/teaching_continues_to_be_an_attractive_profession 5 http://minedu.fi/opettajankoulutusfoorumi; Teacher Training Forum 6 Several teachers have either created or are involved in co-operative research projects – e.g., Innovative Environments – Changing Pedagogy, or, ICT in phenomenon based learning in early years – 1–2 graders as researchers of their own learning, Early Bird – Intensifying Early Foreign Language Learning and Technology in the Teaching of Physical Education (www.uef.fi/alyaliikuntaan). 7 See also Sokka-Meaney & Haring, 2016, p. 181. 8 Compare Sokka-Meaney & Haring, 2016. 9 Documents and instructions on teaching practice periods are at www.uef.fi/fi/web/ jnor/ohjattu-harjoittelu 10 Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 11 Feedback from students after 2017 Basic Practice P2 in November, 89 students (66,4 %) answered. 12 Discussions with teacher mentors, 2017, University Teacher Training School. 13 Basic practice at the Joensuu University Teacher Training School in autumn 2017, 4.9.-10.11.2017. Retrieved from www.uef.fi/fi/web/jnor/opetusharjoittelu/ luokanopettajakoulutus/opetuksen-perusteiden-harjoittelu 14 Six student interviews after P2 during November 2017. 15 http://minedu.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/opettajankoulutuksen-kehittamisohjelma-julkistettiin-opettajien-osaamista-kehitettava-suunnitelmallisesti-lapi-tyouran 16 Six student interviews, S1–S6, after P2 during November 2017. 17 Feedback on portfolios has been collected since autumn 2015.

References Aho, E., Pitkänen, K., & Sahlberg, P. (2006). Policy Development and Reform Principles of Basic and Secondary Education in Finland since 1968. Education Working Paper Series. Number 2. The World Bank, Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-1099079967208/Education_in_Finland_May06.pdf. Asetus kasvatustieteellisen alan tutkinnoista ja opettajankoulutuksesta, 530/1978, later Asetus opetustoimen henkilöstön kelpoisuusvaatimuksista. Decree 986/1998, changed decree 865/2005. Decree on teacher qualifications. Asetus kasvatustieteellisen alan tutkinnoista ja opettajankoulutuksesta, 576/1995, Decree on educational degrees and teacher training. Basic practice at the Joensuu University Teacher Training School in autumn 2017. Retrieved from www.uef.fi/fi/web/jnor/opetusharjoittelu/luokanopettajakoulutus/opetuksen-perustei den-harjoittelu. Degree programme in the University of Eastern Finland Class Teacher Education Joensuu campus 2014–2017. Retrieved from www.uef.fi/en/web/skope/luokanopettajakoulutusjoensuu

50  Eija Liisa Sokka-Meaney and Minna Haring Dorlöchter, H. (2016). Das portfolio: Making thinking visible. Portfolioarbeit phasenubergreifend gestalten. In Maria Boos, Anstrid Krämer, Meike Kricke (Eds.), Konzepte, Ideen und Anregungen aus der LehreInnenbildung (pp. 193–203). New York: Waxmann, Munster. Eskola, A. (1967). Sosiologian tutkimusmenetelmät. 2. Porvoo: WSOY. Husu, J., & Toom, A. (2016). Opettajat ja opettajankoulutus – suuntia tulevaan. [Teachers and teacher education – future pathways]. In Selvitys ajankohtaisesta opettaja- ja opettajankoulutustutkimuksesta opettajankoulutuksen kehittämisohjelman laatimisen tueksi(p. 33. Helsinki: Opetus ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja [Ministry of Education and culture publications]. Jeskanen, S. (2012). Piina vai pelastus? Portfolio aineenopettajaopiskelijoiden ammatillisen kehittymisen välineenä. University of Eastern Finland, Philosopihical Faculty. Dissertation Publications of the University of Eastern Finland. Dissertations in Education, Humanities and Theology, no 38. Joensuu. Jokinen, H., Taajamo, M., & Välijärvi, J. (2014). Opettajien induktiovaiheen haasteet ja osaamisen kehittäminen. Pedagoginen asiantuntijuus liikkeessä ja muutoksessa – huomisen haasteita. Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos. Jyväskylän yliopisto. Jokinen, H., & Välijärvi, J. (2006). Making mentoring a tool for supporting teachers’ professional development. In R. Jakku-Sihvonen & H. Niemi (Eds.), Research-Based Teacher Education in Finland: Reflections by Finnish Teacher Educators (pp. 89–101). Turku: Finnish Educational Research Association. Research in Educational Sciences 25. Kegan, R. (1980). Making meaning: The constructive-developmental approach to persons and practice. The Personnel and Guidance Journal, 58, 373−380. Kegan, R. (1982).The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kemppinen, I. (1969). Sortavalan seminaarin historia. Karjalan tutkimusseuran julkaisuja 2. Helsinki: Kymölän kilta. Korthagen, F. A. J. (1999). Linking reflection and technical competence: The logbook as an instrument in teacher education. European Journal on Teacher Education, 22, 191–207. Korthagen, F. A. J. (2004). In search of the essence of a good teacher: Towards a more holistic approach in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(1), 77–97. Elsevier. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.483.7417&r ep=rep1&type=pdf Korthagen, F. A. J. (2017). Inconvenient truths about teacher learning: Towards professional development 3.0. Teachers and Teaching, 23(4), 387–405. Routledge. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2016.1211523 Kricke, M. (2016). Aufdecken eigener biographischer Karten. Chancen von (E-) Portfolioarbeit im Kontext einer inklusiven international Lehrerinnenbildung. Portfolioarbeit phasenubergreifend gestalten. In Maria Boos, Anstrid Krämer, & Meike Kricke (Eds.), Konzepte, Ideen und Anregungen aus der LehreInnenbildung (pp. 164–177). New York:Waxmann, Munster. Kuikka, M. T. (1978). Kansakoulunopettajankoulutussuunnitelmien kehitys Suomessa vuosina 1917–1923. Joensuu: University of Joensuu. Publications of the Department of Education. No. 4. Kuikka, M. T. (1981). Opetusharjoittelun asema kansakoulunopettajankoulutussuunnitelmissa Suomessa vuosina 1917–1922. Tutkimuksia. Helsingin yliopiston kasvatustieteen laitos. No. 87. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Kuikka, M. T. (2010). Opettajankoulutus eilen, tänään ja huomenna. Ajankohtainen Uno Cygnaeus. Uno Cygnaeuksen juhlavuosi 2010. In Jouko Kauranne (Ed.).. Suomen kouluhistoriallisen seuran vuosikirja 2010. Koulu ja menneisyys XLIII. Suomen kouluhistoriallinen seura. Kuusisto, A. (2007). Aakkosista alkukiviin. Joensuun normaalikoulu 1973–2007. Joensuu: Joensuun normaalikoulu.

Teaching practice in Finnish teacher education 51 Laki Joensuun korkeakoulusta, 462/1969. Act on Joensuu University. Laki koulujärjestelmän perusteista 467/1968, later 476/1983, School System Act. Laki ammatillisten opettajien koulutuksesta, Act on Vocational Teacher Training 488/2013; Asetus ammatillisesta opettajankoulutuksesta, Decree on Vocational Teacher Training 357/2003. Martikainen, T., & Sivelius, A. (2017). Ohjatun harjoittelun merkitys ammatillisessa kasvussa. Ammattikasvatuksen aikakauskirja no 2. Ammatillisen koulutuksen tutkimusseura OTTU ry. National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014. (2016).Publications 2016: 5. Finnish National Board of Education. Helsinki. National Teacher Training Forum. (2016). Retrieved from http://minedu.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/opettajankoulutuksen-kehittamisohjelma-julkistettiin-opettajienosaamista-kehitettava-suunnitelmallisesti-lapi-tyouran. Nurmi, V. (1964). Maamme seminaarien varsinaisen opettajankoulutuksen synty ja kehittyminen viime vuosisadalla I – II. Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research, 7–8. Jyväskylä. Nurmi, V. (1979). Opettajankoulutuksen tähänastinen kehitys. Juva: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. Nurmi,V. (1995). Suomen kansakoulunopettajaseminaarien historia. Helsinki: Opettajien kustannus Oy. Ohjattu harjoittelu. (2017). JNOR.Teaching practice documents at University Teacher Training School in Joensuu. Retrieved from www.uef.fi/fi/web/jnor/ohjattu-harjoittelu. Opettajankoulutuksen kehittämisen suuntaviivoja. (2016). Opettajankoulutusfoorumin ideoita ja ehdotuksia. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2016:34. Retrieved from http:// minedu.fi/documents/1410845/4583171/Opettajankoulutuksen+kehittämisen+suuntav iivoja+-+Opettajankoulutusfoorumin+ideoita+ja+ehdotuksia. Opettajankoulutuslaki 844/1971, Teacher Training Act. Opinto-opas. (2017–2018). UEF. Soveltavan kasvatustieteen ja opettajankoulutuksen osasto. Filosofinen tiedekunta. Itä-Suomen yliopisto. (pdf) Study guide. Retrieved from www.uef.fi/doc uments/288123/380281/skope_opinto-opas+2017-2018.pdf/261dff29-ef98-4626-aaafe1623f23204f. Peruskouluasetus 443/1970, Basic Education decree. Rodgers, C. R., & Scott, K. H. (2008). The Development of the Personal Self and Professional Identity in Learning to Teach. Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. Routledge Handbooks Online. Retrieved from www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203938690.ch40. Sahlberg, P. (2011). Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? The Series on School Reform. New York: Teachers College Press. Sokka-Meaney, E. L., &Haring, M. (2016). Finnish teacher training, practical teaching experience for students and the role of portfolio work. Portfolioarbeit phasenubergreifend gestalten. In Maria Boos, Anstrid Krämer, & Meike Kricke (Eds.), Konzepte, Ideen und Anregungen aus der LehreInnenbildung (pp. 178–192). New York: Waxmann, Munster. Vähä, E. (2016). Maamme opettajiston eturivissä – normaalilyseoiden yliopettajuus 1873– 1973. Suomen kasvatuksen ja koulutuksen historian seuran vuosikirja, Painosalama, 25–55. Vahervuo, T., & Kalimo, E. (1968) Psykometriikan metodeja. I Tilastolliset perusmenetelmät. Porvoo: WSOY. Valtioneuvoston asetus yliopistojen tutkinnoista, 794/2004. Virta, A., Kaartinen,V., & Eloranta,V. (2001). Oppiaineen vai oppilaiden opettajaksi? Aineenopettajan sosialisaatio peruskoulutuksen aikana. Turun yliopiston kasvatustieteiden tiedekunnan julkaisuja A: 196. Turun yliopisto. Turku. Yliopistolaki, Universities Act 558/2009.

Chapter 4

Virtual tools for teacher training and practicum interaction Nora C. Clarke and Denese Wolff

Integration of ground and virtual practicum experiences Current trends in student teaching and the plethora of online tools can truly fuel-inject the teaching practicum, making it more interactive for the practicum teacher, mentor, and cooperating teacher. Possible at the university level is a better virtual coordination among seminar instructors, university, and regional supervisors to prepare student teachers for the practicum experience. Designing projects and tweaking the meaningfulness of assignments guide student teachers toward a better understanding of how to implement theory into practice and make the paradigm shift from student to teacher. Seminar courses and teacher practicum portfolio assignments can use online tools to provide additional resources, develop meaningful and tested teaching artifacts, and group interactions with student teachers across disciplines and grade levels in different geographic regions and instructional settings within the university. A wealth of online services facilitates communication and collaboration among student teachers, university supervisors, cooperating teachers, and campus mentors. Web 2.0 tools infuse new methods that enhance the teaching experience. Using Web 2.0 tools to mentor and instruct student teachers reduces feelings of isolation and disconnection during the practicum. The standard practicum includes on-site visits that limit students to an observation of one or more sessions. Podcasting, for instance, provides more opportunities for observation. Both the practicum teacher and the cooperating teacher can provide podcasts to demonstrate teaching techniques. Podcasts also provide a more holistic approach to evaluate practicum teacher performance. In an evaluation discussion, for instance, podcasts can be used during video conferences with the university supervisor, site team, and student. This strategy enhances constructive criticism through several mini-observations instead of just one 45-minute lesson. Podcasts also furnish a video library of practicum teacher performance. The optimal scenario seminar assignments are general enough for students to provide lessons they used in the practicum and demonstrate the effectiveness of the

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lesson. In this manner, class members share ideas and suggestions, as well as learn strategies from one another. These visual teaching experiences can strengthen classroom discussion in seminar courses. Training programs for teachers must prepare practicum teachers to teach effectively. When universities work with schools, newly trained teachers have a more significant opportunity to meet needs of 21st-century schools. For example, the University of Phoenix develops Affiliation Agreements with school districts to ensure the practicum program is carried over from year to year. This strategy also provides contact people in the district along with trained and experienced mentors and cooperating teachers. Affiliation Agreements provide a more stable program because students are referred to districts in their area and assured placement in the student teaching practicum. The Affiliation Agreement also helps districts by providing a pool of new teachers to fill positions who are trained within the district’s system. Without practicum placement opportunities, students might have to delay their practicum experience or locate districts that will be given the option to enter an Affiliation Agreement. France revamped their one-year teacher training program by accepting only students with a bachelor’s degree who had passed a national competitive exam. Once accepted, students worked through a circular continuum of study at the university and practical work experience.The collaboration between the school and university ensures students have the opportunity for self-examination and reflection (Chaliès et al., 2012). This practice is reflective of Japanese lesson study (Ko, 2016). Collaborative practicum student evaluation, discussion, and training provide interactive feedback to produce a cohesive program both in theory and practice. Because teacher training is a rigorous process, a smaller population of teachers has evolved. Teacher training positions have become competitive among four-year college graduates, which means a smaller teaching population is available for selection. The selection process not only controls the teaching candidate population but also produces a way to control the number of elementary, intermediate, and secondary teachers. At the University of Phoenix, students selected for teacher training have earned a bachelor’s degree and are enrolled in a master’s program. Competition creates higher earning potential as teachers are in greater demand when there are fewer turned out from universities. In many districts, master’s degreed educators are paid a stipend for an advanced degree. The number selected for the training program can be based on need, which contributes to turning out teachers in areas of highest need. Quality and quantity control ensures a higher level of qualified, effective teachers. Collaboration between the school and university can be provided online through video conferencing, and the archived data can become available for review and future examination as needed. Preliminary training through recorded videos and media prepares the school, the university members, and the student for the practicum.The initial face-to-face meeting with the cooperating

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teacher and mentor may leave some unanswered questions. A standardized training video provides the university supervisor, mentor, student teacher, and cooperating teacher information that can be viewed prior to the initial meeting. The training video can provide an overview of the program expectations and clarify any part of the process for each member involved in the practicum. Prerecorded presentations ensure that trainings cover all necessary information and remain standardized. A university link should include resources, handbooks, and tools needed for successful completion of the practicum. The University of Phoenix provides this information at the College of Education website, which is available to current and former students, as well as faculty, mentors, university supervisors, and cooperating teachers. The program is outlined for both student teachers and administrative interns, and includes state-specific guidelines as well as the general program for all students and practicum participants.The program’s suggested best practices include weekly phone and/or video conferences with the cooperating teacher, mentor, student, and university supervisor to ensure greater success and coaching to prepare future teachers. The university supervisor schedules, attends, and records all meetings, which keep communication open, provide a collaborative atmosphere, and resolve issues or questions. Some meetings may require all members, while other meetings may include one or two members of the team. Occurring between the university supervisor’s campus visits, the meetings provide opportunities for feedback, further discussion, self-reflection, and performance review. The practice of three practicum visits over a ten-week period affords a limited opportunity for students to master all aspects of the evaluation instrument. Assignments ensure best practices are followed, and all standards in the assessment instrument are covered. Practicum students present work samples, short videos of lessons, lesson studies, and other artifacts to demonstrate the application of standards and receive feedback and guidance for further development. Both the seminar instructor and the university site supervisor evaluate the students’ assignments.The alignment of seminar courses and practicum evaluations create a cohesive and collaborative assessment of student performance. Recorded video meetings provide a chronicle of the teaching experience for review and final evaluation. Through TaskStream (2018), for instance, students post signature assignments and maintain a notebook to showcase their practicum experience during the site visits. All artifacts are resources for improving the practicum experience for future students and provide the curriculum team with key information on course content, resources, changes to the handbook, or any other parts of the student teaching practicum that may need revision. In addition, university curriculum developers can use artifacts to determine what areas in course content may need revision. When student teachers have difficulty in any area, supplemental criteria are set into place. Additional support and coaching involves auxiliary visits from the university supervisor. For those students who do not meet university

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standards, the student teaching experience can be terminated and, after intense remediation and coaching, a second practicum can begin. In these situations, supervisors with the most experience guide the student. Additional visits also involve more intense instruction and coaching. Before being allowed a second opportunity for a practicum experience, students are required to complete an assignment linked to their area of weakness and pass more rigorous requirements. If unsuccessful in the second practicum, students are not offered a third practicum and are dismissed from the University of Phoenix teacher preparation program. All supplemental standards are outlined in the student teacher handbook available on the student teaching preparation website. A consumer guide provided by the University of Phoenix outlines all programs, and the passing rates of education students on state standards gives an overview of overall program success.The consumer guides are published annually and are available to the public on the University of Phoenix website. The student teacher practicum can be tremendously enhanced with Web 2.0 tools. Assignments in student coursework require technological integration using 21st-century tools. The standard teacher practicum for the University of Phoenix has been revised to include strategies that integrate the practicum with courses, so more interaction is possible during the student teaching practicum. Using video conferencing tools during the practicum allows student teachers to gain practical experience with this type of medium as an instructional strategy in their future classrooms. Enhanced interaction between the school site team and the university ensures a stronger program on several levels. Improved communication and cohesiveness between school and university training within the program better prepares practicum students to enter the classroom as effective firstyear teachers. A stronger bond between the university and school provides students’ opportunities to put theory into practice. When universities are perceived as effective in teacher instruction and development, their students are easier to place both in practicums and positions. The teaching practicum should incorporate the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. Teacher training programs must introduce the many opportunities for classroom enhancement during the teacher practicum and model best practices to prepare 21st-century teachers. In addition, revising the curriculum and practicum for development of effective teachers ensures better education for students, higher job satisfaction of new teachers, reduction in teacher attrition in the first few years of teaching, and an enhanced reputation for teacher training programs.

Training and web-based support In 2011, the National Council on Teacher Quality conducted a review of student teaching practicums in the United States to determine the effectiveness of

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these types of programs. The institutions were evaluated on five documented critical standards. STANDARD 1. The student teaching experience, which should last no less than ten weeks, should require no less than five weeks at a single local school site and represent a full-time commitment. STANDARD 2. The teacher preparation program must select the cooperating teacher for each student teacher placement. STANDARD 3. The cooperating teacher candidate must have at least three years of teaching experience. STANDARD 4. The cooperating teacher candidate must have the capacity to have a positive impact on student learning. STANDARD 5. The cooperating teacher candidate must have the capacity to mentor an adult, with skills in observation, providing feedback, holding professional conversations and working collaboratively. The study indicated many factors that must be addressed for student teaching practicums to produce effective teachers successfully. The only criteria met by most of the institutions were the required ten-week practicum specified in Standard 1. None of the institutions in the study met all the standards. Only a few institutions met more than one of the additional four standards. Of the four additional standards, teachers with enough experience were available 80% of the time, but only 28% of these teachers were effective teachers (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2011). In a cross-section sample of 25 educators from the study, 20 had sufficient experience, but of these, only 5 were considered effective, and of those, only three were capable of adult mentoring, and only one was willing to work with a student teacher (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2011).These problems limit the possible number of practicum placements and university personnel available to serve as supervisors over wide geographic regions. For these reasons, using video conferencing is an option for meetings and observations. In addition, the study found the compensation for cooperating teachers has remained stagnant, and teachers already feeling the pressure and demands of full teaching loads do not want to take on the responsibility of training a new teacher. As a result, the lack of communication between the university and the campus may result in principals selecting cooperating teachers who may not be the best candidates for the position. The challenges can result in a student teacher who is not effectively trained to take a teaching position. These problems impact the credibility of the program, the training of teachers, and the quality of education (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2011). In the United States, more elementary teachers graduate each year from universities than there are schools and cooperating teachers to provide practicum experience. The abundance of students with elementary teaching degrees floods the market, and turnover is high among first- to fifth-year teachers

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because of a lack of adequate training. Several challenges interfere with placing student teachers in classrooms with effective teachers. Overcoming the distance for the university supervisor to visit the school site frequently is one challenge. Another is the need for students to find a school near their physical location. Recruiting effective cooperating teachers is a third obstacle. Locating experienced cooperating teachers at the practicum site and enticing them to serve as mentors to student teachers is yet another challenge. The information gleaned from the study shows an abundance of elementary teachers graduating each year with insufficient student teaching practicum slots for schools near the university.This challenge requires student teachers to find a placement that may be a far distance from the university.The distance challenge and the high numbers of practicum students impact quality control, and close cooperation between the university program and the student teaching practicum. Students being forced to locate their own practicum placement brings additional concerns. One of those concerns involves principals who must find a qualifying teacher to serve as the cooperating teacher. Another concern entails teachers who are willing to serve as the cooperating teacher and who are also the most effective candidate for the position. The challenges created by a poorly structured practicum can produce a pool of teachers who are insufficiently prepared to enter the profession. Nearly half of the trained teachers hired each year will not last five years, costing school districts upward of 2.2 billion dollars each year (Phillips, 2015). Some of the newly trained teachers fill the less desirable teaching positions in schools that have high teacher turnover. Because they may not have the best practicum experience, these first-year teachers are often ill-equipped for the rigors of working in a challenging position. Schools with the greatest need for the most effective teachers struggle to fill positions, and low-performing schools remain in this category because the better teachers seek positions in better schools with higher performing students. The cycle of failure produces new teachers ill prepared for teaching in challenging situations, a high turnover rate, and additional low-performing schools (Pastore, 2014). Cyber-practicum training and monitoring can better prepare student teachers and help remedy these problems. Requiring prospective teachers to pass an entry exam for practicum experience ensures higher-level students, so those with the highest rankings are the first choices for practicum experience and will increase candidate quality and competition. Relying on a ten-week practicum and sending students into a classroom with little or no practical experience places an extreme burden on cooperating teachers. Because of the pressures of high-stakes testing and teacher evaluation, many experienced teachers are uncomfortable allowing student teachers to work in their classrooms. This dichotomy results in less practical experience for teacher candidates. When student teachers are prepared to step into the classroom as assets to the teacher and can work with students in a variety of settings and situations, they become more desirable practicum candidates. One solution to the problem of

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finding practicum placements is to provide a cyber practicum (Jiyoon, 2007). The 3D classroom or cyber-practicum model allows student teachers opportunities to simulate a classroom environment and complete teaching practicum experience virtually. Although this method should not be used as a substitute for practicum experience, some institutions such as the University of Phoenix have successfully used classroom scenarios and simulation software as part of teacher training to prepare students better for practicum experience. For instance, the University of Phoenix uses third-party vendors such as Educational Impact to provide additional training in an online academy. Providing continuing education through remote vendors is a popular option for teachers. The University of Phoenix uses this resource for both emerging educators and those involved in continuing education programs. Many experienced teachers are enrolled at the University of Phoenix for advanced certifications, and a teacher-directed research and workshop model serves both populations. Comparable to flight simulators for pilot training, education programs have adopted the simulation model for teacher training. The University of Phoenix uses simulations for training in several fields, and for education uses, models such as the Individual Education Plan (IEP) simulator to train prospective special education teachers are employed. Simulated classroom experience is a valuable way to provide virtual experience in preparation for real-life experiences. According to Pastore (2014), baccalaureate teaching programs such as those at North Texas University, Cook School District in Portland, Oregon, and a teacher prep program in Taiwan used simSchool for teacher training.With these simulations, reflections on the performance of the teacher candidate and support of school administrators and university professors enhance practical experience. Because they provide practice in applying strategies, changing tasks, and using alternative strategies, simulated experiences can help student teachers build confidence before entering the student teaching practicum (Pastore, 2014). These experiences afford opportunities for discussion and learning theory application in a supportive learning environment. In addition to these experiences, courses include a mini-practicum experiences where student teachers work one-on-one with students or in small groups to teach course-related content. These experiences are built into many of the University of Phoenix methods courses and provide practice before the teaching practicum. Smartphone and computer technology facilitate the ability to record sessions easily for evaluation and discussion. In a math methods course, for example, instructors can require a video demonstration of the teacher candidate working with a small group of students to teach them the concept of addition. These mini-practicums prepare future teachers for writing lesson plans, evaluating and reflecting on lesson effectiveness, and building a portfolio. Although the simulated teaching experience is not offered at all universities, students can register with simSchool for a nominal fee and use the software to prepare for their student teaching practicums.

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Erickson (2012) indicated that retaining teachers and accessing professional development have been long-standing struggles for rural school districts, and further challenges include retaining teachers with special education endorsements. Although simulations for training is more prevalent in other fields, the practice is emerging in the field of medicine more rapidly than education. Kaufman and Ireland (2016) view simulations as a viable tool for training and screening new teachers. The US Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and Educause support simSchool research (Tyler-Wood et al., 2015). Therefore, simulated teacher training can support rural teacher training, areas of teacher shortages, continued teacher training, and preservice training. Web 2.0 tools facilitate collaboration among the university, student, practicum site administration, and cooperating teacher to ensure a cohesive practicum experience for student teachers. Training sessions for mentors, student teachers, school administrators, and cooperating teachers are essential components to establish roles for each team member. A team approach and competitive compensation for cooperating teachers and schools cite mentors are key to securing placements for prospective teachers. In addition, a university supervisor can be selected from a pool of adjunct education faculty engaged in teaching the seminar courses for student teachers. Synthesizing the university program with the practicum experience affords opportunities for seminar instructors to design integrated assignments. Having a more cohesive program with integrated prepracticum and practicum experience ensures thorough integration of theory and practice. Tailoring the practicum and seminar experience to the individual candidate ensures a higher level of practicum success and practical application of theory. The university supervisor communicates with the university regional supervisor in charge of training and overall quality of practicum training. At the end of the student teacher’s practicum experience, the regional supervisor evaluates the supervisor mentor, university supervisor, and cooperating teacher. Allowing students to design their training using resources such as Educational Impact guides them to select training videos, articles, and lectures that target their practicum setting, subject, content, and school. An enriched learning environment provides students with resources that enhance their experience, allows them to choose how to showcase their signature assignments and select training they need to succeed, and promotes an individualized practicum experience. Furthermore, a successful practicum experience requires each team member to be adequately prepared. Once the practicum team is in place, training occurs through video conferencing, joint training sessions to review the roles of each of the team members, and annual orientation sessions. Providing a record of the training, video conferences are recorded and emailed to each participant to remind them of their prospective roles. Weekly phone or video conferences with the university supervisor, student teacher, cooperating teacher, and mentor are essential to keeping the lines of communication open to discuss student progress. The cooperating teacher will feel the support of the campus mentor,

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and the university supervisor serves as the guide for the university program and to ensure these are met. The practicum student is aware of the resources available and has had some practice in working with students through signature assignments. In addition, students should keep an ongoing journal in their electronic portfolio. The portfolio is a cumulative record of artifacts from courses, resources, lesson plans, teaching strategies, and instruction samples such as tests, centers, rubrics, units, and instructional tools. All content of the portfolio, journal, meetings, and lesson samples are used as part of the evaluation process. Student teachers are also responsible for providing lesson videos for evaluating performance.The videos are recorded by the cooperating teacher and shared with the student, mentor, and cooperating teacher in a web-based evaluation meeting. Each area of the evaluation is discussed, and the evaluation form is completed by consensus of the committee. When face-to-face meetings are not possible, video conferencing can be used. Keeping adequate data, artifacts, sample lessons, and a journal provide a record of the experience for students, as well as those responsible for evaluating them. These documents provide the student teacher with the opportunity for input and different perspectives on the overall performance.The committee conducts three student teacher evaluations at weeks three, six, and nine. Should the student teacher need to work specifically on an area of concern, a fourth evaluation can be conducted. The time for the evaluation is determined by the team along with areas of need for further development. A growth plan can provide specific information on what to improve. Candidates are assigned specific tasks by the university’s supplemental standards team to correct specific problems as needed. Aligned directly with teacher evaluation methods presently used in the United States, these steps are similar to lesson study for first-year teachers practiced in Japan. What evaluators observe is the level of student engagement rather than the teacher’s instruction. The strength in student learning directly correlates with the quality of the teaching strategies and instructional lesson design. The process familiarizes practicum teachers with the concept of reflection in action (Ko, 2016). Through reflection in action, practicum teachers move through the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and this type of deep discussion should be practiced in a variety of situations as an integral part of the practicum. Practiced by effective educators, reflective lesson study is essential to developing competent first-year teachers. Student teachers need to feel supported by the university as well as the on-site team. Created by the university, a student teacher webpage with the essential resources for the student teacher, mentor, university supervisor, and cooperating teacher ensures that information each is consistent and up to date. The University of Phoenix College of Education webpage includes the needed forms, resources, and links to current issues in education. Additional resources include workshops, blogs, webinars, recorded demonstrations, tutorials, and

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a university social media link for finding groups with like interests, answers to questions, and new professional colleagues. The website is accessible only through user login. Instructors can also set up teams and team assignments in courses to help students learn to work collaboratively. Students need to learn to connect with classmates as well as the schools where they are teaching. Student teachers should also learn to use the resources available at their practicum site. Prior to the orientation meeting, the university supervisor should discuss with the cooperating teacher and site mentor the tools at their disposal for meeting their practicum requirements.The discussion should include the copier protocol, lesson plan and curriculum tools on the district and campus website, textbooks, technology, and library privileges. The intern will also need to understand how to follow protocols of working with student records, student information that is anything other than public access, and school communication.

Practicum overview enhanced by technology Setting up the practicum and establishing guidelines for each member of the team provides stability for the individual practicum experience as well as the program. The university supervisor coordinates meetings among the student and cooperating teachers and the site mentor or principal. These meetings occur at specific intervals throughout the practicum in the form of scheduled observations and can be conducted through video conferencing. An initial, midterm, and final observation evaluation are conducted by the university supervisor, cooperating teacher, and site mentor. Collaboration among team members is essential, and technology affords this opportunity. The site mentor is a campus administrator selected by or approved by the university. The university supervisor visits the campus at the beginning of the practicum to review the responsibilities and roles for each member of the practicum team. The team members sign and initial a checklist provided for each member outlining their roles and responsibilities. In a virtual conference, university supervisors contact and train mentors and cooperating teachers prior to the initial meeting, which provides an opportunity to go over documents, guidelines, the student teacher handbook, and the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team. Using recorded training sessions ensures that all members have consistent and thorough understanding of their roles, and they are essential to keep consistent information available. Conducting this training prior to the initial meeting provides time for discussion and any questions or clarification needed with the initial site visit. During the video conference, the mentor and cooperating teacher are provided information on how to access the webpage and materials on the university website. The university website contains instructional videos, necessary forms, workshop listings, training videos, and additional resources for team members and student teachers. Team members may elect to have student teachers

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participate in some of the training exercises on the webpage, attend a workshop, or find resources to help the practicum student. Resources for assisting practicum students include templates, training videos, articles, workshops, research resources, lesson plan builders, common core and state-specific curricula, links to education agencies, sample lesson plans, teaching podcast examples,YouTube videos, student teacher handbooks, and documents pertaining to the teaching practicum. The student teaching practicum webpage should be continually updated with new materials added when specific needs are identified. Student teachers can also receive support in seminar classes. Topics in these courses for additional investigation and study should include practical information to assist in the practicum experience. Student teacher blogs are another useful way to share information and support through the practicum experience. A database of discussion topics provides students with information on issues they may encounter during their respective practicums. Monitored by university supervisors, the blog is updated weekly with new questions and topics opened for discussion. The University of Phoenix offers an array of professional articles, videos, lectures, and resources available in their library, as well as additional resources such as Educational Impact. Sample seminar topics for discussion by student level are listed next: 1 Elementary a Child development overview b Behavior interventions for young students c Learning to read and tips for reluctant readers d Signs of abuse and steps to follow in reporting child abuse e Handling outbursts f Conferencing with parents g Importance of consistency h Planning i Supplemental materials j Reteaching and reframing k Homework 2 Intermediate a Spotting learning difficulties b Closing gaps in reading c Closing math gaps d Reading to learn e Developing study habits f Sexual development g Bullying h Peer Tutoring i Grouping

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j Reteaching and reframing k Homework 3 Secondary a b c d e f g h

Signs of drug abuse Signs of depression Learned helplessness Writing tools and help Strategies to recover turned-off students Interventions for struggling students Developing trust Online resources for struggling students

Workshops, training videos, and PowerPoints can also be used to address ageand grade-specific issues. These resources can be added to the webpage or developed for seminar courses and compiled by topic on the webpage for future reference. Practicum students can be assigned team projects on specific topics and use the opportunity to share ideas and experiences with classmates. For each area in education and different age groups, there are specific areas where additional training may be necessary. Further area-specific topics to explore can be added per demographical, cultural, and societal needs. For instance, statespecific programs encompass challenges that may not pertain to all programs. These areas can be covered in separate sections. Rural, urban, and suburban schools have separate issues and may have their own space on the webpage. These resources can be used by future students seeking ideas for dealing with specific problems and populations. Social media links such as Facebook can be added for personal interaction and support. The University of Phoenix hosts a Phoenix Connect site for students to interact, pose questions, and locate interest groups in specific fields of study. This outlet provides student practicum students the opportunity to share experiences, seek advice, and exchange ideas. It is beneficial for instructors to form specific groups and monitor them for accuracy and proper web etiquette. University personnel are responsible for monitoring Phoenix Connect content and may provide answers to questions, or materials that include lectures, webinars, workshops, articles, podcasts, and conference information to give students necessary training and tips on the webpage and in university hosted venues. This online support network serves as a resource for future teachers, current teachers, student teachers, and alumni. A student teacher practicum Wiki provides input from all team members as well as practical information students may access during their practicum. In addition, social media pages such as Twitter keep faculty and students in constant communication.The practicum experience requires emotional as well as academic support. Having lines of support for beginning teachers ensures a higher retention rate (Phillips, 2015). Providing a central area on the university

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website for members in the practicum gives students a sense of belonging as well as support. Once the practicum is finished, students continue to have access to these resources.

Teacher observations, seminar course content, and lesson planning Practice makes perfect applies to the student teacher practicum, and technology can offer numerous beneficial training opportunities. The simSchool program is designed for preparing student practicum students in some programs. Practicum candidates can read student files and explore a host of possible scenarios that may occur in the classroom. One of the greatest challenges for the beginning teacher is differentiating curriculum for inclusion students in the regular education classroom. Practicum students must also develop classroom management techniques to address behavioral issues. Moroccan schools found success with virtual training and teacher preparation in high needs areas (Lahmine et al., 2013). Students can individualize the simulations to meet their specific practicum experience, and programs such as simSchool offer practice in these areas. The University of Phoenix uses simSchool for teacher trainees in special education to practice review of student records and preparation for writing IEPs and making class management decisions. Administrative interns at the university also use this resource to make decisions about students and faculty in simulations because these records are not available to practicum students due to confidentiality. (Lewis, 2018) Virtual labs and exercises can help student practicum candidates troubleshoot possible classroom problems before having to deal with these while trying to teach. Student teachers’ self-efficacy has resulted in studies on the effectiveness of simSchool simulation training (Christensen, 2011). Having this resource during prepracticum and practicum training at the student’s disposal and for further practice will provide an excellent tool for practice as well as selfreflection. During and before the practicum, students can practice and critique mini-lessons. If a similar program is not available, lessons can be recorded on a smartphone, tablet, or iPad and shared in class discussion for peer review and critique. Having a way to practice and critique lessons prior to their implementation will ensure more effective lesson design. Not only do these experiences allow students to share ideas but also they help them identify the attributes of effective teaching and how they are measured on the teacher evaluation instrument. Three observations are completed during the practicum. Podcasts of practice lessons in specific content areas can be recorded so that student teachers receive feedback on the lesson prior to the evaluation that is part of the grade for the seminar class. Formative feedback will better prepare student teachers, campus administrators, and cooperating teachers in the areas that are evaluated. Student teachers can prepare a lesson, record the lesson delivery, and provide a copy through email for formative

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or summative feedback. A video recorded lesson is also an option for reflection and self-critique. Recordings have been used in lieu of site visits by the University of Phoenix with great success for students in remote areas, such as Alaska, where there were no university supervisors available, and the terrain and weather conditions made face-to-face observations and meetings impossible. There is also a 97% passing rate for military students supervised virtually serving in the Asian and European theater. They receive practicum experience in Department of Defense Dependents Schools during their time overseas and are supervised virtually by their University of Phoenix supervisor (Lewis, 2018). Podcasts recorded by either the cooperating or practicum teacher and used in preliminary evaluations to receive formative feedback in seminar classes provide a benchmark and coaching tool for the student teacher before each of the three formal observations. The optimum sequence for preparing for a site evaluation is developing a lesson plan that is approved by the cooperating teacher and seminar instructor and then recording the lesson to receive formative feedback prior to the formal observation. Once all reviewers complete the lesson review and evaluation, a video conference with a specific critique of areas for improvement and some suggestions ensures thorough feedback to enhance student performance. In addition, the practicum student should review the video and provide an evaluation and self-reflection. Providing thorough and constructive feedback is essential to teacher development. Multiple opportunities to practice a single lesson trains teachers to plan and develop the most effective lessons (Ko, 2016). Some tools for video conferencing and collaboration include Skype, Google Hangouts, Blackboard, and class homepage. Just as online conferencing and collaboration have taken hold in the business world, the opportunity to use these tools in teacher training is emerging. Teachers are using more online professional development to renew existing licenses, train for more certifications, and diversify their portfolio. The idea of blended teacher training with virtual and face-to-face interaction is not a new concept. Facilitated courses have also given way to ‘blended’ or ‘hybrid’ professional development that couple a primarily online-based setting with some faceto-face activities. That’s the model of online teacher training that’s used primarily in Washoe County, Nev., a district of 63,000 students near Reno. To create its own system aligned with district goals, Washoe enlisted an outside vendor with expertise in online learning, resulting in its own platform, ANGEL online. (Sawshuk, 2009. p. 22)

Web 2 tools and lesson planning Practicum students must be prepared to teach in multiple settings. With more online instruction opportunities, students can prepare to teach in many settings

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and scenarios. In addition, many teachers are required to prepare lessons for students to view if they are absent or in need of review. Some excellent tools to use for making podcasts are Jing, Whiteboards, Slideshare, Prezi, PowerPoint, smartphone video, Screen-o-matic, Skype, Animoto, and Camtasia. Practice in recording lessons during the practicum prepares students to use these tools from day one in the classroom to provide students with lessons as necessary. New tools for creating video are developed daily. Teachers can upload their creations to YouTube or SchoolTube and provide students with access to their accounts. Teachers can also provide links to materials on a private webpage or social media account. The Class DoJo app is a popular tool for staying in touch with students and parents. With more technology available, teachers are expected to use these tools in their classes. Electronic texts are available as well as video lessons pre-prepared for students by textbook companies. When students miss school, teachers are expected to have these links accessible, so students can have access to the same instruction they missed during the school day. These tools are also important because students may need to review lessons or may be pulled from class to attend a resource, dyslexia, speech, or gifted and talented groups during regular education instruction. When pullouts occur, students must still have access for what is missed. Having a personal web or class page is optimum for this purpose. Lesson plans can then be accessed along with any needed instruction and material. To learn about the available tools and to start implementing these strategies in regular education instruction, student teachers should be required to implement these in their lesson plans. When student teachers use the available technology to enhance lessons, they are more interactive and reach students with different learning styles. With more online schools available every day, it is necessary to train student teachers to be prepared for all classroom settings, which include face-to-face, Flexnet, and online classes. This training also helps teachers integrate technology into their class structure so that students can use prerecorded lessons and podcasts in centers. In addition, virtual whiteboards are now available on many tablets and handheld devices. Multiple programs for using whiteboard technology include BalBoard Collaborative Whiteboard for iPad, Idroo Online Educational Whiteboard, Soodle Wiktionary, A Web Whiteboard, PixiClip, RealtimeBoard, and Teacahersquare.org. These interactive tools allow students and teachers to collaborate and work virtually on specific concepts or projects. In his address to new and aspiring University of Phoenix College of Education faculty, Dr. Andy Drotos, explored a wide variety of tools that can be used to prepare 21st-century educators. Links to this address and program information are located on the College of Education (Phoenix, University of Phoenix College of Education, 2018a). Collaboration and networking should be encouraged during the student teaching practicum. When teachers learn to work together and share ideas and projects, the workload is reduced. Instead of individual teacher webpages,

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campuses can develop these and provide space for teachers by grade level, department, and/or discipline. Teachers can then work together to develop units, podcasts, supplemental materials, lessons, and a host of student aids and resources. The University of Phoenix offers a host of support for students on multiple webpages beginning with their first orientation through each college. The orientation website begins with providing students the opportunity to network with other students and alumni (Phoenix, University of Phoenix Orientation, 2018b). The examples show prospective students how to provide needed information on webpages, support for new and returning students new, and support for parents moving to the area. These resources also help future school parents see what students are learning and where to locate information. This type of web-based support is part of a system toward greater student success. Student practicum students need to learn how to use networking and collaboration tools effectively. These tools can vary from district to district. Including links on the student teacher practicum webpage for examples of the different tools as well as a means for communication among teacher practicum candidates ensures practicum students know where to find help. Tools such as cloud computing, Google Docs, and SharePoint make it possible to collaborate and share documents. During the student practicum, the seminar instructor can assign collaborative projects for students in which to access and add information. This can be as simple as a sign-in sheet or calendar entry. It is important for students to learn how to access and add information to these documents. Many schools currently use this technology for marking campus absences and to gather information from teachers in the form of sign-in sheets for volunteer activities. Google Classroom is another tool used to aid classroom teachers in sending out information to parents, building a webpage, tracking student progress, adding events to the calendar, creating a phone line and chat room for students to engage in study groups, for parents to hold meetings, and for face-to-face meetings with parents and students after school hours.This useful tool provides information, such as homework assignments, due dates, class materials, tutorials, instructions, and information students may need to complete homework assignments or to make up missed assignments. The value of cloud computing is that the system allows a great deal of storage and access from any computer. In schools, databases and information for teachers to access are available through the intranet in the form of cloud storage. SharePoint is another great resource for teachers, allowing them to share PowerPoints, Prezi, worksheets, activities, and assessments. It is important practicum students understand how to use these resources, keep information confidential, and credit the creators. In addition to these resources, practicum students need to know where to find templates and how to create them. Templates save time and provide teachers with a uniform format for recording information. Learning to create

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templates provides practicum students the opportunity to produce artifacts that can be used in the seminar courses. Templates include tracking charts, lesson plans (original template created by student), worksheets, rubrics, assessments, tables, surveys, and checklists are often provided in the coursework along with instructions for assignments. Practicum students can be provided templates as examples and be asked to produce samples of their own templates as part of their field experience notebook. Students can also explore a huge assortment of these on websites by searching templates for teachers. New teachers need to learn to use these as models for their future students.The University of Phoenix provides an array of technological support links for teachers in a separate area of the student teacher resources webpage.These webpages are linked to specialized areas of instruction and specific courses so that students can easily locate what is needed to complete their student teaching practicums and coursework.

Using resources and research To ensure academic honesty, students are required to provide a list of resources used for the development of lessons as part of the lesson plan template, properly cite sources, and model the appropriate way of use copyrighted material. These procedures also ensure that students are not fined for illegally using sources. During the final seminar course, students produce at least one scholarly research paper on a topic approved by the instructor that directly addresses the population the student teacher has worked with for the semester.This capstone assignment demonstrates how student teachers use research to enhance instruction. For example, a student teacher might identify a problem with a learning gap for third graders in math and research ways to improve instruction. The research should include background information as well as action research procedures that demonstrate specific suggested strategies to address the problem. The practicum instructor can provide different research strategies for applied research in education and how to use sources to develop strategies for specific areas. Active research is essential to ongoing self-evaluation of teaching lessons and strategies. As future educators, practicum students need to learn how to use research to find answers to problems as well as use what they learn in practice. Equally important is understanding how to research and share findings through individual and group research. In addition, students need to know how to find reliable resources. For the practicum research projects, students will be provided a list of reliable resources that include research sources such as Google Scholar, the University Library network, RSS feeds, peer-reviewed journals, discussion boards, and shared resources. In addition, the Educational Impact Online Academy provides teacher candidates further field experience training through master teacher videos on handling diverse student populations, classroom and campus management techniques, personal learning plans, custom courses, and faculty collaboration for education courses (Educational Impact, 2018). This online

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database provides students the opportunity to customize areas of study needed specifically for their practicum experience. The e-portfolio can be used virtually and provides a way for students to showcase their work and provide samples for prospective employers. The content of the practicum e-portfolio should include samples of coursework such as papers, lesson plans, templates, artifacts, and any other information that can showcase student academic and professional work. The content of the portfolio should be outlined in the student teacher handbook and will be included as part of the seminar course grade. The University of Phoenix requires teacher candidates to keep an ongoing e-portfolio throughout the program that contains artifacts from specific courses, a showcase of selected work samples, web connections for future job searches, and a resume. All capstone projects, evaluations, and required artifacts are outlined in the University of Phoenix teacher program and evaluated by course instructions. In addition to these artifacts, student teacher evaluations are included to provide a history of student performance throughout the program.

Conclusion With the integration of technology and Web 2.0 tools, teacher training practicums can produce effective first-year teachers and provide more interaction and collaboration between the school and university. The attrition rate of firstto fifth-year teachers shows a lack in job readiness and knowledge of career expectations. An in-depth teacher training program should afford practical experience for teacher candidates, which can be accomplished by providing prospective practicum candidates with hands-on prepracticum experiences. These experiences can be built into methods courses with practice teaching occurring in small groups of students and software programs like simSchool as part of the practicum placement. Preparing practicum candidates prior to the teaching practicum provides a higher level of confidence and success in the teaching practicum. This also ensures more candidates will be accepted by area schools because they are prepared to work with cooperating teachers. The need to test prospective candidates and use those who are ready for the practicum experience is another important factor in preparing effective classroom teachers. Simply allowing students to enter a practicum does not ensure they are ready to complete the program successfully. Teachers must pass teacher exams to show they know teaching theory and practice, and can apply the knowledge to various situations, which is a requirement to obtain licensure for almost all teacher programs. Students should pass a teacher exam prior to placement in teacher training sessions and be selected by rank if there are limited spaces. Putting the best candidates forward ensures higher success rates and university program credibility. Teacher training is an essential part of the program. Ensuring that candidates emerge from the teaching practicum with the tools for effective teaching is the responsibility of the university and the program it offers.

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The most effective way to train practicum teachers in the 21st century is to take advantage of the latest technology. If teachers are trained to use technology during the practicum experience, they are better prepared to teach 21st-century learners. Not only does technology allow more collaboration and interaction with the cooperating teacher, mentor, student, and university supervisor but also it provides student teachers opportunities to enhance their instruction, collaborate with other teachers, and reduce the amount of repetition and workload for all teachers.

References Chaliès, S., Escalié, G., Bertone, S., & Clarke, A. (2012). Learning “Rules” of practice within the context of the practicum. Canadian Journal of Publication, 35(2), 3–23. Christensen, R. K-W. (2011). SimSchool: An online dynamic simulator for enhancing teacher preparation. International Journal of Learning Technology, 6(2), 201–219. doi:10.1504/ IJLT.2011.042649 Educational Impact. (2018, January 3). Educational Impact.com. Retrieved from Educational Impact www.educationalimpact.com/. Erickson, A. S. (2012). Effectiveness of online professional development for rural special educators. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 31(1), 22–32. Jiyoon,Y. (2007). Cyber practicum: A future practicum classroom. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(1), 163–165. Retrieved November 27, 2017, from http://dblp.uni-trier.de/ db/journals/bjet/bjet39.html Kaufman, D., & Ireland, A. (2016). Enhancing teacher education with simulations. Tech Trends, 60, 260–267. Ko, P. L. (2016). Case studies of lesson and Learning Studies in initial teacher education programmes. International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, 5(2), 78–83. Lahmine, S., Darhmaoui, H., Agnaou, A., Messaoudi, F., & Kaddari, F. (2013). Development of Pre-Service and In-Service Distance Teacher Training Programs in Morocco. Retrieved 12, 2018, from http://library.iated.org/view/lahmine2013dev. Lewis, D. J. (2018, January 5). University of Phoenix Dean of College of Education Faculty. (N. Clarke, Interviewer). National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Student Teaching in the United States. Washington, DC: National Council on Tacher Qualit. Retrieved 2017, from www.nctq.org/ dmsView/Student_Teaching_United_States_NCTQ_Report Pastore, D. D. (2014). Evaluation of simSchool: An instructional simulation for pre-service teachers. Computers in the Schools, 31(3), 197–219. Phillips, O. (2015, March 30). Revolving door of teachers costs schools billions every year. In NPR ed. How Learning Happens National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr. org/sections/ed/2015/03/30/395322012/the-hidden-costs-of-teacher-turnover Phoenix, U. O. (2018a, January 3). University of Phoenix College of Education. Retrieved from University of Phoenix College of Education. www.phoenix.edu/colleges/college-ofeducation.html Phoenix, U. O. (2018b, January 3). University of Phoenix Orientation. Retrieved from Home/ Orientation. www.phoenix.edu/student-orientation.html Sawshuk, S. (2009). Teacher training goes in virtual directions: Educators see an explosion in online-only offerings. Education Week, 28(26), 22, 24.

Virtual tools for teacher training 71 TaskStream/TK20. (2018, January 3). TasKStream/TK20. Retrieved from TaskStream https://www1.taskstream.com/. Tyler-Wood,T., Estes, M., Christensen, R., Knezek, G., & Gibson, D. (2015, Fall). SimSchool: An opportunity for using serious gaming for training teachers in rural areas. Special Education Quarterly, 34(3), 17–20.

Chapter 5

Internationalization in teacher education programs as a door opener for inclusion Two insights from practice Meike Kricke Introduction Since the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, school systems around the world have started to implement features of inclusion. According to these changes, teacher education programs, too, has to adapt to inclusive values in order to prepare all students to be able to engage actively in the fast-moving, changing educational world. Inclusive teacher education is therefore a key component in inclusive educational reconstruction (see Forlin, 2010, p. 650; Amrhein, 2014).The discussion about inclusive teacher education points out that in combination with the necessary reconstruction of educational theories and practices, inclusion is first of all an attitude: “The principles of inclusion should be built into teacher training programs, which should be about attitudes and values not just knowledge and skills” (World Health Organization, 2011, p. 222). The encounter with views on how to deal with diversity in the classroom in a reflective international environment can be a door opener for professional inclusive development of future teachers. After highlighting the benefits of internationalization from a theoretical frame, the text that follows will give two examples from practice. First the project “International Teacher Education Laboratory” (ITEL) will be presented: A specific challenge of teacher education is to work on values and attitudes. Important in this connection is the task of working on teacher students’ own biographical experiences of school socialization and the ways they have learned what it is to be a teacher and a student. Students need to become aware of their own biographical backgrounds, as well as share and reflect beliefs by comparing them to the values of other students in a reflective and research orientated way (see Martschinke & Kopp, 2008, p. 292). The innovative project ITEL tried to meet those challenges as follows: Between 2013 and 2015, some Cologne teacher education students attended the International Teacher Education Laboratory1 as part of their regular studies (see Glutsch & Kricke, 2014; Kricke, Kürten, & Amrhein, 2015; see especially in English language: Kricke & Neubert, 2018). Secondly, eight teacher education students from the University if Eastern Finland (Joensuu) tell their stories and reflect on their experiences in their

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practice period in German schools in 2015. Their report focuses on how their experiences in schools abroad influence their role as future teachers under the perspective of an inclusive school environment.

Benefits of internationalization in teacher education programs Especially in the context of a growing diversity in societies worldwide, internationalization of teacher education is seen as a “key strategic challenge for the coming years” (Stewart, 2008, p. 15). Our world is characterized by globalization: Knight (1997, p. 6 cited in Budak, Çakmak, & Gündüz, 2015, p. 60) points out “Globalization is the flow of technology, economy, knowledge, people, values, ideas . . . Across borders. Globalization affects each country in a different way due to nation´s individual history, traditions, culture and priorities.” Against this background, teacher education programs need to react to the worldwide developments of global citizenships, because global topics are influencing the life of children and teenagers remarkably (see Pachler & Redondo, 2015, p. 22). That shows the importance of an international view in teacher education programs. Global education means in this context an educational reform movement also within the development of a global curriculum (see, for example, Global Goals Curriculum, Global Goals Curriculum e.V.). That means for future teachers that they have the ability to “critically examine their own values and attitude, appreciate the similarities and differences between people everywhere, and value diversity; understand the global context of their local lives; and develop skills that will enable them to combat injustice, prejudice and discrimination” (HM Government, 2005, p. 2). Especially in the context of teaching diverse learners – in an inclusive environment – international experience can support future teachers to reconceptualize and reflect their habits and values of being a teacher, how Budak et al. (2015, p. 60) summarize the benefits of internationalization in teacher education programs: “To prepare student teachers to meet the challenges of the interconnected world and to move beyond their comfort zone to see the world from a different perspective and develop alternative solutions to problems they face.”

Act locally, think globally: ITEL – developing inclusive values through e-portfolios 2 In the frame of an inclusive teacher education, the innovative project ITEL will be described as a first example from practice (see Glutsch & Kricke, 2014; Kricke, Kürten, & Amrhein, 2015; Kricke & Neubert, 2018): It is one example for an inclusive teacher education program in a global context. Based on the principles of an inclusive teacher education (see European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2012), it focused on working on values and attitudes.The innovative project ITEL was constructed as a regular seminar

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in the bachelor phase of teacher education programs. Among other things, the seminar also included accompanying and supporting the students during their first university-based practice phase. The “orientation practice” is a one-month internship all teacher education students usually do in a school during their first year at the university. Main aim of this internship is to offer a general orientation for the students regarding their choice of their study program. In this special innovative international seminar, the main focus lay on inclusive education and offering insights of new ways of learning (see, e.g., Kalantzis & Cope, 2012; see European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2012). The ITEL facilitated contexts and chances for all teacher education students to experience diversity and participation in a multi-perspectival and interactive learning environment. The Cologne students get the chance to develop inclusive perspectives by critically reflecting on their own experiences in theory and practice. Initial points of this were their own attitudes embedded in their own biographies (see Amrhein & Kricke, 2013). The ITEL provided many “inclusive activities,” such as drafting, writing, coloring, discussing and reflecting about heterogeneous imaginations connected with teacher students’ experiences of being a learner and a teacher. The “inclusive activities” made the imaginations and ideas concerning diversity visible. They framed the basis for critical reflection in dialog with international peers and experts. Current international cooperation with universities in countries such as Finland, Spain, Sweden, UK, Turkey, USA and Canada (see Kricke et al., 2015) were used to activate other teacher education students to work on the same inclusive activities. Via e-learning components, Cologne teacher education students shared their inclusive activities with their international peers. By meeting the others’ habits and beliefs, the students become more aware of their own core values. Working theory: beliefs of future teachers

In the first inclusive activity-task, called “working theory,” the students write down their ideas and values about what it means for them to become teachers. Through this activity, they are invited to discover their own beliefs that are grounded in biographical experiences. Groeben et al. (1998) have shown that teachers’ biographical school backgrounds constitute an important influence in their own teaching practices. The following questions guided students’ writing processes (see Kricke & Reich, 2011): • • • • • • •

How do I see the role of a teacher? Which characteristics of the teacher’s profession are essential for me? If I was a teacher now? How do the students see me as a teacher? How do I feel as a teacher? How do I want to develop? What is the significance of being a teacher within our society?

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• • • • • • •

Teaching means to me . . . Learning means to me . . . What is good education for me? Which are the characteristics of good education for me? Which are the situations in which I as a teacher take over an educating role? Handling diversity/heterogeneity in the classroom means to me . . . My tasks as a teacher are the following . . . My personal questions

Comparing their own “working theories” with the ones of their (international) peers, the students can get a deeper understanding and awareness to their own beliefs based on their experiences in a “German” school setting context. This can be one door opener for developing inclusive values of future teachers. By reading “working theories” of their international peers and getting in dialog, a multi-perspectival view can develop. Here the benefit of this international exchange becomes visible: It supports students to take a critical reflection on the limits of the “institutional contexts in which they have grown up . . . and in which they find themselves as future teachers” (Kricke & Neubert, 2018, p. 6). The comparison can be seen as an initial point that “creates an atmosphere in which imaginations and visions can grow for rethinking the roles of teachers and learners in inclusive classrooms” (ibid.). In feedback sessions, the German students mentioned that meeting the “others” helped them to construct new perspectives and visions concerning their future role as teachers and helped them to rethink the school system they had in their minds. Against this background, this project “invites students to travel in time and space and get back to themselves with broadened horizons” (ibid.).

From Joensuu to Cologne – Finnish students experiences (Linnea Breiling, Mirva Poikola, Anette Henttu, Anu Pietilä, Jenny Kinnunen, Heidi Laine, Anniina Karjula and Saara Janhila) In the frame of the “ITEL” we built up cooperation to teacher educators from the University of Eastern Finland (UEF, Joensuu). Eleven of their bachelor students, third year (major special education, age-average 23) planned to visit German schools in 2015 to explore ways of teaching and learning in a heterogeneous learning environment. The students organized and financed their visits on their own and contacted special education schools and regular schools, where students with special needs are integrated in the classroom in Cologne area, where they could observe lessons and school days. While in Finland, most of the special education schools were abolished in the late 1990s in the German federal state North Rhine Westphalia, where Cologne is located, special education schools are still running (see Kricke, 2015). Because I am a teacher educator at the University of Cologne, they contacted me beforehand, and we met

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personally during their stay. The students visited two special education schools and one school with a high rate of integration. After our interaction and reflection about “what they have seen,” the idea was born for a report to publish. Eight students in the group wrote the text that follows. The second example in this chapter shows the students’ written report of their Cologne school visits. It gives insight into the students’ motivations, their experiences and what they have learned while visiting Cologne schools under the perspective of their future roles as special education teachers in a global world. To conclude, their written reflections are set in a broader context of the idea of the benefits of internationalization in teacher education programs and practice periods. Eight Finnish teacher education students tell their story from abroad

Our idea and motivation The Finnish education system is often referred as the role model for inclusion. Inclusive education is a new direction in school systems worldwide set by United Nations (UN) and UNESCO (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2006; UNESCO, 1994). Inclusive education is the approach where every child has the right to attend school regardless any disability, social or ethnical background or any other condition. (UNESCO, 1994) Armstrong (2011) defines inclusive education as a process where education is transformed socially, physically, culturally and pedagogically so that all children could access mainstream education. However, inclusive education is more than just the debate about where education should take place (Mitchell, 2009). According to Ainscow (2005), in order for education to be inclusive, it has to contain the following elements. First, inclusion should be seen as a constantly developing process, and, second, it aims to remove barriers in education. Third, inclusion requires the presence, participation and achievements of all pupils. Fourth, inclusion highlights groups that are at risk of being left outside education. Inclusion has a big role in our teacher education studies at the UEF. Still, the concept of inclusive education is very complex and the practises vary worldwide in different cultures and contexts (Malinen, 2013, p. 15). While the field of Finnish education strives continually for developing new ways of teaching and organizing special education, we wanted to deepen our understanding about the settings of inclusive education by exploring how other countries’ education systems look like. We wanted to get new ideas about teaching and thinking about inclusion. The idea of planning our own trip and funding it on our own started growing in 2013.

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When we began our special education teacher studies in 2013, all of us were really fond of the atmosphere that our study group and quite small university could offer. The degree programme for special education teachers in UEF gives qualifications for the students to work as special education teachers, class teachers in special education and class teachers. There are multiple study programmes to choose when majoring in special education, providing versatile degree programmes for each student (University of Eastern Finland, 2018). Our studies consist of a lot of group work and practical courses in which we could become a strong group. The idea about a field trip started growing with the willingness to do something bigger together with our classmates. During our studies, our mentors encouraged us to build contacts with other countries’ education systems. Therefore, it was easy to get classmates motivated to satisfy our wanderlust and to become international. So the idea was born to travel abroad to discover another educational system under the aspect of inclusive education. Our group of special education students decided to choose Germany because of the country’s great experience with special education and the wide range of special education schools. Our professors recommended Germany for its long history of special education and highly developed special education practises.We wanted to learn about the education system in Germany and how it differs from the school system in Finland. We also knew that inclusion was not put into practice as deeply as it was in Finland; on the other hand, German special education is more systematically organized because of its special schools. In the spring of 2014, we started planning almost two years before the trip. After we talked about the idea, we shared responsibilities to turn the idea into something concrete. A part of the group started to search for fundraising opportunities, and others contacted people who knew about visiting universities abroad. Our Experience Our goal on this journey was to visit special education schools in Germany, get information and learn from a different school system. Therefore, we visited the university and three schools. We had a great opportunity to compare the German and Finnish teacher training studies and the school systems with teachers and colleagues from the University of Cologne. Our special education department in UEF had a contact with the University of Cologne so we were able to arrange a meeting with their faculty. We were interested in the content of the special education study programme in Germany, and in this case the University of Cologne. Our visit to the university enlightened the field of training special schoolteachers and the research.

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During our stay, we visited two special education schools and one school with full inclusion, where we could observe lessons. One of the special schools was located near the city centre and the other schools were suburban. All the schools were middle sized with around 500 pupils. Our visits usually consisted of observing lessons in smaller groups and opportunities to talk about the school with the school staff. The visits offered us new ways of thinking and new ideas about how to assess different students with different needs. Children were, for example, supported in planning their own schedule for the week based on their own skill levels. In the special schools, we were really amazed by how much knowledge the teachers have about single fields in special education.While teachers in Germany are really specialized in their own field, which varies from school to school, Finnish teachers have a broader view, though only an overview about all special education fields. In our opinion, the main difference in Finnish and German special education studies is that in Finland, we get an overview of all the special education fields, while, according to what we learned from the faculty at the University of Cologne, the students in Germany focus on two fields. In Germany, the special education schools need teachers with specific expertise, depending on the school. There are specialised schools, for example, for children with hearing impairments, visual impairments or disabilities. In Finland, there are not many special schools because of the government policy to abolish special schools in order to reduce segregation in the school system. In Finland, the special education teacher has to be able to work in all fields of special education and in all kinds of schools. In practice, this means that in Finland, special education studies are quite general, and we only have one major: special education. Most of our studies are compulsory in a wide range of studies in education and special education. This reflects to our special education field, which is mostly based on integration. A high rate of integration means there are all kinds of pupils in all the schools, and we have to be prepared to support and teach them all. Most of the special schools in Finland have been abolished. Special needs are more often taught in inclusive classrooms or in special classes in special schools (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2016). For example, in smaller schools, there may only be one special education teacher who manages all the special education. In both countries, the special education studies are customised based on the needs of the special education field. One big difference in the two educational school systems is that the German school system divides students after the fourth grade, while in Finland, all pupils attend comprehensive schools. We also learned that the variety of different schools and parallel school systems is huge. There is not only differentiation after fourth grade into three academically differently oriented schools but also general schools and the possibilities of special schools. The primary school with inclusion was a great example of how we must not always divide children into age groups to achieve effective learning.

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The classes in this inclusive school were not divided by age. Every class had students from grade one to grade four, which made it possible to learn from each other.The lessons were structured so that different aged students could study in the same classroom. It was great to see how students teach one another, and they learn naturally from younger and older pupils. We feel that learning, regardless of the age groups, is often discussed in Finland, but it remains a far off target. It seemed like a well working system. Usually, the lessons started with a common moment regarding a specific topic, after which the pupils started working on their own tasks. This system seems to teach the children a lot of co-operation skills but also to take responsibility for their own learning. This German example of studying together is definitely a considerable idea in Finnish schools as well. At this time, classes which are not age related only operate within special education classes or small schools in rural areas. We really were touched by how warmly we were welcomed by the schools and the university. It was great to see that the teachers obviously loved their work. Not that it would be any different to Finland.The teachers’ love for their work made many important things visible for us. There was, for example, a lesson held outside in the forest for pupils (from grades five to nine) with motoric impairments. The teacher was an amazing personality and could get everyone excited about the forest and the surrounding nature. He made the students use all of their senses to get to know the forest. It was a very calming moment.This example of using every sense is a very important thing to remember in all teaching. The more senses we use while learning, the more we can remember. Not everyone learns the same way, so it is significant to use different senses in learning while learning in the classroom. We also had possibilities to learn about the German culture and to tell the children in the schools about Finland and the Finnish culture. It was a great opportunity for the pupils to practice their English and for us to practice our German, and for all of us to learn about different cultures and countries. Besides the school visits, we had time to get familiar with the city of Cologne and the German culture by walking down the streets of Cologne, experiencing the Christmas markets, the museums and the German food and beverages in local breweries. We had heard a lot about the famous Christmas markets, and we were looking forward to experiencing the ambience. The view from the cathedral was worth walking the stairs and really an experience of a lifetime. The Significance of the Trip As future teachers, we should always be able to assess and critically view the school system we work in. To help in assessing it, we should have some kind of knowledge of other kinds of school systems to be able to compare those. Comparing school systems will give us the advantage to see the

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alternative ways of thinking and doing. Other school systems can give us a glimpse at how some things could or could not work. It is always important to remember the different cultures people live in – one thing can work in some cultures and not in others. The key is to learn to see the real advantages that other school systems have. Probably the best and the most productive way to learn about other cultures and school systems is to experience those things in real life. That is why internationalization is in a key position when learning about school systems’ advantages in teacher education programs. Through internationalization, it is possible to hear and learn such opinions that you do not hear in national discussion. Hence internationalization is in the position to develop teachers’ competence and capability to use different teaching methods. To develop well-being at school, it is important that teachers are able to see advantages of different school systems and are also able to combine different parts in order to achieve the best learning results. The main idea of inclusion in Finland is that no one is separated, and everyone should have the same opportunity to study together. Although this is the idea in Finland, we did not see separation in German special schools; on the contrary, we saw great team spirit and fellowship. Some questions remain open, such as what is the meaning of special education schools for the child’s life, social network, post-graduate studies and working opportunities? Does special education stigmatize the children, or is it a great opportunity to feel connected to kids with similar features and possibilities to interact with their peer group? How do children feel about special schools themselves? We suppose that there are no simple answers to these questions. As we stated at the beginning of our text, we feel that continuous questioning about practices regarding our school systems is necessary. Without seeing other ideas and questioning our own comfortable ways of teaching and organizing special education, we cannot develop. Although there are a lot of differences, the challenges such as balancing between the curriculum and personalizing the goals for each learner, and preventing and dealing with feelings of being excluded that they face in the field of special education in Germany sounded very similar to ours. This trip gave us experience and courage to plan similar excursions when working as teachers.We hope we can find the same enthusiasm in our future work community. We also learned a lot from planning and organising group excursions, fundraising and collaboration. We believe these skills are something we can use in the future. We got a lot of small, great ideas to shape our teaching and new ways of thinking about teaching. Our trip to Cologne brought up more questions than answers, which is definitely a good thing. During this project, we got to know each other very well and learned not only from each other but also from ourselves. We grew a lot ourselves. If there were more time before our graduation, this group would not have lacked the motivation and inspiration for another excursion. Our

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group and this trip were a great example of fluent collaboration and commitment that can make anything possible. “We grew a lot ourselves”

The description and reflection of their practice experience in German schools shows how the Finnish teacher education students widened their perspectives: “Comparing school systems will give us advantage to see the alternative ways of thinking and doing.” The students mentioned widening their horizons, reflecting critically on their own attitudes and growing as teachers: “We feel that continuous questioning about practices regarding our school systems is necessary. Without seeing other ideas and questioning our own, comfortable ways of teaching and organizing special education, we cannot develop.” Here we can tie in with Donald Schoens’s idea of the “reflective practitioner” (1983): educational researchers (see Dewey LW 5, pp. 1–40, especially 23–24), artists of caring relationships (see Garrison, 1997) and facilitators of learning (see Reich, 2012). Furthermore, the students describe an inquiry-based approach in their learning experience that they made in German schools: By sensually exploring a different school system, the student group described a key factor for their professionalization process: Probably the best and the most productive way to learn about other cultures and school systems is to experience those things in real life. . . . Through internationalization it is possible to hear and learn such opinions that you do not hear in national discussion. This example from a practice period abroad shows how future teachers feel they grew in themselves – not only in their competencies of being a teacher but also in their life skills and, as they put it in a nutshell, as team partners by collaborating with each other – one of the main preconditions in inclusive teacher education programs (see European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2012): “Our group and this trip was a great example of fluent collaboration and commitment that can make anything possible.”

Conclusion: internationalization in teacher education programs: from “nice to have” to “must have” This chapter showed two examples of how professional growth concerning teaching and learning in an inclusive learning environment can be supported by the integration of international experiences and practice periods that students make in reflective learning environments. Taking into account our globalizing world, Kersten Reich’s demand for multi-perspectivity (2012, p. 254) can be implemented through the dialog of various international school designers. For

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this purpose, the claim grows to implement international aspects in teacher education programs as “a must have.” So far, studies for German teaching students show that a “look beyond the horizon” is hardly dared (see HochschulInformations-System (HIS)- Study, 2013 in Glutsch & Kricke, 2014): Teaching students are less mobile than other students. According to Oser (2011, p. 3), learning and teaching in other countries can promote intercultural competence, which is seen as a characteristic of future educators in an increasingly globalized world. In the case of students acting as “ethnographers” abroad, their intercultural competence is promoted (see ibid.). By exploring other educational and training systems, teacher training students gained various insights as “pedagogical ethnographers” or “school ethnographers” (ibid., 3). Through a searching look, teacher training habits, visions, perspectives of other systems can widen their perspectives. They could be inspired, and their observations could help them learn to question their own ideas of “school” and educational systems. Innovations could thus be created through various implementation scenarios. Against this background, Dominik Baedorf (2015, p. 55) points to a research affirmation that is to be noted in connection with internationalization in teacher training. In his opinion, in addition to a nationwide implementation, also required are longitudinal studies, which examine the effects of stays abroad on skills development and personality structures, especially for teacher education students. Also, it would be necessary to focus on empirically why there is a low frequency of stays abroad for teacher training students.

Notes 1 The ITEL-project was funded by the University of Cologne “QVM”-fundings (10/ 2013–03/ 2015): www.portal.uni-koeln.de/8068.html. 2 This chapter bases on Kricke & Neubert, 2018.

References Ainscow, M. (2005). Developing inclusive education systems:What are the levers for change? Journal of Educational Change, 6(2), 109–124. Amrhein, B. (2014). Professionalisierung für Inklusion. Impulse für die Lehrer*innenbildung Sekundarstufe. In E. Kiel (Ed.), Inklusion im Sekundarbereich. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. Amrhein, B., & Kricke, M. (2013). LehrerInnenbildung für eine inklusive Schule: Chancen portfoliogestützter Reflexionsarbeit in der Begleitung von (Orientierungs-)praktika. In D. Rohr, A. Hummelsheim, M. Kricke, & B. Amrhein (Eds.), Reflexionsmethoden in der Praktikumsbegleitung (pp. 37–48). New York: Waxmann, Munster. Armstrong, F. (2011). Inclusive education, schools, cultures, teaching and learning. In G. Richards & F. Armstrong (Eds.), Teaching and Learning in Diverse and Inclusive Class-Rooms: Key Issues for New Teachers (pp. 7–18). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Baedorf, D. (2015). Empirische Befunde zur Internationalisierung der LehrerInnenbildung. Effekte internationaler Mobilität und dessen Beitrag zur LehrerInnenprofessionalisierung. In: M. Kricke & L. Kuerten (Eds.), Internationalisierung der LehrerInnenbildung. Beispiele aus Theorie und Praxis (pp. 34–58). Münster: Waxmann.

Internationalization in teacher education programs 83 Budak,Y., Çakmak, M., & Gündüz, M. (2015). An overview of integrating globalization and internationalizationin teacher education context. In M. Kricke & L. Kuerten (Eds.), Internationalisierung der LehrerInnenbildung. Beispiele aus Theorie und Praxis (pp. 59–68). Münster: Waxmann. Dewey, J. (1988). The sources of a science of education. In The Later Works (Vol. 5, pp. 1–40). Carbondale, Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. (2012). Inklusionsorientierte Lehrerbildung. Ein Profil für inklusive Lehrerinnen und Lehrer. Retrieved from www.europeanagency.org/sites/default/files/te4i-profile-of-inclusive-teachers_Profile-of-InclusiveTeachers-DE.pdf. Finnish National Agency for Education. (2016). Kuukauden tilasto: Peruskoulujen, lukioiden ja ammatillisten oppilaitosten määrä väheni vuosina 2010–2015. Retrieved from www.oph. fi/tietopalvelut/tilastotiedot/103/0/kuukauden_tilasto_peruskoulujen_lukioiden_ja_ ammatillisten_oppilaitosten_maara_vaheni_vuosina_2010_2015. Forlin, C. (2010). Teacher education reform for enhancing teachers’ preparedness for inclusion. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(7), 649–653. Garrison, J. (1997). Dewey and Eros: Wisdom and Desire in the Art of Teaching. New York, London: Teachers College Press. Global Goals Curriculum e.V.: Global Goals Curriculum 2030. Retrieved from www. ggc2030.org. Glutsch, N., & Kricke, M. (2014). Universität zu Köln: Internationalisation at Home in der Lehrerbildung. In HRK (Ed.), Auf internationale Erfolge aufbauen: Beispiele guter Internationalisierungspraxis an deutschen Hochschulen. Bonn. Groeben, N., Wahl, D., Schlee, J., & Scheele, B. (1998). Das Forschungsprogramm Subjektive Theorien. Eine Einführung in die Psychologie des reflexiven Subjekts. Tübingen: Francke. HM Government (DfES). (2005). Department for Education and Skills Departmental Report. Retrieved from www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/272106/6522.pdf. Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). New Learning: Elements of a Science of Education (2nd ed.). Champaign: Common Ground Publishing. Knight, J. (1997). Internationalization of higher education: A conceptual framework. In: Knight, J., Wit, H. de (Hrsg.), Internationalization of Higher Education in Asia Pacific Countries (pp. 5–19). Amsterdam: European Association for International Education. Kricke, M. (2015). Lernen und Lehren in Deutschland und Finnland: eine empirische Analyse zu Schulsystem und LehrerInnenbildung im Ländervergleich. Dissertation, Universität zu Köln. Retrieved from http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/6070/ Kricke, M., & Neubert, S. (2018). Constructivism, inclusion, democracy, and education – A Deweyan reflection on the concept of the Cologne international teacher education laboratory. In L. Hickman, M. Kricke, & S. Neubert (Eds.), Democracy and Education – Theory and Practice in the Age of Renascent Nationalism and Right-Wing Populism. Hawthorne, CA: Sciedu Press. Kricke, M., & Reich, K. (2011). Das Eignungspraktikum/Das Orientierungspraktikum/Das Berufsfeldpraktikum/Das Praxissemester in der LehrerInnenausbildung in Nordrhein-Westfalen im Bachelor-/Masterstudiengang – Reader für die Praktikantinnen und Praktikanten und die Ausbildungslehrer/innen. Köln (Universität). Retrieved from www.uni-oeln.de/hf/konstrukt/ reich_works/aufsatze/index.html Kricke, M., Kürten, L., & Amrhein, B. (2015). „Der Blick über den Tellerrand” – Innovation und Professionalisierung durch Internationalisierung einer inklusiven LehrerInnenbildung.

84  Meike Kricke In M. Kricke & L. Kuerten (Eds.), Internationalisierung der LehrerInnenbildung. Beispiele aus Theorie und Praxis (pp. 81–98). Münster: Waxmann. Malinen, O. (2013). Inclusive Education from Teachers’ Perspective: Examining Pre-and In-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Attitudes in Mainland China. Joensuu: Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Martschinke, S., & Kopp, B. (2008). Selbstreflexives und forschendes Lernen als Mittel zum Erwerb günstiger Orientierungen für den Umgang mit Heterogenität – eine hochschuldidaktische Studie. In J. Abel, O. Beisbart, G. Faust, & S. Rahm (Eds.), Wirkt Lehrerbildung? Antworten aus der empirischen Forschung. Tagungsband zum Internationalen Lehrerbildungskongress an der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg am 24.- 26.9.2007 (pp. 291–300). Münster: Waxmann. Mitchell, D. (2009). Introduction to positions of problem-solving education. In D. Mitchell (Ed.), Contextualizing Inclusive Education: Evaluating Old and New International Perspectives (pp. 1–21). Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York: Routledge. Oser, F. (2011). Introduction, intercultural learning as a key competence for professionalization. In T. Goetz, G. Jaritz, & F. Oser (Eds.), Pains and Gains of International Mobility in Teacher Education (pp. 3–6). Rotterdam, Boston, Taipei: Sense Publishers. Pachler, N., & Redondo, A. (2015). Internationalisation in (teacher) education. In M. Kricke & L. Kuerten (Eds.), Internationalisierung der LehrerInnenbildung. Beispiele aus Theorie und Praxis (pp. 21–33). Münster: Waxmann. Reich, K. (2012). Konstruktivistische Didaktik (5th ed.). Weinheim, Basel: Beltz. Schoen, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books. Stewart, Y. (2008). Mainstreaming the European dimension into teacher education in England – enabling and disabling factors. In TEPE 2nd Annual Conference: Teacher Education in Europe: Mapping the Landscape and Looking to the Future, Ljubljana, Slovenia, February 21–23. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). (2006). General comment No. 9. 2006. The rights of children with disabilities, 27 February 2007, CRC/C/GC/9. Retrieved from www.refworld.org/docid/461b93f72.html. UNESCO. (1994). The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0009/000984/098427eo.pdf. University of Eastern Finland. (2018). Retrieved from www.uef.fi/en/web/kapsy/ erityispedagogiikka. World Health Organization. (2011). World Report on Disability. Retrieved from www.who. int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/.

Chapter 6

Applying teaching practicum experiences to challenging situations A study on newly qualified teachers Anne Berit Emstad Introduction I feel that the teacher training program set a general standard for how a class should be and how students should behave. Once I started working as a teacher, I felt that many of the situations I encountered were major exceptions. As time passed, I experienced that they aren’t exceptions, but things that occur regularly.

The introductory quotation is from an interview with Birgitte, a newly qualified teacher (NQT), and exemplifies the shock one typically experiences when starting a professional practice. This transformation shock indicates how poorly prepared NQTs are to handle daily problems encountered at schools and in classrooms (Engvik, 2008;Veeneman, 1984; Weinstein, 1988, 1998). Norway, as well as countries worldwide, currently faces two key challenges: the need for new teachers and the growing number of student teachers and NQTs exiting the profession (Ingersoll, 2001;Tiplic, Brandmo, & Elstad, 2015). Internationally, the percentage of teachers leaving the profession varies between 30% and 50% per year. As for Norway, Statistics Norway has predicted a shortage of 3,430 teachers by 2020 (Gunnes & Knudsen, 2015).Tiplic, Brandmo and Elstad (2015) claim that 33% of Norway’s NQTs will exit the profession within five years. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors contributing to these conditions, given that the social costs associated with teacher dropouts are a major concern (Darling-Hammond, 2010). NQTs underestimate the complexity of the teaching profession and overestimate their ability to simultaneously deal with multiple agendas (Hoy & Spero, 2005). In addition, they initially have high expectations in terms of their importance in students’ learning and development but when they encounter certain realities, they feel dissonance between their expectations to succeed and their frustration (Simos, 2013). The transition from being a student to a teacher is more difficult than anticipated for many (Weinstein, 1990) and is one of numerous factors underpinning NQTs’ departure from their profession after a few years on the job. An essential factor for the development of self-efficacy

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as pre-service teachers is mastery (Mulholland & Wallace, 2001). Several studies have highlighted the importance of mastering teaching in the first years of work. The first year is key in the long-term development of self-efficacy, and the absence of a sense of mastery during this period is a possible reason for many NQTs to quit their profession (Hoy & Spero, 2005). Thus those who leave the teaching profession have lower self-efficacy than those who do not (Glickman & Tamashiro, 1982). Further, lack of inadequate classroom management has been associated with NQTs’ failure to cope with students’ disruptive behaviors. This may lead to stress and low job satisfaction, which is one of the reasons for teachers’ dropout rates (Browers & Tomic, 2000; Sezer, 2017; Schwarzer & Hallum, 2008). This chapter aims to explore beginner teachers’ experience with and reflections on challenging school situations and supporting factors. Further, it investigates the importance of such challenging situations in the future development of teachers. Finally, drawing on the experiences of the research participants, this chapter discusses considerations for teacher training institutions.

Theoretical framework Several studies address the effect of mastery on self-efficacy and its role as a source of belief in NQTs mastering their profession (Mulholland & Wallace, 2001). Bandura (1993) maintains that teachers’ self-efficacy – that is, their belief in their abilities to motivate and promote learning, considerably affects the learning environment they create and pupils’ subsequent development and learning. A key contribution of this study is its implications for teacher training. More specifically, this study highlights the type of understanding required for student teachers to master the complexities they encounter in the teaching profession. To discuss NQTs’ experiences with mastery, I drew on the work of CochranSmith and Lytle (1999), who distinguished between three knowledge concepts in the context of teachers learning and the importance of developing their practice: “knowledge for practice,” “knowledge in practice” and “knowledge of practice.” Knowledge for practice is described as formal knowledge, such as learning theories and subject didactic knowledge. Knowledge in practice is found in teachers’ daily schoolwork and includes knowledge about students and their achievements, performances and learning, as well as reflections of their practices. Knowledge of practice combines knowledge for practice and knowledge connecting experiences from practice with formal knowledge and theory. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999) also introduced a fundamental attitude, inquiry as stance, which is the formation of an investigative community comprising teachers and students who take an investigative stance to generate local knowledge, identify the theory behind their practice and interpret and examine others’ research. The aim is not to arrive at a conclusion but to create understanding, articulate and, finally, change practice and social conditions to

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achieve basic changes in the classroom, schools, districts, programs and professional organizations.

Data collection and analysis methods The present study is a qualitative case study that examines NQTs’ experiences with challenging situations at school and the contribution of support from both colleagues and teacher training in dealing with these situations. A case study is “an empirical enquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident,” and it “relies on multiple sources of evidence” (Yin, 2003, p. 13). Stake (2005) claims that case studies can assist the reader in the construction of knowledge. In case studies, different kinds of data are combined, and in this study, individual journals (text analyses), individual interviews and focus-group interviews were combined to elucidate the phenomena. The following research questions were designed to form the basis for a discussion of the findings’ implications for teacher training: • •

How do NQTs experience and reflect on challenging moments? How do their schools and training help them handle such situations?

The three NQTs had completed their practical pedagogical education (abbreviated as PPU in Norway) a year and a half prior to this study. PPU is a one-year undergraduate teacher training program, which is a requirement for employment in secondary schools for candidates with a vocational or general academic background. PPU comprises pedagogy, professional didactics and 11 weeks of practice training at a school. The National Curriculum Regulations for practical pedagogical education defined overall learning outcomes as knowledge, skills and general competence. Of special interest for this study are the outcomes that result from their practice. The candidate is, for instance, expected to possess the following knowledge, skills and general competence: • • • • •

in-depth academic didactic and pedagogical knowledge broad knowledge of children’s and youth culture, and the development and learning of children and adolescents in various social and cultural contexts broad knowledge of learning strategies, learning arenas and working methods in general, especially in their respective subjects the ability to use varied work methods, differentiate and adapt training in accordance with current curriculum and create a motivational and inclusive learning environment the ability to describe characteristics of competence, assess and document student learning, provide learning-based feedback and help students to reflect on their own learning and professional development

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• a professional attitude and the ability to critically reflect on professional, ethical and academic and educational policy issues At the time of data collection, the three NQTs had been in paid employment for little over a year. None of them were part of a mentor program or applying secondary measures in their first jobs as teachers. For the purpose of this study, the three NQTs were assigned fictitious names. Anett and Birgitte worked in lower secondary schools of similar sizes in different parts of the country. The schools had 250–300 students, and Anett and Birgitte were homeroom teachers to their respective classes during their first year. Carl worked in a small folk high school and was responsible for a group of ten students aged 16–18 years old. The research participants were asked to maintain a journal for 14 days in the autumn of their second year working at the school. They had to describe challenging situations, their experiences with these situations and the support they received to handle them. In addition to the journal, I conducted individual interviews so that the NQTs could elaborate on the situations and their experiences. These interviews were transcribed and coded. I used open coding to analyze each journal and interview for keywords connecting the NQTs’ journals and interviews to the research questions. Next, to reduce the number of codes, I looked for possible categories that connected the codes and arrived at the following five categories: “expectations of personal mastery,” “immediate reflections and emotions,” “later reflections and emotions,” “support and help received in difficult situations” and “contributions of teacher training.” Next, the three NQTs were presented with the analysis and asked to reflect, discuss and elaborate on it. This process took the form of a focus-group interview conducted just two months after the first interview, and the new information was added to the first analysis. I then conducted a descriptive analysis of the findings, which is presented in the following text.

Findings Expectations of personal mastery I didn’t believe I would make it at all! I was scared witless! (Anett)

During the interview, they talked about their expectations of mastery once they had completed their teacher training. In the earlier quotation, Anett recalls the accomplishments a teacher is expected to achieve and considered them to be an impossible task. She claimed that these expectations are created during the teacher training program, where she experienced the growing responsibility to address all students. Birgitte, on the other hand, believed that teaching would be a simple task. She understood that there would be much to do, but given that

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one of her parents was a teacher, she was prepared for the possible workload. Carl mentioned that he was looking forward to starting work as a teacher and described a sense of pleasure in knowing that he would finally have control over his own work. Immediate reflections and emotions It is situations like these that one believes an NQT must be able to deal with and continue motivating the students, but it feels completely useless. Where can one find the motivation and the real reason why a student does not want to work with tasks? And where does one draw the line for how long it is acceptable to sit and do nothing? (Anett)

Anett, Birgitte and Carl described eight challenging situations they faced over 14 days in their journals. Anett noted that she felt compelled to break up a fight, find the person responsible for the vandalism that occurred during an overnight class trip, address a demanding mother during a teacher-parent meeting and deal with a student who was unwilling to take out his books and preferred to sit on the floor during class: I immediately realised that this situation was about to escalate. I arrived carrying loads of books, papers and dictionaries. I did not have much time to think before they started hitting each other. Both the boys were perhaps eight inches taller than me, so I just stepped between them, saying loudly “That’s it−just stop!” I managed to grab one hand each and hold them back. At the time, I was not thinking about the other students, but when I reacted, several of the other boys stood in front of the two boys. On the one hand, I had to quickly show the others that I did not believe the two boys would fight, but on the other, I was focused on stopping them and believed that it could quickly develop into something more serious. Birgitte described two episodes. The first occurred in a class where she was asked to substitute. Birgitte faced a student who was restless during a work session, and as a result, she was unable to maintain calm and order in the classroom: “One has 25 other students to consider, and I cannot spend all my time on somebody who doesn’t want to do anything, because this would be unfair to the others.” Similarly, Carl described two episodes in school: handling theft and bullying. It appears that all three NQTs consider such situations to be frustrating and tiresome, and feel they are not respected by their students. Further, they must act intuitively and often use the term “common sense” as grounds for their immediate actions.

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Later reflections and emotions I think about it a lot later . . . in the evenings. I never go to bed without my notebook – I think about different students: what do I do with him, how can I make them feel that it is interesting to learn new things (. . .) I note down things . . . the next time I will bring this or that, try it. . . . I think back to when I was in school. How did I want my teachers to be, how would I have reacted? (Anett)

Anett invested her time in processing incidents and challenging situations, and as shown by the earlier quotation, reflected on these experiences when thinking about the future. In his journal, Carl made notes about the theft that remained unresolved. He reflected on how to proceed in such cases in the future and on the bullying incident in which he had to intervene and stop the bullying. Carl wrote, “We summarise it and agreed that this was a correct and orderly way of dealing with the case.” The three NQTs claimed to spend significant time evaluating themselves after such situations – that is, what they should have done differently or what to do the next time. They also thought back to when they attended school and their thoughts at the time. In doing do, they attempted to assume the students’ perspectives to achieve better understanding. In her journal, Anett described her experiences and progress from one episode to another: I keep trying to figure out why he does not want to work, whether it is something other than feeling lazy. Maybe he feels it is difficult, or he hasn’t understood the assignment, or is disturbed by others, or feels it is difficult to express himself, but little appears to help. (. . .) I tried everything from group work with level-divided groups, random groups, tasks with projects, individual tasks and verbal assignments; however, there appears to be no significant change in the motivation or willingness to work. Anett, Birgitte and Carl stated that teacher and morning meetings were important forums in their first year at work and continued to be an arena to discuss cases. We could cooperate on resolving challenges. We could have the same rules during class and everybody else could also have the same rules during their classes. . . . And this was very useful. We have been forced to not only talk about things but also solve them. I feel that we have managed quite well. (Birgitte) All three NQTs reflected individually and as a group over difficult situations, and highlighted the importance of colleagues and teams.

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Support and help received in difficult situations The other teachers recognise the problems and admit to also experiencing the same problems with the same students. Needless to say, I get tips, but they rarely seem to work. What works for them doesn’t always work for me. But it has been good, really. Even if the tips don’t work, they make it clear that it is okay if things don’t always work out and it can get challenging. (Birgitte)

For all three NQTs, the recognition that it is acceptable to have problems is a crucial form of support. While receiving tips and advice is useful, this is not as important as receiving confirmation that everybody experiences challenges. During his interview, Carl stated that tips and advice from colleagues may indicate the absence of critical reflection since one believes that situations can be dealt with in a similar manner, regardless of the student(s) involved. He stated, The situation may be the same, but the people involved may be completely different, and then I have to act and make decisions that are different from those of the previous day. I must have the ability to adapt all the time. In addition, the NQTs mentioned that support and positive feedback give them a sense of trust, which makes it easier to feel confident about their decisions. This highlights that acknowledging that a teacher is experiencing problems is the most important form of support in challenging situations. Anett emphasized the importance of good and close ties with colleagues: I have some colleagues whom I have stronger bonds with than others. We meet for colleague nights or social events in the afternoon to talk about things and air some of our thoughts. Particularly these two, three or four colleagues you become closer to. They’ve helped me get through many things more quickly, I think. They have saved me in quite a few situations. For the three studied NQTs, support from school leaders was secondary to that from colleagues. In addition, they felt that the school leaders supported them and accepted their work, and this gave them a sense of being trusted. Contributions of the teacher training program These everyday issues are quite absent in the teacher training program. How do you proceed? How do you act when something happens? These aren’t things you read about in a book. It’s about personal development and personal values; how do I want it to be out there. (Carl)

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The interviews also pointed out that the teacher training program was based more on theory than practice. Birgitte stated, “It was either only theory or only practice, and they were never connected.” When asked whether the teacher training program was helpful in such situations, Anett responded, I really can’t say that there was anything that helped me. But I don’t really know whether it could have either, apart from having much more practice because it has taken me a year of full-time work to get to where I am. I don’t quite know whether it’s possible to prepare yourself for such situations simply based on theory. If you had challenging classes in practice, you may have some experience.You may have not figured it out or known how to solve it, but at least, you would have started thinking about it, experienced it. Anett, Birgitte and Carl questioned how the presentation of tools and working methods curbed imagination, as well as why they were required to find solutions independently when they started teaching. They believed that more elaborate learning about a method or tool would have allowed for further development or a starting point. They also expected their teaching practice supervisors and mentors to offer more examples of varied teaching and some form of support, even during the practice periods. Further, they mentioned that the time they spent with other teachers was limited, and they had little opportunity to reflect with experienced teachers or the teacher training supervisors. Drawing on this descriptive analysis, I will discuss how the NQTs act intuitively, using common sense, the support they receive from colleagues and teacher education. I also summarize the implication of these findings for teacher training programs.

Discussion Intuitive actions using common sense in challenging situations

Anett, Birgitte and Carl all mentioned the use of “common sense” (or “what they are thinking there and then”) when acting intuitively in challenging moments. They admitted to thinking about their own teachers when attempting to find solutions, and called for more practical actions and tools during teacher trainings. Although the curriculum of PPU should contribute to the use of varied work methods, differentiate and adapt training, and provide broad knowledge of learning strategies, learning arenas and working methods in general, especially in the respective subjects, they all felt a lack of this competence. The knowledge-in-practice concept assumes that what the knowledge teacher needs can be found in the exemplary practices of experienced teachers (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). The three NQTs who participated in this

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study reportedly did not have mentors and stated that the provision of practical tools and actions appears to be taboo in not only teacher training institutions but also among the teaching-training supervisors they interacted with. This finding is in line with that of Nilssen and Klemp (2014), who claimed that in Norway, supervisors have not been comme il faut in teacher training in recent decades. Skagen (2016) drew attention to how the apprenticeship idea earlier dominated guidance traditions in Norwegian teacher trainings, but no longer holds the same status. In other words, students have fewer opportunities to participate in practice by observing supervisor teachings. Knowledge is instead generated through reflections and studies on practices, and while knowledge possessed by experts may be tacit, it can be observed. From this perspective, experienced teachers offer reflective guidance to student teachers or NQTs thorough a process of learning (Nilssen & Klemp, 2014). Skagen (2016) claimed that the anti-instrumentalism of teacher training has diminished operational knowledge in teaching. Similarly, Clark (1988, p. 10) deemed this the “unintended sabotage of a potentially important experience” and claimed that teacher trainings suggest that good teachers do not use textbooks, causing NQTs to believe they have failed when they are unable to develop original and successful teaching materials. Observation of actions may generate interest and inspiration to try and learn something new, thus offering an alternate view of imitation than what the research participants have experienced through their teacher training programs (Vygotsky, 1977). Acceptance through tips and advice

In their journals, the three NQTs described emotions such as discouragement and frustration arising during and after challenging moments, and stated that such experiences stayed with them, leading to feelings of fatigue. Despite this, they managed to work through these emotions and continue functioning as teachers. While Anett, Birgitte and Carl did not consider the tips themselves to be essential, they interpreted them as signs of acceptance; that is, their need for help was recognized, and experienced teachers acknowledged encountering similar problems. In this context, interpersonal support was associated with verbal persuasion and the mental or psychological backing colleagues offered through tips, advice and encouragement (Bandura, 1977). Here it might be interesting to explore how such expectations will allow teachers to master approaches to such situations. Anett stated that she has gained more realistic expectations for her students, acknowledging that she cannot individually help all them learn. She also pointed to external circumstances she is unable to manage. Research indicates a drop in self-efficacy during the initial teaching year and this could be observed among participants in the year after they completed their training (Hoy & Spero, 2005; Weinstein, 1990, 1998).

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Weinstein (1988) used the construct “unrealistic optimism” to suggest that student teachers underestimate the difficulties of motivating students, organizing class activities, relating to parents and dealing with individual differences. This unrealistic optimism can be attributed to their lack of experience or to an emphasis on student teachers finding their own identities and personal teaching styles. All three NQTs stated they were unaware that “the exceptions were the norm”; thus, it is essential to explore how NQTs can better address uncertainties inherent in teaching. The three NQTs now admit there is no solution that is transferrable between situations. It is possible that their feelings of being incompetent and resignation could have been avoided if they had adopted an explorative and questioning approach to identifying new solutions to challenging issues. Clark (1988, p. 10) addressed this uncertainty by stating the following: However, the teacher educator who abandons the fiction that teaching can become a technically exact scientific enterprise, and who has the courage to reveal how he or she agonises over real dilemmas and contradictions, that teacher educator is likely to be successful at helping prospective teachers to prepare themselves for uncertainty. This highlights the need to abandon the notion that a solution exists for everything and instead acknowledge that teaching expertise is more about making the most of the unexpected than knowing all the answers (Clark, 1988). Importance of support and being prepared

Many local researchers have called for a focus on a problem-solving approach and emphasized the importance of professional communities which challenge self-strengthening mechanisms that maintain individualist professional cultures (Raaen, 2011). This entails facilitating the development of knowledge and experience, which requires an acceptance of others’ views and an extended understanding of knowledge.This could create a community of learning among colleagues who generate ideas and criticism (Raaen, 2011). All three NQTs highlighted the importance of colleagues in trying to move from one episode to another, especially when battling feelings of fatigue and frustration. This finding is supported by several NQT-based studies that highlight the importance of communicating lifelong learning and understanding that being newly qualified will involve challenges (Brock & Grady, 1998; Johnson & Birkeland, 2003). The National Curriculum Regulations for practical pedagogy aim to form candidates that hold professional attitudes and can critically reflect on professional experiences; still, many NQTs experience challenging moments that makes them question their own professionality. Emotions are an important factor that could explain NQTs’ decision to quit and are often tied to the concept of practice shock, or transfer shock (Tiplic et al., 2015). An NQT’s ability to deal with challenging situations is mediated by

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self-efficacy – that is, self-confidence in handling situations (Bandura, 1977). Interpersonal support is another key factor that strengthens the ability to deal with emotional fatigue and reduce stress and tension in the work situation (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2007). The participants also stated that their teacher training programs did not offer much support in dealing with challenging situations and was based on either theory or practice. PPU is supposed to give candidates in-depth academic didactic and pedagogical knowledge, but the three participating teachers didn’t see the link between theory and practice. Skagen (2016) maintained that the distinction between theoretical and practical instructions in teacher training has been thoroughly documented and has deep historical roots. In light of CochranSmith and Lytle’s (1999) concepts of knowledge, teacher training seems to have been prioritizing the knowledge-for-practice concept, as students are presented with pedagogical theories and subject didactic knowledge that should optimally prepare them to perform as teachers (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005). Examining the drawbacks in the relationship between experiences with challenging situations during practical teacher training and the absence of actual situations to reflect on will help explain the reduced self-efficacy that can be observed when NQTs begin working. Clark (1988) asserted that an effective way to understand one’s beliefs is to discuss them with others who understand the challenges of being a good teacher. In practice, NQTs are dependent on their teaching-training supervisors, who add a great deal of significance to the knowledge-about-practice concept. The knowledge-about-practice concept is not a synthesis of the two concepts but an idea of “inquiry as stance,” implying an exploratory fundamental attitude that facilitates the establishment of self-efficacy practices focused on professional development. Under these practices, schools allow space for student teachers to learn with experienced teachers who construct knowledge of practice, thus integrating theory and practice.

Conclusions and implications for teacher training In this study, I examined NQTs’ experiences with challenging situations at school and the support they received from their teacher training to better cope with them.The National Curriculum Regulations for the PPU expects NQTS to have general competence that can contribute to their success when they start working in schools as teachers. Their in-depth academic didactic and pedagogical knowledge should have given them broad knowledge about children’s learning and learning strategies, a variety of working methods and ways to help students reflect on their own learning and professional development. PPU should also contribute to a professional attitude and the ability to reflect critically on professional issues. The findings indicate that challenging situations involve emotional stress; however, a collegial culture offers daily support in the form of tips and advice,

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thus enabling NQTs to acknowledge and address these feelings. The participants interpreted these tips and advice as acceptance, although they didn’t always have solutions or similar challenges, which in turn reduced their emotional exhaustion and stress (Brock & Grady, 1998; Johnson & Birkeland, 2003). The knowledge-of-practices concept is based on the assumption that knowledge is constructed locally through teachers and leaders, thus emphasizing a critical perspective connecting experience and theory. Teachers’ use of knowledge in practice and knowledge of practice indicated an investigative attitude (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). It is essential to discuss how teacher training can contribute to the development of self-efficacy that will not diminish later as a result of unrealistic expectations. Practice-based teacher training can give students the opportunity to gain a realistic perspective on the complexity of school by encouraging students to not only complete their assigned number of teaching hours but also formally and informally participate in collegial communities. This participation can serve as a good opportunity to learn from more experienced teachers within a learning community. Discussions of challenging situations with other student teachers and teaching-training supervisors limit participation in informal professional learning through, for example, authentic conversations (White & Moss, 2003); authentic conversations involve sharing concerns and reassessing practices with other teachers, and aim to enhance students’ learning. Through such conversations, student teachers gain the opportunity to experience a sense of community and participate in discussions on classroom practices at the schools where they are training. However, Le Fevre (2011) argued that NQTs’ stories serve as a personal, powerful and poignant curriculum for teacher education and can be used to “problematize dominant stories about learning and teaching, develop a community of learners in which to critically examine practices and beliefs about literacy, and understand different perspectives about literacy” (p. 786). Thus the focus on authentic experiences in practice can promote a higher degree of resistance and stamina. NQTs may experience practice shock because of their inability to act and may believe they have not yet mastered the situation (Caspersen & Raaen, 2014).This implies that they are tackling a situation while knowingly experiencing a mental imbalance and disturbances, instead of placing the situation on hold until it is fully explored (Dewey, 1997). It also means working systematically over time to develop various strategies to find solutions while addressing uncertainty. A keener focus on the knowledge-about-practice concept requires a cooperative partnership between the student teacher training schools and the practice of teacher training.This builds on the assumption that knowledge is socially constructed by teachers’ undertaking of practice-based studies in which the curricula and teachings are constructed for lifelong learning (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). Teachers’ training is associated with uncertainty, meaning inquiries stem from questions as well as generating new questions, a dialectic approach

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in which knowledge is both constantly composed and challenged (CochranSmith & Lytle, 1999).

References Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy:Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215. Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28(2), 117–148. Brock, B. L., & Grady, M. L. (1998). Beginning teacher induction programs: The role of the principal. The Clearing House, 71(3), 179–183. Browers A., & Tomic, W. (2000). A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and perceived selfefficacy in classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(2), 239–253. Caspersen, J., & Raaen, F. D. (2014). Novice teachers, and how they cope. Teachers and Teaching.Theory and Practice, 20(2), 189–211. Clark, C. M. (1988). Asking the right questions about teacher preparation: Contributions of research on teacher thinking. Educational Researcher, 17(2), 5–12. Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24(1), 249–305. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Teacher education and the American future. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1–2), 35–47. Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (2005). Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Dewey, J. (1997). How We Think. Mineola: Dover Publications. Engvik, G. (2008). Praksissjokk i videregående skole? [Practice shock in upper secondary school]. In T. L. Hoel, B. Hanssen, & R. Boktittel (Eds.), Det store spranget – ny som lærer i skole og barnehage [The Big Leap – New as a Teacher in School and Kindergarten] (pp. 111–122). Trondheim: Tapir Akademisk Forlag. Glickman, C. D., & Tamashiro, R. T. (1982). A comparison of first-year, fifth-year, and former teachers on efficacy, ego-development, and problem-solving. Psychology in the Schools, 19(4), 558–562. Gunnes,T., & Knudsen, P. (2015). Tilbud og etterspørsel for ulike typer lærere mot 2040: Framskrivinger basert på LÆRERMOD. Oslo: Statistics Norway. Hoy, A.W., & Spero, R. B. (2005). Changes in teacher efficacy during the early years of teaching: A comparison of four measures. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(4), 343–356. Ingersoll, R. M. (2001). Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 499–534. Johnson, S. M., & Birkeland, S. E. (2003). Pursuing a “sense of success”: New teachers explain their career decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 581–617. Le Fevre, D. M. (2011). Creating and facilitating a teacher education curriculum using preservice teachers’ autobiographical stories. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(4), 779–787. Mulholland, J., & Wallace, J. (2001). Teacher induction and elementary science teaching: Enhancing self-efficacy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(2), 243–261. Nilssen, V. L., & Klemp, T. (2014). Lærerstudenten i møtet mellom teori og praksis. [The Student Teacher in the Crossroads between Theory and Practice]. Oslo: Universitetforlaget. Raaen, F. D. (2011). Kompetente nyutdannede lærere: Et spørsmål om gode lærerteam-eller om den rette mentorordning? [Competent Newl Qualifies Teachers: A Question of a Good Teacher Team or the Right Mentor Scheme?]. Oslo: Abstrakt Forlag AS.

98  Anne Berit Emstad Robert, E. (2005). Qualitative Case Studies.The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications. Schwarzer, R., & Hallum, S. (2008). Perceived teacher self-efficacy as a predictor of job stress and burnout: Mediation analyses. Applied Psychology, 57(1), 152–171. Sezer, S. (2017). Novice teachers’ opinions on students’ disruptive behaviours: A case study. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research (EJER), 69, 99–219. Simos, E. (2013). Why do new teachers leave? How could they stay? English Journal, 102(3), 100–105. Skagen, K. (2016). Kunnskapstyper og hegemonisk veiledningsstrategi I norsk veiledningsdispurs. In A. L. Østern & G. Engvik (Eds.), Veiledningspraksiser i bevegelse (pp. 59–80) Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. Tiplic, D., Brandmo, C., & Elstad, E. (2015). Antecedents of Norwegian beginning teachers’ turnover intentions. Cambridge Journal of Education. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10. 1080/0305764X.2014.987642. Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(6), 944–956. Veeneman, S. (1984). Perceived problems of beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research, 54(2), 143–178. Vygotsky, L. S. (1977). Thouqht and Language. Cambridge: MIT. Weinstein, C. S. (1988). Preservice teachers’ expectations about the first year of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 4(1), 31–40. Weinstein, C. S. (1990). Prospective elementary teachers’ beliefs about teaching: Implications for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 6(3), 279–290. Weinstein, C. S. (1998). “I want to be nice, but I have to be mean”: Exploring prospective teachers’ conceptions of caring and order. Teaching and Teacher Education, 14(2), 153–163. White, J., & Moss, J. (2003). Professional Paradoxes: Context for Development of Beginning Teacher Identity and Knowledges. Paper presented at the AARE 2003, Educational research, risks, & dilemmas: Proceedings of the 2003 Australian Association for Research in Education Conference. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Chapter 7

Teachers’ learning in reflecting teams Processes and premises May Britt Postholm

Introduction The Norwegian education authorities want to improve the quality of teaching in lower secondary schools by focusing on school-based development. The Norwegian authorities define this as follows: School-based development means that the school, including school leaders and the entire staff, undergoes a workplace development process. The aim is to develop the school’s collective knowledge, attitudes and skills when it comes to learning, teaching and collaboration. (Directorate of Education, 2012, p. 5, my translation) In a national project conducted from 2013–2017, all lower secondary schools in Norway, altogether 1,250 schools, were invited to take part in school-based development. All the 19 teacher education institutions in Norway also took part in supporting the schools. The authorities stated that the school leaders should lead the development processes with assistance from teacher educators. The teachers’ task in the schools was to create situations in which students felt a sense of mastery and thus increased their motivation to learn. In addition, the aim was to develop teaching practice that is practical, comprises various activities and is relevant and challenging for the students (Directorate of Education, 2012). School-based development represents a new practice for teacher educators, school leaders and school teachers. In school, the aim is to develop collective knowledge, attitudes and skills when it comes to learning, teaching and collaborating so that the students feel a sense of mastery and thus become more motivated to learn. To reach these goals, teachers are encouraged to collaborate and observe and reflect on each other’s teaching (Ministry of Education, 2011, 2017). In this chapter, my point of departure is a school-based competence development project aimed at illuminating what teachers can learn from such a project and how they learn from it. The selected school, situated in a suburban area, has 160–170 students. This lower secondary school had a total of 12 teachers, who were also connected to

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each of their class teams, and I, the teacher educator/researcher, collaborated together with the teachers for two years.The teachers determined the topic for the work, and we collaborated on designing the research question based on this topic: “How can different work methods with focus on learning strategies contribute to the academic and social development of each student?” The teachers were committed to this work, and in general teacher meetings they eagerly discussed the planning of teaching and matters relating to students. According to Krogh, Ichijo and Nonaka (2005), confidence, trust and dialogue are the necessary underpinnings for development. Argyris (1990) points out that an atmosphere which invites people to be open is a requirement for progress and development in learning activities. A teacher in this year’s group states the following: We can trust each other, we are loyal to each other, and we may allow ourselves to have a bad day, you never feel that somebody is out to get you.We have a tolerant way of speaking to the others.You can be yourself. With this supportive atmosphere in the team, the basis for development was in place in the school. The intention of this text is first to show how reflections in teams with a focus on concrete practices may affect the teachers’ learning and, second, to highlight factors which may be decisive for initiating learning processes, as well as maintaining and developing them. In this context, the role of the school leader is front and centre. The question which frames the text is as follows: “How do reflection dialogues influence teachers’ learning and how can such learning processes be part of the teachers’ everyday practice?” Initially, I will describe the arenas which the teachers reflected on and then describe how the research was carried out. Based on analyses using the research question as the framework, I will present the content and importance of the reflection dialogues before examining the role of the school leader in a school-based competence development project. Finally, I will provide a concluding comment focusing on how to implement and move forward with school-based competence development. Arenas for reflection

The teachers informed me that they regularly shared experiences in meetings and that these generally concerned students who were challenging. They had not spent much of this time sharing teaching experiences, whether about their own learning or that of the students. The teachers took almost six months to find out that they also wanted to share their experiences in subject teams, in addition to sharing experiences in class teams and the general team where all the teachers for the year group in question came together.This was a new arena where knowledge about teaching and learning was to be accumulated and shared. Based on the teacher dialogues and their wishes, I prepared a plan for

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how they could come together to exchange experiences and knowledge. This plan is shown in Figure 7.1. The teachers started to follow this plan in the second semester of the schoolbased competence development project. As shown in Figure 7.1, the plan called for the teachers who taught the same subject to observe each other and then reflect together on the observed activity. One teacher taught the subjects in each of the three years, thus each subject team had three teachers. When the mathematics teacher in Year 8 taught the students, the mathematics teachers in Year 9 and Year 10 observed. Prior to the teaching the teacher would send a plan for the class activities to the two observing teachers and to me, the teacher educator and researcher, who also participated in the observation and reflection. This document presented the topic for the lesson in question, and the teacher would note down further questions to be used in the class based on the research questions, and what he wanted feedback on. The reflection took place on the same day they observed the lesson. The teachers also had the opportunity to reflect together in year teams for meetings about each observation and in the general teachers’ team when a third of the project had been carried out. Based on the plan, it was possible for each teacher to teach once and reflect on this teaching, as well as to observe twice and reflect upon these observations with the concrete practice and the desired focus serving as the point of departure. The goal was that the teachers would perceive the activity as so useful that they would eventually make it part of their day-to-day practice within the time already at their disposal.

Implementing the teaching plan

Observation 8th grade Jan/Feb

April/ May

10th grade

Math

Norwegian

English

Norwegian

English

Math

English

Math

Reflection in class teams March

9th grade

Reflection in subjectteam meetings

Reflection in Team 3

Figure 7.1  Plan for observation and reflection

Norwegian

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So what was the content of these reflection dialogues, and how did the teachers experience them? Next, I will first present theories on reflection before outlining how the data material was collected and analysed according to relevant theory. In this section, I will also introduce related research in addition to the theory used to help me analyse and support my findings. Theories on reflection

According to Durkheim (1956), the practical experience a teacher has acquired from working with students may be called the art of education.This is based on practical training, learning skills, personal experience and education. He states that this art cannot be distinguished from reflection because the teacher’s methodological competence and the organization of the teaching would become a habit or routine if the teacher fails to reflect on methods, goals and teaching aids. In reflections, traditions become the object of change and development. Durkheim also states that teachers must use their ability and strength to reflect on their teaching because mechanical teaching may be perceived as oppressive. He points out that experienced teachers do not necessarily link their experiences to theory. Søndenå (2004) speaks of “high-powered reflection” as something that must exceed what is thought in relation to ideas and actions. Theory is not necessarily connected to practice, but the intention is to think new thoughts when it comes to actions aimed at creating development. This is also what Schön’s (1987) concepts “reflection in” and “on action” are about, which means that practitioners reflect both during and after actions to improve practice, without necessarily applying theory as a reflection tool. Reflections are expressed in words, but Polanyi (1967) states that we know much more than we are able to relate using words. He maintains that personal factors will always be part of the knowledge we acquire and will become part of our experiential background.Tacit knowledge, which Polanyi (1967) calls this insight, is a type of foresight, an insight we use subconsciously to understand situations and actions here and now. He claims that it is involvement in an act that gives meaning and that the original meaning can never be the same. It will continuously be developed through experience.The term experience then leads us to Dewey. Dewey (1916) states that experience which contributes to learning will be expressed as change in the person who has had the experience. This implies that actions that have caused change have been reflected back to the acting person, who may then learn something. Dewey finds that we are able to have ideas about certain matters, which entails envisioning the possible consequences this action may have for settings, persons or situations and vice versa. He believes that language is the most important aid which may create a common reference framework relating to our actions. According to Dewey, language will also be an important tool for teachers in their common activities aimed at developing practice. Learning based on reflection in interaction with colleagues on performed actions is called action learning (Revans, 1982, 1984, Tiller, 2006). This means looking forward just as much as looking back. According to Revans, reflection

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means asking questions about one’s own practice to anticipate possibilities for change and development. Hence it becomes important for teachers to look ahead and not get hung up on their own experiences. In Dewey’s words, teachers must have some ideas and foresee some consequences (1916). Bearing this presentation of theory in mind, we see that reflecting in, on and prior to practice is an activity that may contribute to increasing awareness about the practice. Reflection may thus lead to change and development of practice. Theory may be foregrounded or may be in the background in these reflections. According to Alvesson and Sköldberg (2009), theory and practice will always be in an interactive relationship, which emerges from the concepts “theory-driven practice” and “practice-driven theory” (p. 61). In the presentation of reflections connected to practice in this study, we will find that theory is rather more in the background than the foreground in these reflections.

Methodology in research and development work Testing in practice

Research and development went hand in hand in the collaboration with the teachers. In the development work, we followed Engeström’s (1999, 2001) expansive learning circle, which in turn formed the basis for reflection and research (Postholm & Moen, 2011). Engeström’s expansive learning circle can move in development spirals (see Figure 7.2).

7.Consolidating the new practice

1. Questioning

6. Reflecting on the process

2A. Historical analysis 2B. Actual empirical analysis

5. Implementing the new model

3. Modeling the new solution 4. Examining the new model

Figure 7.2  The expansive learning circle

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The teachers asked questions about practices which were analysed in a contemporary and historical perspective. New solutions were worked out and were critically reviewed before being tested in practice. It was this testing of practices that underpinned the subsequent reflection dialogues, and through these, the teachers could determine whether to continue with the new solutions, modify them or reject them and ask new questions relating to the future practice. Thus the expansive learning circle formed the framework and direction for the development work, where reflection became a key tool for considering practice actions and moving forward in the development process. Data collection

The reflection dialogues after each observed class were recorded, and I also kept a journal after each of them. During the observations, I made notes, and I had received in advance a planning document informing me about the content of the lesson to be observed and reflections on it. Thus I had data material about the conditions which formed the premises, background or opportunities for the subsequent reflections, as well as recordings and a journal connected directly and indirectly to the reflection dialogues. I interviewed each teacher group in the subject team and the year team to obtain an understanding of how they perceived the reflection dialogues. These interviews were also recorded, and all recordings have been transcribed. Thus I had direct, concrete and contextual information which could contribute to understanding the reflections on the practice when I considered them with the researcher’s eye from the “researcher plateau” (Postholm & Moen, 2011, p. 399). Data analyses

The material in this study, which is a qualitative case study limited in time and space (Creswell, 2013; Postholm, 2010), was analysed according to the constant comparative analysis method (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). In the coding and categorization process, I established main categories for structuring the data material when I focused on the content and importance of the reflection dialogues for the teachers.The main categories I established were “tips and experience”, “giving a rationale for the teaching” and “the perceived experience of the teachers”. These categories also form the structure for the presentation of the content of the reflections in the subject team in this text and illuminate the first part of the intention of this chapter, which is to show how reflections in teams may impact teachers’ learning. The second part of the research question relating to contextual factors for learning communities was explored through writing and analysis of journal notes, where the thoughts and experiences of the teacher educator/researcher were recorded. The journal provided a metaperspective on the development processes and the teachers’ learning. A representative selection of content from this material is presented later in the chapter

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under the headings “Form and Theory” and “Leading School-Based Competence Development”. Before dealing with this, I will focus on the content and importance of the reflection dialogues.

Reflection dialogues – content and consequences The utterances and dialogues I present have been selected to give a true picture of the reflections, and they are thus representative of the content of the dialogues in the subject teams. The dialogue reproduced next took place during a reflection session after observation of an English class in Year 8. Tips and experiences

Teacher 1: (Year 8, teaches the students in the observed group). I would like to hear how you prepared for the final test in Year 8 (to the teacher in Year 10). Teacher 2: (Year 9). We get a lot of questions about this. I’m all ears. Teacher 1: How did you prepare the test in the spring term? What do you demand from the students? I would also like to give them a test, but I feel like a rookie here. Teacher 3: (Year 10). I didn’t demand too much writing from them in Year 8. I gave them a listening test and a test to check grammar skills, content questions based on a text and just a one-page composition. The teachers obviously saw each other as resource persons. Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) distinguish between people who act on different levels, from beginners to experts. The teacher in Year 10 was considered by the others to be an expert who could contribute tips based on previous experience. The teacher who taught the lesson and was thus observed wanted feedback relating to how he1 managed to activate all the students in the class by using different learning strategies. The teacher received some feedback relating to this, but since he had the opportunity provided by having the subject teachers gathered together in this way, he also asked how to design the final test at the end of the school year. It was obvious that the teachers wanted tips and ideas from the more experienced teacher. In another reflection dialogue based on a recent observation, it emerged that the English teacher in Year 9 asked each student to read a sentence. This could be a sentence from a short written text they had written. The students knew that this practice had been established as a special routine. When one student received the hint to start, the others followed until the last person had read his or her chosen sentence.Thus the teacher switched between written and spoken activity. The teachers discussed how they were struggling to get all the students to participate in oral activities in English and that this was a tip they could try when teaching their own groups.

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The two preceding examples show how the teachers share experiences and give each other practical tips. They do not, however, introduce theory to provide a rationale for their actions. But they are taking part in high-powered reflection, which is defined as thinking something new or seeing matters from other angles so that change and development can take place (Søndenå, 2004). The teachers decided to include experienced and well-described practice in their own classrooms, and in this way, they changed their practice. In other contexts, the teachers advocated activities in the learning work in different ways. Giving a rationale for the teaching

In the reflection dialogues in the subject teams, the teachers at times used the curriculum to give grounds for their teaching, or for stating what they needed to do. One teacher stated that the students had to use information and communication technology (ICT) when presenting work, “as the curriculum simply says they must”. Another teacher had only three years of experience and continued to use arguments introduced by his teacher education instructors when giving a rationale for his teaching. One argument was that the teaching should be varied so that the students were training orally and in writing in the subject in question. Durkheim (1956) states that experienced teachers share their knowledge, which has been developed in collaboration with the students and with colleagues without introducing theory in the dialogue. The teachers in this study generally have the same approach. This is also clear from the dialogue presented next. The conversation took place after an observation of a mathematics class in Year 8: Teacher 1:  [Year 10] Did the students learn anything? Teacher 2:  [Year 8] Communication skills were developed, I think. Teacher 3: [Year 9] I think the students benefited a great deal from this lesson. Teacher 1: What do you mean by that? Teacher 3:  I sat next to a group, I’m sure that they benefited from it. Teacher 1: They had the opportunity to repeat their concepts. And worked together to find solutions, thus the knowledge they already have was confirmed. They didn’t learn anything that was new to them. Teacher 2:  It’s a communication training exercise. I feel that they also have to learn communication skills; that it’s important to explain what you know. They need to have knowledge about this to manage to communicate. If it’s completely new knowledge, it’s hard to communicate. It’s reproduction, but it could be that it sits better up here when they undertake such an exercise. The teachers discuss whether the students have learnt something, but none of them raised specific theory (Argyris & Schön, 1978, 1996) to link it to the

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learning activities. In the dialogue they might have used Piaget’s (1970) theory about assimilation and accommodation, and then spoken about different forms of learning from that angle, but they did not. But they feel that they learn a great deal from the reflections on concrete observations in the subject teams. The teachers’ learning leads us to the next category. The perceived learning of the teachers

This category examines the importance of or the consequences resulting from what the teachers experienced from the reflection dialogues. Referring to Dewey (1916), we can say that the consequences have been reflected back to the teachers, and that they most likely learnt something. The excerpt that follows is from a reflection session where all the teachers for the same year classes attended, and it is about what the teacher who is the leader of the team said when they approached the end of the second semester of the project: We’ve learned that we have a high degree of competence which becomes more visible when we share it with others. We’re so clever. We really are. When two people observe your teaching, it does something to you, you think, you reflect on your own practice, you observe others, I think wow, I got a tip there. And we’ve discovered that when we get together, we become more visibly competent. We manage a lot, we know as much as we can read in books, we just have to let it come out and share it with the others. We’ve reflected on our own practice with the focus on learning strategies, and learning strategies have been well known in the whole team. It has been useful, we’ve got a lot of tips and ‘eye-opening’ experiences when getting feedback from the others, through observations and through reflection on our own practice, and not least when we worked across class teams. We’ve gained more insight into our colleagues and the students. We trust each other even more, and support each other.Very useful. It’s we, the teachers, who are going to learn from this, but our action learning will also make the learning better for the students. Therefore we want to continue doing this next year, following the same plan. The teachers’ learning was also a topic discussed in the interviews focusing on the reflection dialogues, and the statements made by the teachers are presented in this category. They say • • • •

You feel you have become more attentive to giving reasons/grounds for your practice Reflecting on your practice is useful because you think more about your own teaching It is useful to reflect on concrete experiences We help each other in a busy work situation

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• It makes you aware of what is good and not • Sharing ideas makes you more confident. Perhaps somebody would like to use your teaching plan; others may use your ideas; we accomplish a lot together • The reflection process becomes part of your planning work The teachers felt they explained their teaching more, and they felt it was useful to use concrete teaching experiences as their point of departure. They became more aware of what is good teaching, and it was helpful to share experiences. They did not get hung up in the experiences themselves, but brought them into the here-and-now situation and in the planning of future practice (Tiller, 2006; Postholm & Moen, 2011). They also found that this sharing of experiences made them more confident together. Krogh, Ichijo and Nonaka (2005) and Argyris (1990) point out that confidence, trust and dialogue, as well as openness, are qualities that must be present when developing learning work. The teachers found that even if they initially felt that they worked in an atmosphere characterized by confidence, the collaboration and exchange of experiences between them strengthened the social environment, and this facilitated for change and development in a much better way. This is supported by a study which shows that the teaching performed by teachers with a clear focus and as the point of departure for dialogue and reflection led to changes in the practice and strengthened the teachers’ group processes (Given et al., 2010). Research also shows that observation, reflection and the sharing of experiences can have a positive effect on job satisfaction and the teachers’ well-being (Postholm & Wæge, 2016). The statement made by the leader of the general team on behalf of all the teachers in the school shows that both the observations and the reflections had made their competence more visible. They were more open to dwelling on their own knowledge and sharing it with others. They managed to put into words their own experiences in practice and give descriptions of their experiences to their colleagues. Their personal competence had thus left its tacit form, as Polanyi (1967) would have put it. The team leader also stated that the focus had been more on learning strategies and that everyone on the team had been made aware of these strategies. He continued by stating that it had been very useful for them, but that the action learning (Revans, 1982, 1984) would also help the students to learn more. He finished by stating that they would continue to follow the observation and reflection plan, which they have also done.The teachers found these dialogues to be so meaningful and useful for the teaching that they included them in their day-to-day work at school. Next, I will examine the form of the reflection dialogues and how theory eventually assumed a more prominent place when it came to providing a rationale for the practice, and when it came to analysing and understanding practice and seeing opportunities in practice. The manner of the reflection and

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the role of the leader would prove to be important factors in getting the development process started and in maintaining and developing it. Form and theory

I had initially assumed that my role as teacher educator and researcher in the reflection dialogues would be to connect actions in the practice to theory. This assumption was quickly dispelled. I noticed that the teachers needed most to talk about their practical day-to-day teaching and in this way share concrete tips and experiences. They needed to confirm, support and encourage each other in relation to practice. Initially, they would take turns speaking. I chaired the sessions and let the teacher who had taught the observed class speak first. The focus of these dialogues was the topic the teacher had decided in advance and prepared the others for through the teaching plan. The teachers were not encouraged to challenge each other during the first semester when the first observations and reflections were carried out because it appeared that they needed this time to become comfortable with each other in the situation and to become acquainted with the teaching of the others. Bateson (1972) calls these situations symmetrical relationships. In the next two semesters where I was the teacher educator and researcher, the content of the dialogues was expanded. After the teachers had become familiar with each other in the “new arena” (the subject team) for sharing experiences, they started to challenge each other with critical but constructive comments, they asked questions of each other concerning the grounds for the activity and why it had been carried out in precisely the way that had been observed. Such communication is typical to complementary relationships, according to Bateson (1972). The dialogue reproduced from the mathematics class is an example of how the teacher fields questions about whether the students learnt something during the class. While the teacher who taught the observed class is challenged by this, he does not draw on theory to help him give grounds for whether he believes the students learnt something or not. But, over time, theory becomes a tool which the teachers start to use in the reflections on their practice. Tiller (2006) presents different levels when it comes to the link between theory and actions in practice in a model he has entitled “the learning staircase” (p. 39). He calls the first step or level “informal talk about the experiences”, which means dialogues about experience without these being connected to a particular focus. The next step is called “ordering the experiences”. According to Tiller, we order experiences into words or concepts on this second level.This process makes it possible for us to connect what we have ordered together with the ordered experiences of others. This occurs on the third step, and this is precisely what the teachers did during the initial phase, where symmetrical relations (Bateson, 1972) were characteristic of the communication between them.

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During this phase, the teachers became acquainted with their own practice and the practice of the others. They knew what they and the others did. This tells us that they were on a common and actual development level (Vygotsky, 1978). When they started to ask questions about the practice with the topic from the general team as the framework, they also moved into their zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). It was in this zone between what they actually did and the goals they had for their teaching that they started to challenge each other, or, according to Bateson (1972), started to enter into complementary relationships, and thus connect theory to the actions in practice. This corresponds to Tiller’s (2006) learning staircase, which states that experiences are connected to practice on the fourth and uppermost level of the staircase, and this was the level the teachers were at now on. Theories about learning were put in focus to improve understanding and give rationale for the teaching, and theoretical concepts such as learning strategies, meta-cognition and action learning became a part of the language in the reflection dialogues. This study shows that the teachers must get to know each other and be aware of their own practice, as well as the practices of the others, before theory can be introduced as a common tool for reflection in and on practice (Schön, 1987), and in terms of future practice – i.e., reflection prior to practice. This in itself is a contradiction. Re comes from the Greek and means “back”, while flection is also Greek and means “to turn”.To reflect hence means to return, but development is just as much about bringing experiences and reflections on previous practice into the planning of future teaching. Pro is Greek and means “forward”. We may thus state that there is a “reproflection” in development work (Postholm & Moen, 2011, p. 395). In the work to develop practice, we thus look forward and back, which means there is a dialectic relation between the past, the present and the future. A “reproflection” takes place. Next, my point of departure is the teacher educator/researcher’s learning, bearing in mind that this can be transferred to the duties and roles of school leaders in a school-based competence development project, and with the understanding that some factors are necessary or beneficial for teachers to learn in a reflecting team. Leading school-based competence development

In the school-based competence development project presented in this chapter, I was both the teacher educator and the researcher who supported and challenged or pushed a little to promote development. I led the project for the teachers, while I also was in continuous dialogue with the school leader to present and discuss my plans, and my thoughts on them. I found that my role in this project also included having an instigating function in relation to the school leader. In the first semester, or the launch phase, my position also emerged in a statement made by the teachers. I was reminded that it was their project, while they also wanted me to be the project’s main driving force. I would need to try

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to remain in the background, even if I was eager to make things happen. I realized that the motivation would need to come from the teachers themselves and that I could contribute positive energy, enthusiasm and the belief that the processes would accelerate in the right direction (Fullan, 2001). Knowing that projects that are forced on teachers from the outside or above rarely take root and that doing these things only because you feel obliged to so is a waste of time and resources, I managed to rein in my enthusiasm for the project and practice patience so that the teachers would identify with the work and remain loyal to it, and so that the ideas would take hold in practice.The drive, or energy, would have to come from “below” or “within”, but as it turned out, it took almost a whole semester before the teachers identified with the topic and research question, which they had chosen and helped to formulate. Teachers have a professional education, which implies that they have knowledge used in the performance of their profession that cannot be left to others (Irgens, 2007). This includes subject knowledge and skills, pedagogical issues in general and concrete practice and means that teachers in school have both theoretical and practical knowledge connected to their profession when they start working. This knowledge may become tacit over time (Polanyi, 1967; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995), as was also observed in both the reflection dialogues and the interview with the teachers. They stated that the knowledge they had was ingrained, innate. The teachers’ knowledge is continuously connected to actions and experiences in practice, but it must be put into words if it is to be possible to share it with colleagues and then lead to development (Dewey, 1916; Tiller, 2006). The study shows that it is not by accident that expressed theory (Argyris & Schön, 1978, 1996) can contribute to moving the activity in the desired direction. The work in the school-based competence development project showed that the teachers needed to become familiar with and aware of their own practice, as well as the practice of the others, before theory could be brought to bear as a common tool in the reflections. In addition to seeing how the work in the school-based competence development project started from “within” and “below”, and that theory was connected to actions in their practice at an appropriate time, the statements made by the teachers show the necessity of preparing a formalized plan. The teachers stated that they had long wished to reflect on concrete practice in subject teams, but that they had not been able to find the time to do so. On my initiative, we decided to set time slots for both observations and reflections at the start of each semester.Thus observation and reflection have priority status, and the time was certainly ripe to make this happen. The formalized plan (see Figure 7.1) was based on the teachers needing a semester during which everyone had been observed and had reflected on each other’s teaching. The statement made by the leader of the teachers after the first semester of using the plan also shows that the teachers mostly had acquired knowledge about the practices of the others, and that they found this knowledge very useful. During this work, we also came to the conclusion that communication in reflection groups should

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not take place without careful planning, but that the interlocutors need help to understand how communication forms should be introduced and developed as the work progresses (cf. Bateson, 1972). In the final semester, I worked together with the teachers. With the teacher team leader in charge, they arranged times for observation and reflection themselves. They experienced the collaboration with colleagues as useful and meaningful, and wished to continue this collaboration. The teachers had worked on the same topic for two years and wanted to continue to develop the teaching, focusing on varied work methods and learning strategies. In a conversation I had with the school leader before project completion, we agreed that one requirement should be that the bi-weekly reflection sessions should be planned in advance, and the responsibility for this should rotate among the teachers in the subject team. They would need to either describe a class which was successful, a class that had been a failure, or they should bring a proposal for teaching that was being planned and receive input on this. The times for these observations were not determined, but the teachers brought descriptions of their own classes to the reflection dialogues in the subject team. The importance of the experiences and findings for school leadership

This study has shown that the school leader heading a school-based competence development project must be patient with the development work. It takes time before the teachers see themselves as an active part in the work, even if they have been involved in preparing a topic and deciding the direction it is to take. Moreover, the work must be process driven, which means that commitment to the project should come from “below” and “within”, while the process can never be fully anticipated in advance. The leader must understand change (Fullan, 2001), must be open to how the road to the stipulated goals may take other directions than initially assumed and understand that the progression of the process must therefore be included in defining the direction for further work. The study also indicates that understanding change means that teachers must be allowed to concentrate on a few projects or topics for extended periods of time, so they can focus their attention forward and back in time in the hustle and bustle of daily life in school, enabling them to learn from their own practice and the practice of others. Elmore’s (2000) finding is that a continuous focus on concrete teaching is decisive for the change and improvement of practice in school. The findings in this study indicate that the teachers also have a great need to work with the same topic over extended periods of time. All in all, understanding change means that the teachers in teams must have the opportunity to develop knowledge about how reflection dialogues can take place, and what may be used as tools in such conversations.The study shows that it is not by accident that a leader of a school-based competence development project brings theory into dialogues. In this context the leader must also adopt a stance on whether and when, if relevant, it should be expected that theories

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should be read, or when external experts should be invited to give presentations to the teaching staff. This implies that the school leader has both competence in teachers’ learning and the practical pedagogical field. Emphasis must also be given to ensuring that good relationships permeate all the work. If a culture for learning and joint development is to be created in the school’s group of teachers, this study shows that colleagues must feel safe and confident about sharing experiences, so they can gain knowledge about their own practice and the practice of their colleagues. They may find they have a shared knowledge base (Senge, 2006), and therefore they can develop with support from colleagues through guiding questions and goals connected to their own practice. This is supported by Elmore (2000), who states that improvement must be based on direct observation, analysis and feedback.The study also shows that the teachers must be given enough time to share experiences and construct knowledge and that this must be scheduled. These findings are supported by Forte and Flores (2014) who also found that both the school culture and structure need to be in play to enhance development. The teachers found that they learnt from each other through observation and reflection. According to Newmann et al. (1989), what the teachers know about the teaching of the others, the focus on improving practice, in addition to achieving satisfactory student behaviour, are the factors that have the most importance for how they perceive their own efficiency. However, according to Elmore (2000), it is unlikely that observation of and reflection on concrete practice will result in a change in teaching practice if the school as an organization does not have a focus on this. According to Elmore, improvement occurs through social learning, and it will be the duty of the school leader to facilitate for learning in a group of colleagues. This means that the school leader must appreciate and understand the usefulness of social learning. There most likely should also be a set of requirements governing how the time for observation and reflection is spent. In the study presented here, the reflection session was planned in advance so that the time was spent efficiently. Based on the preceding ideas, in addition to understanding change, the leader must also be a supporter and instigator prior to and during the change processes. School-based competence requires such a democratic attitude. Time must be allocated to indepth studies, a structure for the work must be developed and good relationships must be maintained and developed. It is the duty of the school leader to be the instigator in research and development work, placing demands on the teachers as well as supporting them. In my final comment, I will focus on how schoolbased competence development work may be implemented and how it may be carried forward in school.

Concluding comments The findings from the study are based on collaboration between 12 teachers and 1 teacher educator/researcher with a focus on concrete teaching in reflection dialogues. The findings are thus connected to a few teachers and one

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teacher educator/researcher in a specific context. The experiences and findings from this work may nevertheless have importance in similar settings, even if the content and methods are not directly transferable. Readers of this text may find that what has been described here is possible and useful to apply in similar ways in their own setting, thus carrying out a naturalistic generalization (Stake & Trumbull, 1982). The text then functions as theory that can be used as a tool in ongoing school-based competence development, or the text may be read as encouragement in committing to the success of such work. But who should take or can take the initiative to get such work started? In the school-based competence development work presented here, the teacher educator/researcher was the person who first tabled the wish to carry out the project, which over time the teachers came to identify with. But it could just as easily be the school itself that takes the initiative to conduct research and development work. It is then about how much total competence the school has when it comes to carrying out the work on its own, or whether resource people must be connected to the work during different phases and with varying degrees of involvement. When school leaders are responsible for the learning and quality of teachers in their school, it is assumed that they have the competence to lead a school-based competence development project. They may also understand and agree that other competent persons in the school should lead the work, or that external resource persons should be invited into the school.

Note 1 In the text, for the sake of simplicity, the pronoun “he” is used about the teacher, also when the teacher in question is a woman.

References Alvesson, M., & Sköldberg, K. (2009). Reflexive Methodology: 2 New Vistas for Qualitative Research (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publishing. Argyris, C. (1990). Bryt forsvarsrutiner. Hvordan lette organisasjonslæring [Break Down Defence Routines. How to Ease Organizational Learning]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1978). Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective. Reading: Addison-Wesley. Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1996). Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method, and Practice. Reading: Addison-Wesley. Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an Ecology of Mind. San Francisco: Chandler. Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. New York: Macmillan Company. Directorate of Education. (2012). Rammeverk for Skolebasert Kompetanseutvikling på Ungdomstrinnet 2012–2017 [Framework for School-based Development in Lower Secondary School]. Oslo: Directorate of Education.

Teachers’ learning in reflecting teams 115 Dreyfus, H. L., & Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over Machine. The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer. New York: The Free Press. Durkheim, E. (1956). The nature and method of pedagogy and the evolution and the role of secondary education in France. In Education and Sociology. New York: The Free Press. Elmore, R. F. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. American Educator, 23(4), 1–9. Engeström, Y. (1999). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. In Y. Engeström, R. Miettinen, & R. Punamaki (Eds.), Perspectives on Activity Theory (p. 19–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Engeström,Y. (2001). Expansive Learning at Work.Toward an Activity-Theoretical Reconceptualization. London: Institute of Education, University of London. Forte, A. M., & Flores, M. A. (2014). Teacher collaboration and professional development in the workplace: A study of Portuguese teachers. European Journal of Teacher Education, 37(1), 91–105. Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a Culture of Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Given, H., Kuh, L., Lee Keenan, D., Mardell, B., Redditt, S., & Twombly, S. (2010). Changing school culture: Using documentation to support collaborative inquiry. Theory into Practice, 49(1), 36–46. Irgens, E. J. (2007). Profesjon og organisasjon. Å arbeide som profesjonsutdannet [Profession and Organization.Working When Trained in a Profession]. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. Krogh, G. V., Ichijo, K., & Nonaka, I. (2005). Slik skapes kunnskap – hvordan frigjøre taus kunnskap og inspirere til nytenkning i organisasjoner [This Is How Knowledge Is Created – How to Liberate Tacit Knowledge and Iinspire Innovation in Organizations]. Oslo: N.W. Damm & Søn. Ministry of Education. (2011). Report to the Storting no. 22 (2010–2011) Motivasjon – Mestring – Muligheter [White Paper no. 22 (2010–2011) Motivation – Mastery – Possibilities]. Oslo: Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education. (2017). Report to the Storting no. 21 (2016–2017). Lærelyst – tidlig innsats og kvalitet i skolen [The Wish to Learn – Early Effort and Quality in School]. Oslo: Ministry of Education and Research. Newmann, F. M., Rutter, R. A., Marshall, S., & Smith, M. S. (1989). Organizational factors that affect school sense of efficacy, community, and expectations. Sociology of Education, 62(4), 221–238. Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. London: Oxford University Press. Piaget, J. (1970). Piaget’s theory. In P. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology (3rd ed., Bd. 1, pp. 703–732). New York: Wiley. Polanyi, M. (1967). The Tacit Dimension. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Books. Postholm, M. B. (2010). Kvalitativ metode. En innføring med fokus på fenomenologi, etnografi og kasusstudier [Qualitative Methodology: An Introduction with the Focus on Phenomenology, Ethnography, and Case Studies]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Postholm, M. B., & Moen, T. (2011). Communities of development: A new model for R&D work. Journal of Educational Change, 12(4), 385–401. Postholm, M. B., & Wæge, K. (2016). Teachers’ learning in school-based development. Educational Research, 58(1), 24–38. Revans, R. W. (1982). The Origins and Growth of Action Learning. Bromley: Chartwell-Bratt. Revans, R. W. (1984). The Sequence of Managerial Achievement. Bradford: MCB University Press.

116  May Britt Postholm Schön, D. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organisation. New York: Currency Doubleday. Søndenå, K. (2004). Kraftfull refleksjon i Teacherutdanninga [High-Powered Reflection in Teacher Education]. Oslo: Abstrakt Forlag. Stake, R. E., & Trumbull, D. (1982). Naturalistic generalization. Review Journal of Philosophy and Social Science, 7(1), 1–12. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research:Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Tiller, T. (2006). Aksjonslæring – forskende partnerskap i skolen: motoren i det nye læringsløftet [Action Learning – Researching Partnerships in School:The Motor in the New Focus on Learning] (2nd ed.). Kristiansand: Høyskoleforlaget. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Chapter 8

STEAM education Creativity in teacher education programs Bronwen Wade-Leeuwen

Introduction ‘Education . . . marks the most perfect and intimate union of science and art conceivable in human experience’ John Dewey (1934). This chapter outlines the benefits and challenges experienced by primary pre-service teachers when attempting to develop their critical and creative thinking skills within an integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) approach to their professional learning and practice. The chapter explores the concept of STEAM education in active learning environments and highlights how new approaches employing an innovative pedagogical model has the potential to enrich teachers’ understanding of how to become new knowledge workers in the 21st century. There are basically three sections to this paper; the first section focuses on the literature review and different interpretations of ‘creativity’ and how pre-service teachers can apply theoretical concepts in their professional learning and practice within specifically designed intercultural STEAM workshops. The second section investigates the context of the initial study and focuses on the productions made during the STEAM workshops using intercultural and interdisciplinary stimulus. This section demonstrates how an integrated STEAM model effectively developed pre-service teachers professional learning and practice. The final section outlines the benefits and challenges experienced by primary pre-service teachers while employing the model approach. This section highlights the findings and indicates elements that could be incorporated into future teacher education programs towards innovative and effective 21st-century sustainable active learning environments in the future.

Literature review It has been predicted that the future workforce will have no professions as we know them today – that is, with each profession focusing on specific sets of skills and values. Knowledge and experiencing will be through interdisciplinary connections, and these will equip students with the ability to think more

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creatively. Creativity and innovation, according to McWilliam (2011), will be valued in a rapidly changing world where problem solving can no longer rely on past knowledge sourced from only one discipline. To meet these future demands, university graduates will need to develop specific skills. For example, at the Sydney-based university’s (2014) graduate capabilities stipulates the 21stcentury skills needed by students at graduation: Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community.We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking. To prepare today’s children to engage with tomorrow’s world, governments, schools and universities should be prioritising the teaching of critical and creative thinking skills, both through teacher-centred creativity and learnercentred education (Cremin, 2017). Figure 8.1 shows how the primary syllabus in Australia is proportioned. From an Australian context, Ministerial Council on

The use of digital technologies is included in every stage of every subject. Additional Activities up to 20%

English 25%–35%

Creative Arts 6%–10%

Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE) 6%–10% Personal Development Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) 6%–10%

Mathematics 20% Science and Technology 6%–10%

Figure 8.1  Parents’ Guide (BOSTES, 2017) to the Primary Syllabus in Australia

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Education, Employment, Training and Youth (MCEETYA, 2008), established the goals for all Australian education and these goals underpin the new Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2013). In the Australian Curriculum, primary school teachers (Year K–6) are called generalist teachers and in New South Wales, they are expected to teach six key learning areas: Creative Arts (CA), English, Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE), Mathematics, Science and Technology, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (BOSTES, 2017). Primary teachers are expected to organise their lessons effectively across the key learning areas. Eighty percent of the syllabus is taught over five-day school week. Twenty percent is randomly arranged. The current Australian Curriculum (BOSTES, 2017) expects up to 55% of teaching to directly focus on English and Mathematics with strong emphasis on Australia’s National Assessment Program (NAPLAN) high-stake testing, leaving 45% of teaching to the other four subject areas CA, HSIE, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education, Science and Technology and Digital Technologies are expected to continue across all stages and subjects.

Creativity as applied to this research Elliott Eisner (1972), a former student of Benjamin Bloom, said ‘some say “creativity” cannot be defined’. The difficulty seems to come from the elasticity of this abstract noun and its multiple definitions. Bloom’s Taxonomy created in 1956 was revised by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) to reinstate educational objectives, starting with the concept of remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and, eventually, creating. Sternberg and Lubart (1995) says creativity is a complex dynamic process which involves transformation of thought, reinterpretations and freedom from functional fixedness to derive unique solutions. The research adopts a working definition of ‘creativity’ as ‘the production of new ideas, approaches or actions’ and furthermore ‘creative individuals typically master a practice or tradition before they transform it’ (Sternberg, 2006, 1999; Torrance, 1972). Therefore, for primary pre-service teachers to develop their critical and creative thinking skills, their sensitivity to new aesthetic problems needs to be stimulated so that they can be set free from fixed practices. Recent research (Melbourne Graduate School of Education, 2017) shows over the past decade that the Australian government has overwhelmingly privileged Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects with the government aiming to increase students’ performance in international testing. Supporting these findings, Archer et al. (2012) found that Australian primary school children generally lack interest in STEM subject areas. This could be related to the situation in Australia, where primary teachers are not expected to be subject specialists (AITSL, 2011; DEEWR, 2010). As such, they may be unaware of how to engage and integrate interdisciplinary subjects across the curriculum. In addition, according to Dinham (2014), pre-service teachers

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are often limited in their teaching skills and their capacity to engage children in creative and innovative learning opportunities and ‘entrepenuerialship’.

Context of this study The study builds on the initial findings from the author’s doctoral study (ethical approval by Human Research Ethics Committee Ref: 5201100181, 2011–2017), which examined how to foster creativity in teacher education at a Sydney-based university. The initial study evaluated n = 350 undergraduate primary pre-service teachers in their third and fourth year of study, then focuses on how prepared six of these primary pre-service teachers are to engage 21stcentury critical and creative thinking skills in their primary school lessons. This research seeks to understand teacher education from the point of view of those teachers involved in the primary education programs and interpret their diverse viewpoints, realities, practices and experiences. To further develop the authors interest teaching the Creative Arts syllabus (BOSTES, 2006) and knowing how to foster creativity and expression in teacher education programs, two ‘start-up’ creative partnerships were formed as professional practice learning sites or active learning environments (OECD, 2016), where pre-service teachers could experience and be supported in their learning of STEAM education skills. In 2016, the first creative partnership relationship was established with STEAM Education Australia (STEAMAu) and in 2017, the second creative partnership was with PIEX Education Australia. The founders consisted mainly of industry trained professionals and academic staff, including the author of this chapter, who teaches on the teacher education programs at a Sydney-based university. These start-up school programs form ‘outsider spaces’ to extend pre-service teachers’ 21st-century skills and knowledge while complimenting their normal university teacher education programs. The primary school children who attended the start-up school programs were between 5 and 12 years of age, and 95% of them came from non-English speaking backgrounds, the majority from the Australian Chinese diaspora. The research questions investigated the reach and role of creativity, and expression in an integrated STEAM model approach, as well as how this approach could improve teachers’ understanding of critical and creative thinking skills. The research questions investigate the following: 1 How an integrated STEAM model approach could foster creativity and expression through diverse multimodal literacies in primary classrooms and 2 Identifies the different perspectives of pre-service teachers in relation to their own creativity capacities. This research has two propositions. Firstly, that creativity and expression through the arts has not been a focus in the current teacher education program at this Sydney-based university and, secondly, the pre-service teachers

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participating in the research expressed that they do not feel confident or competent to teach creativity through the CA to children (Wade-Leeuwen, 2015). The aim of the study is to use a sociocultural approach within an arts-based inquiry (Barone & Eisner, 2012) to develop pre-service teachers’ artistic and creative experiences during their professional learning and teaching practicums. Consequently, the author developed an integrated STEAM education model approach to learning and teaching which directly connects to the Australian Curriculum’s General Capabilities (ACARA, 2014b) of critical and creative thinking so as to enhance pre-service teachers’ professional learning and classroom practices. This research joins a growing body of action research and professional artsbased inquiry (Barone & Eisner, 2012), in the wider field of educational practice to investigate the perspectives of teachers by applying contemporary theoretical frameworks (Atkinson, 2007). It applies a mixed method to study and solve practical challenges in these learning and teaching spaces rather than focusing purely on the theoretical problems as defined by researchers (Freebody, 2003, p. 86; Kemmis & McTaggart’s, 1988). A case study approach with mixed methods is useful in building a narrative around the experiences and perspectives of individuals within their teacher education programs.

Exploratory case study A mixed method (Creswell, 2015) with a predominate emphasis on qualitative inquiry (Eisner, 2006) and enhance educational practice to evaluate pre-service teachers’ understanding, attitudes and experiences relating to their critical and creative thinking skills particularly when applying a STEAM approach to their learning and teaching.The exploratory case study (Yin, 2014) aims to foster critical and creative thinking skills in pre-service teachers of primary education, and was offered to these participants as part of the STEAM Education programs in New South Wales school settings. As previously discussed, Australian primary teachers are trained in general subjects and do not specialise in any arts or new media education (ACARA, 2014a); however, they are expected to have developed broad perspectives about art and culture prior to becoming in-service teachers. The exploratory case study research was conducted with 6 undergraduate tertiary education students (STEAM coaches) living in Sydney. The STEAM coaches were predominately studying for a degree in the Bachelor of Primary Education, other coaches were studying in the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science majoring in Biochemistry with Bachelor of Secondary Education and Bachelor in Psychological Science. The participants are self-selected depending on their interests in the CA and other new media technologies and the selection criteria included a formal application to the start-up companies stating what their interests were and how they feel they could make a difference to children’s education. This was followed up by an intensive interview with at least two of the founders.

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Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants providing opportunities for the program developers to ask open-ended and probing questions (Creswell, 2015). All interview transcripts were analysed thematically (Creswell, 2015) after being coded using QSR International NVivo 12 software system. The themes were based on the interview questions with the participants. 1 What were their confidence to teach critical and creative thinking skills; and 2 What were their learning and teaching experiences about creativity and expression in the STEAM programs. Other themes investigated in the study included conversations on their levels of creativity and how creativity dispositions such as flexibility, fluidity, mindfulness, visualisation and uniqueness can be developed in all learners (Wade-Leeuwen, 2016, 2015, 2013).

Innovative STEAM learning framework In STEAM education, children can join in after-school or in-school primary educational programs, and the curriculum content relates specifically to one of the following four sections: Digital Knowledge, Little Entrepreneurs, Creactivities and Intercultural Student-Centred Language Learning.The content is described in Figure 8.2. The STEAM learning framework assisted pre-service teachers identify possible interdisciplinary connections that can be applied in their own teaching/ learning professions. The STEAM programs focus on developing learners’ STEAM After-School/In-School Programs include:

Digital include animation, digital, stories, filmmaking, game thinking, robotics, web development, 3-D printing and multimedia technologies

Little Enterpreneur identify, create and take to market new ventures

Cre-activities deliver children centred projects via visual arts, artistic and movement expression, improvisation, digital and creative text

Intercultural student-centred language learning in a culturally inclusive learning environment

Figure 8.2  STEAM after-school and in-school program content (2018)

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intrinsic capabilities, such as mindfulness and well-being, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and finding and inventiveness and innovation. The participants in the research are encouraged to share their knowledge and research experiences in STEAM maker classes. This includes learning how to apply diverse technologies such as coding, robotics, animation and 3D printing into real-life contexts. What differentiates STEAM is that it is supported by a team of industry and academic experts from interdisciplinary subject areas who are both technologically and artistically savvy. STEAM coaches are encouraged to devise their learning activities under the guidance of experienced mentors using interdisciplinary content and with experience, they co-create content material with the children in the maker classes. For example, a typical STEAM class begins with a mindfulness activity and quiet reflective time focusing on a theme that interests the children. Classes are designed to combine two or more disciplines that include literacy, numeracy, information communication technologies, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capabilities and ethical and intercultural understandings. The main communication tools used for learning during these extended education sessions incorporated an innovative integrated STEAM model (Wade-Leeuwen, 2016). This STEAM model learning framework, uses key learning areas of the Australian Curriculum (a,b). Figure 8.3 shows the complexity of the STEAM programs which are designed around think, make and reflect. Supported active learning environments are established where the preservice teachers (STEAM coaches) became valuable mentors to stimulate the primary children in the classroom activities. These teacher education sessions complimented the regular university’s teacher education programs by providing an important connection between praxis and action (Bernstein, 2011), offering

STEAM Programs STEAM Framework THINK – MAKE - REFLECT

Intercultural Understanding

Literacy & Numeracy

Ethical Understanding

Mindfulness

Personal and Social Capability

Cultural Connectivity

Critical and Creative Thinking

Science Experiments

ICT

‘Creatives’-Maker spaces

Numeracy

Digital Explorations

Literacy

Visual & Performing Arts

STEAM activities

Figure 8.3  STEAM learning framework with seven interconnected capabilities

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extra opportunities for the pre-service teachers to learn new ‘on-the-job’ 21stcentury knowledge and skills through their own tacit experiences. ‘Think, make and reflect’ activities are used to achieve the daily goals through a variety of artistic and technological processes designed towards sustainable growth. This is done by interconnecting each session with the next to develop the learners’ intrinsic capabilities, such as mindfulness and well-being, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and finding and inventiveness and innovation. In this way, they are collaborating while learning step-by-step how to apply diverse technologies such as coding, robotics, animation and 3D printing into real-life contexts. The benefits of an integrated STEAM learning framework are that it provides specialised designed programs to foster learner’s creativity and expression by providing the basic knowledge they need to work within diverse 21st-century active learning environments (Barak et al., 2016). Specialised STEAM technology kits similar to the ones shown in Figure 8.4 are given to the coaches and children. These kits contain digital augmented materials such as Uino kits that use Arduino compatible boards and devices. The kits supplement learning activities with easy-to-follow instructions so that children from five years and onwards can create digitally augmented models and projects. In this way, children are introduced to robots and animation in a fun and creative way and they are encouraged to express, explore and experiment. The reflective practice according to Schon (1987), is grounded in the practitioner’s sense of appreciation, perceptions and beliefs. Reflection is a major part of all STEAM activities and generally occurs three times during an activity. The children commence with mindfulness reflective activity by imagining a narrative or recollecting images from their imagination. After this communal quiet time, children then role play or reenact the images that they imagined to an audience while others guess what the narrative is about. This mindful activity is continued throughout the session and transformed from the imagination through a variety of multimodal literacies (visual arts, music, text, video or new

Figure 8.4  Digital augment craft used in STEAM workshops

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media devises). Finally, the reflection process at the end of the activity takes on the form of a communal celebration where children present their new synergised artefacts to their parents, coaches and the wider community.

Semi-structured interviews conducted with the STEAM coaches The semi-structured interviews were analysed from a constructivist grounded theory perspective (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007). These methods were chosen because they do not distinguish between different ways of knowing. Thus the theory and practice and the non-discursive material could be analysed in a flexible yet systematic manner. The underlying assumption is that, by using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the program developers will gain a deeper understanding of the research problem which focuses on how to foster ‘creativity’ in teacher education programs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with (n = 7) participants (STEAM coaches), three of whom have been with the STEAM program since the teacher education sessions started in 2016. During the semistructured interviews, the STEAM coaches expressed their opinions, attitudes and experiences. 1) What was their current degree study level. 2) What was their confidence to teach STEAM education skills, and has this changed over time? 3) What are three areas that have surprised them when teaching STEAM approach to children? A lead coach (Tammy) said during the semi-structured interview, My tertiary education focuses on a Bachelor of Teacher Education (Primary). I’m the lead STEAM coach, so what makes us different from other after school programs is that we are known as coaches. Because teachers are more about direct instruction using worksheets, you sit at a table and you work as a student and its more of a traditional way of learning.With us as coaches we really focus on kids’ collaboration and play, through giving them an idea and then through that idea or inspiration, they take that and then they could build on and develop that idea to create something really fun and engaging. Another lead coach (John) commented, My tertiary education focuses on a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biochemistry. I am one of the STEAM studio coaches and the question is how do we keep kids engaged throughout the day? We follow the ‘Think, Make & Reflect’ model . . . in short, we go through a wide range of activities and in those activities, we allocate a small time for them to have short bursts of concentration so they can focus. Later, they can revisit the activities if they wish so but we also have mindfulness in between so they can relax and help regain their attention.

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The following insights were gained from the semi-structured interview conversations made during the integrated STEAM workshops where participant coaches discuss their experiencing of STEAM workshops. Participant Nikki was asked what elements surprised her in the STEAM workshops; she responded that she now felt more confident and able to research creativity and adapt it to the classroom. Nikki said, From that workshop lessons, there was plenty of discussions in the introduction. The introduction to STEAM was very important because when we knew where we were going, where we were heading, and giving us part of the history – that was very exciting – I’ve never heard it before and it was very important because we were doing, we were creating this design. I was concentrating on that thing, so I think one important thing is, how to approach your body mindfully, how to prepare your body and that is something I’ve never heard before. And that helped me to concentrate more on the task. From the STEAM workshop experience, she felt more confident to teach creativity in visual arts and now knows how to plan and teach lessons in a way that links to the Australian Curriculum through hands-on practices and experiences using digital technologies. Nikki’s comments reflected on pedagogical strategies connected to her new knowledge and the importance of engaging learners in new technologies in an authentic way. Another participant (Amber) states, STEAM leaders need to inspire their students and by engaging their students they need to be energetic and creative in themselves with the subject that they’re teaching. They need to carry out that information in a very enthusiastic way, therefore, they are performing.The workshop really made me think about how I could make engaging lessons and I’m sad that I did this lesson towards the end of my practicum. Had I done it earlier I probably would have used a few more of that type of methodology where creativity becomes self-expression. Amber’s comment relates to the current NAPLAN challenges that children are experiencing in schools insofar as many children are not being provided with the possibility of experiencing creativity, expression and imagination in the classroom. This is problematic, as teaching in the classroom seems to be more structured towards regimented processes, such as standardised testing and other forms of achievement measurements (Eisner, 2006; Craft, 2012). For example, Amber clearly understood the challenges that face creative people in the classroom. She defined creativity as a form of self-expression because it is related to her prior experience, and yet it is interesting to note that her definition of creativity was one of the most common grounded responses to this question in the initial research study. In addition, when Amber reflected on the creative activities in

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the STEAM workshop, she perceived the teacher’s roles in this context as performing, this links to the notion of teaching creativity as a performance (Eisner, 2006). Eisner (2006) suggests that educators, parents, children and young people around the world are pushing for new ways of fostering creativity tendencies. In this respect, creativity is performative and, therefore, can be repeated. Amber also reflected on her own pedagogical experiences in her teacher education program and suggested strategies that she could adapt from the STEAM workshops. Adding, she was sad that the workshop happened towards the end of her training as she had not been able to incorporate them into her professional learning and teaching practicum. One more participant (Mark) explains, Yes, my creativity did change because I liked how the STEAM Workshops weren’t really structured, there was a task and there were instructions on the task but there was freedom within that task. So, there were all these different materials technologies we could have used and so, all the students can just try out different things. They can explore their own creativity so I really liked that kind of aspect of it. Experimentation changed my way of thinking.! Mark appreciated how the CA were core to the integrated STEAM workshops. Mark raises a common grounded complaint from many of the pre-service teachers and young people during classroom practice that they are often directed by their teachers to do tasks in a specific way rather than being allowed to work towards their individual needs or interests. This notion of the curriculum being too prescriptive is a reoccurring theme and largely supported in the literature (Barone & Eisner, 2012; Dinham, 2014). When asked what the participants perceived as inhibitors to creativity on their teacher education program, one pre-service teacher (Susie) said, I can talk about my experience. It’s just the lack of knowledge and the lack of opportunity to investigate and explore the arts during my teaching sessions. If I’m not being encouraged or provided with a decent opportunity to learn, how do, how can I teach? If I cannot teach, how would the children learn? So, it all comes down to opportunities. Susie said that it was her lack of knowledge and opportunities to investigate and explore the arts during the teacher education programs. Whereas another more experienced participant (Makkie) voiced her initial arts knowledge came from school up to Year 12. She studied the High School Certificate in Australia, majoring in visual arts education and has tried most techniques and explored several forms. Makkie said, I think I need the skills base so I can feel that I can be creative and transmit that successfully to students. So, I need that model during the sessions so

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that I can continue the modelling onto the students that I will have in the future. Mackie indicated that at the beginning of the study she usually felt confident because of her own experiences. She commented that without this prior knowledge she would not be able to extend her abilities to learn new creative practices during and after her teacher education programs.

Discussion and results This chapter presents a discussion on the findings based on the research questions, which investigated the reach and role of ‘creativity’ in an integrated STEAM program and how a STEAM approach could improve primary preservice teachers’ pedagogical understandings in their professional practices and during their teaching practicum. The first finding supports the importance of integrating STEAM model approach across the whole primary Australian Curriculum. The findings indicated one way in which the pre-service teachers in this study could increase their confidence in creativity and expression, is to teach by combining 21stcentury skills and knowledges through digital technologies into their professional learning practices. Thereby, developing STEAM learning activities that, according to Dewey (1934), marks the most perfect and intimate union of science and art conceivable in human experience. Combining the sciences with the arts, learners discover that STEAM education is essential for producing creative, scientifically literate and ethically astute citizenry and workforce for the 21st century (Taylor, 2016; Häkkinen et al., 2017). Secondly, the STEAM approach to curriculum design was based on the notion that arts and design is at the heart of learning (Wade-Leeuwen, 2016). An important change was noted in the attitudes of the pre-service teachers during the extended study. Their reactions to using the integrated STEAM approach were overwhelmingly positive as they reflected on the benefits and challenges compared to their regular teacher education programs. The initial findings showed pre-service teachers believed 55% of the Teacher Education Program emphasis was on teaching English and Mathematics subjects which was supported in the literature review (Gibson & Ewing, 2011). Several participants expressed their concern at the limited amount of time they were given on their programs to study the arts and discussed how this limited exposure to the arts inhibited their creativity. In addition, the data from the initial study showed 80% of pre-service teachers in third and fourth years felt limited in their capacity to teach creativity and expression to children. The other 20% of the cohort voiced they were experienced in arts and design having studied the arts throughout their schooling and adopted them into their regular life style.

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Supporting these findings, Eisner (2006), says that learning and teaching through the arts offer learners things that cannot be found in other subject areas. A major finding was that by employing inquiry-based research and project-based learning strategies in STEAM education programs, learners improve their critical and creative responses as well as their dispositions of curiosity, flexibility and risk-taking attitudes. The significance of this research shows that when an integrated STEAM approach is used within the higher education context, pre-service teachers develop their capacity to ‘think, make and reflect’ through a variety of multimodal literacies. Their confidence improves as they learn how to apply 21st-century skills, knowledge and dispositions in a visually dominated world. Finally, according to Torrance (1974) and Robinson & Aronica (2015), the assumption is that children are already creative and capable of expressing their creativity in terms of originality, fluency, flexibility and elaboration. The author argues that critical and creative thinking skills can be fostered in pre-service teachers through the arts, learners find new ways to interpret and communicate their ideas individually and collaboratively in groups. Thereby, providing rich opportunities to discover and explore their own creativity and expression while increasing their capacity to recognise and develop the creative tendencies in children in their classrooms.

Conclusion In summary, the research contributes to future teachers’ education by providing data relating to Australian teacher education primary programs. It was found that STEAM education encourages interdisciplinary partnerships, where learners ask meaningful questions in a way that facilitates critical and creative thinking skills to solve real-life challenges. The chapter highlights how creativity, expression and innovation cannot grow in isolation and Australian teacher education programs should promote STEAM rather than STEM education in their programs. This can be achieved by directing government interests away from high-stake testing and towards promoting authentic and engaging learning approaches where the arts are at the heart of learning. The study found that by employing an interdisciplinary integrated STEAM approach the pre-service teachers’ confidence improved. In addition, they could value their own creativity, expression and innovation before making positive contributions towards future societal change.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank the creative industry partners from the two start-up companies, STEAMAu and PIEX Education Australia, and the pre-service teachers (STEAM (2018) coaches) for their valuable suggestions contributed to this chapter.

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132  Bronwen Wade-Leeuwen Wade-Leeuwen, B. (2013). Global Creativity: Intercultural “hands-on” Workshops for Pre-Service Primary Art Teachers. EKSIG International Conference (4–5 July 2013). Loughborough: Loughborough University. Wade-Leeuwen, B. (2015). Generating “creativity” and provocations in visual arts education: A major goal of twenty-first century arts education. International Journal of Arts Education, 9(9). Wade-Leeuwen, B. (2016). Out of the Shadows: Fostering Creativity in Teacher Education. Champaign: Common Ground. Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and Methods.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Conclusion Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz

This book takes a closer look at practicum from various dimensions including new trends and changing practices as a response to changing needs in teacher education. In this framework, the book aims to obtain a deeper understanding of how the practicum is perceived and whether the various stakeholders in the practicum triad in the same context share a common view of the practicum. In order to do that, we asked our colleagues who are experienced in teacher education to share and reflect on their current practices. Finally, this book reports on various research projects reflects on practicum experiences and provides some examples on applications of teaching practicum in various settings. As emphasised in almost all the chapters in this book, the teaching practicum is one of the most important components of teacher education. According to Mok (2005), teaching practicum is an important nurturing ground for novice teachers and maintain this attitude in the future. At the transition process from being a student teacher to a teacher, teachers may have accumulated a repertoire of strategies and skills at their disposal. Initial periods of practicum students generally spent time observing experienced teachers and getting to know school routines and procedures (Bloomfield, Taylor & Maxwell, 2004). From a broader perspective, practica provide classroom experiences and stimulate the development of teaching skills in pre-service teachers, support socialisation within the profession and provide a protected field for experimentation (Hascher, Cocard, & Moser, 2004). Within the teacher education programme, the teaching practicum process takes advantage of the school environment in order to help professional development of teachers in the educational and pedagogical fields (Ferreira, 2009). Teacher educators, as suggested throughout the book, take on important roles and responsibilities, particularly in helping students identify and bridge the gap between theory and practice (Agudo, 2016). At this point, it is obvious that partnership between school and university is essential in practicum process; however, as Zeichner (2010) emphasised, ineffective integration of the schools’ contribution to teacher education has always been a big challenge because of real collaboration between schools and teacher education institutions is difficult to achieve. According to Zeichner, the triad student-mentor-supervisor often causes misunderstandings and disagreements.

134  Melek Çakmak and Müge Gündüz

However, based on the related literature, it is obvious that school-based practicum experiences is crucial and facilitate student teachers to experience what it means to be a teacher within an academic and a school context under the guidance of school teachers and teacher educators from the university (Sulistiyo et al., 2017). Therefore, educational researchers widely recognise the need to better prepare teacher candidates for the challenges they will experience in real classroom settings (Stuart & Thurlow, 2000). All the issues have been discussed so far put forward that teaching practicum is a broad and complex process which requires a better understanding through more research studies which explore new trends new practice and changing problems and solutions experienced by the main stakeholders of the practicum. In the present book all the contributors from different educational systems around the world tried to provide a perspective about the issues concerned in the practicum and their experiences they had throughout the process. Finally, practicum process is valuable process which provides a meaningful experience for pre-service teachers to understand becoming a teacher. This process consists of understanding, reflecting and gradually developing in the transition of being a teacher from a student. Therefore, the quality and the nature of teaching practicums is worth researching further. It is hoped that presenting and sharing appropriate information would make a contribution to develop teacher education programme and policy effectively, and, finally, truly enrich the knowledge, skills and learning experiences of future teachers.

References Agudo, J. M. (2016). What type of feedback do student teachers expect from their school mentors during practicum experiences? The case of Spanish EFL student teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(5). Bloomfield, D., Taylor, N., & Maxwell, T. W. (2004). Enhancing the link between university and schools through action research on teaching practicum. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 56(3), 355–372. Ferreira, C. R. (2009). Evaluation in the teaching practicum of the English program at the Universidad de la Amazonía, Profile, 11, 79–90. Hascher, T., Cocard, Y., & Moser, P. (2004). Forget about theory – practice is all? Student teachers’ learning in practicum. Teachers and Teaching, 10(6), 623–637. Mok, Y. F. (2005). A philosophy of teaching practicum: Construction of a personal theory teaching and learning. Teacher Development, 9(1), 43–57. Stuart, C., & Thurlow, D. (2000). Making it their own: Preservice teachers’ experiences, beliefs, and classroom practices. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(2), 113–121. Sulistiyo, U., Mukminin, A., Abdurrahman, K., & Haryanto, E. (2017). Learning to teach: Indonesian efl student teachers’ practicum experience and teacher education policy recommendations. The Qualitative Report, 22(3), 712–731. Zeichner, K. (2010). Rethinking the connections between campus courses and field experiences in college- and university-based teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1–2), 89–99.

Index

Note: Page numbers in italics indicate figures; page numbers in bold indicate tables. Affiliation Agreements, University of Phoenix and 53 assessment student teachers 14 – 15 Baedorf, Dominik 82 BalBoard Collaborative Whiteboard for iPad 66 Blackboard 65 Bloom, Benjamin 119 border pedagogy 14 Breiling, Linnea 75 challenging situations: intuitive actions using common sense 92 – 93; see also newly qualified teachers (NQTs) Class DoJo app 66 consumer guide 55 Creative Arts syllabus 118, 120 creativity, STEAM education 118, 119 – 120, 128 – 129 Cygnaeus, Uno 36 Dewey, John 117 Eastern Finland Teacher Training College 37 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) 39 – 40 Educational Impact 59, 62 educative mentoring concept of 11 Eisner, Elliott, 119 emotional supporter, role of 10 England see Study (Turkey and England) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) 14 entrepreneurialship 120 e-portfolios: International Teacher Education Laboratory (ITEL) 73 – 75; University of Phoenix 69

Facebook 63 feedback: role of mentor 11; student teachers 14 – 15 field experience 1 Finnish National Agency for Education 49n4 Finnish National Teacher Training Forum 38, 45 Finnish teacher education: advanced practice 41, 41; applied practice 41, 42; basic practice 41, 41; experiences of students abroad 76 – 81; future of 48; history of 36 – 38; mentoring 43 – 45; onion model 42; orientation practice 40 – 41, 41; portfolio 45 – 48; presentday programmes 38; professional development 42 – 43; structure of teaching practice at UEF 38 – 40; teaching practice periods 40 – 43; University of Eastern Finland (UEF) 36, 38 – 40, 45 globalization 4, 73 Google: Google Classroom 67; Google Docs 67; Google Hangouts 65; Google Scholar 68 Henttu, Anette 75 Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE) 118, 119 Idroo Online Educational Whiteboard 66 Imperial Alexander University of Finland 36 inclusive education, definition of 76 Individual Education Plan (IEP) 58

136 Index information and communication technology (ICT) 16 – 17, 106 instructional coach, role of 10 internationalization: benefits in teacher education programs 73, 81 – 82; Finnish student experiences 75 – 81; International Teacher Education Laboratory (ITEL) 72, 73 – 75; teaching practicum 13 – 14 International Teacher Education Laboratory (ITEL) 72, 73 – 75 Janhila, Saara 75 Joensuu Normal School 37 Karjula, Anniina 75 Kinnunen, Jenny 75 Laine, Heidi 75 lesson planning: teacher observations and 64 – 65; Web 2.0 tools and 65 – 68 mentor(s): feedback and assessment 14 – 15; mentoring and 9 – 11; teacher education, relationship with student teacher 12 – 13 mentoring: definition of 10; Finnish teacher education 43 – 45 Ministerial Council on Education, Employment Training and Youth (MCEETYA) 118 – 19 National Assessment Program (NAPLAN) Australia 119, 126 National Council on Teacher Quality 55 – 56 National Curriculum Regulations 87, 94, 95 National Educational Technology Plan 16 National Science Foundation 59 National Teacher Training Forum (Finland) 38, 45 newly qualified teachers (NQTs): contributions to teacher training program 91 – 92; data collection and analysis methods 87 – 88; expectations of personal mastery 88 – 89; findings of study 88 – 92; immediate reflections and emotions 89; implications for teacher training 95 – 97; importance of support and preparation 94 – 95; later reflections and emotions 90; support and help received 91; theoretical framework of study 86 – 87; tips and advice to 93 – 94; underestimating complexity of profession 85 – 86, 94; use of common sense in challenging situations 92 – 93

North Texas University 58 Norway: school-based development 99 – 100; teacher shortage in 85; see also newly qualified teachers (NQTs) onion model, professional development 42 orientation website 67 Parents’ Guide to Primary Syllabus in Australia 118 pedagogy, social constructivist notions of 26 Personal Development Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) 118, 119 Phoenix Connect, University of Phoenix 63 Pietilä, Anu 75 PixiClip 66 podcasts 52 – 53, 65, 65 – 66 Poikola, Mirva 75 portfolio: e-portfolios 69, 73 – 75; Finnish teacher education 45 – 48 practice teaching 1, 18, 69; assessment 15; concept of 8 practicum: internationalization in teaching 13 – 14; issues in framework of teaching 11 – 12; mentors and mentoring 9 – 11; models of 6; novice teachers’ experiences following 17; reflective practices 15 – 16; research in 6 – 8; role in teacher education 5 – 6; stakeholders of 8; student teachers and 8 – 9; teacher education 1 – 4, 17 – 18; technology 16 – 17; technology enhancing 61 – 64; term 1; see also Study (Turkey and England) pre-service teacher(s): connecting theory to practice 30 – 31; coping with uncertainty 26 – 27; learning to practice 27 – 29; peer meetings helping 30 – 31; quality of support 30; relationship to mentors 29 – 30; resume of 32; school practicums for 24 – 26; social status of 25, 31 – 32; in Study (Turkey and England) 26 – 27; see also Study (Turkey and England) RealtimeBoard 66 reflecting teams: data analyses 104 – 105; data collection 104; dialogues 105 – 113; expansive learning circle 103; form and theory 109 – 110; giving rationale for teaching 106 – 107; importance of findings for school leadership 112 – 113; leading school-based competence development 99 – 100, 110 – 112; perceiving learning of teachers 107 – 109;

Index 137 plan for observation and reflection 101; teacher education from 99, 113 – 114; testing in practice 103 – 104; tips and experiences 105 – 106 reflection, definition 15 Reich, Kersten 81 research: methodology for, and development 103 – 105; practicum 6 – 8; virtual tools 68 – 69 Savonlinna Teacher Training College 37 Schoens, Donald 81 school experience 1 Science and Technology 118, 119 SharePoint 67 simSchool 58, 59, 64, 69 Skype 65, 66 socialising agent, role of 10 Soodle Wiktionary 66 Sortavala Training College 36 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering Arts and Mathematics) education 4, 117; after-school and in-school program content 122; context of study 120 – 121; creativity as applied to research 119 – 120; curriculum design 128 – 129; digital augment craft used in workshops 124; exploratory case study 121 – 122; innovative learning framework 122 – 125; learning framework 123; literature review 117 – 119; semi-structured interviews with coaches 125 – 128 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) 119 student teacher(s) 8 – 9; experiences of, from University of Eastern Finland (UEF) 75 – 81; feedback and assessment 14 – 15; relationship with mentor teacher educator 12 – 13 Study (Turkey and England): connecting theory to practice 30 – 31; mentor and pre-service teacher relationships 29 – 30; pre-service teachers in 24 – 26; pre-service teachers learning to practice 27 – 29; turbulent spaces of practicum 26 – 27 TaskStream 54 Teachersquare.org 66 teacher(s): arenas for reflection 100 – 102; perceived learning of 107 – 109; plan for observation and reflection 101; shortage challenges 85; theories on reflection

102 – 103; underestimating complexity of profession 85 – 86, 94; see also newly qualified teachers (NQTs); reflecting teams teacher education: beliefs of future teachers 74 – 75; benefits of internationalization in 73, 81 – 82; educators 9; practicum 1 – 4;, 17 – 18; role of practicum in 5 – 6; training programmes of University of Eastern Finland (UEF) 38 – 40, 39; see also Finnish teacher education teaching, concept of 5 technology: integrating into teaching 16 – 17; integration of virtual tools and 69 – 70; practicum overview enhanced by 61 – 64 Turkey see Study (Turkey and England) UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 72 UNESCO (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child) 76 United Nations (UN) 76 University of Cologne 75, 77 – 80 University of Eastern Finland (UEF) 36; structure of teaching practice at 38 – 40, 39; student experiences from 72, 75 – 81 University of Helsinki 37 University of Joensuu 36, 37 University of Phoenix 53 – 55, 58, 60, 62 – 63; e-portfolio for teacher candidates 69; orientation website 67; support links 68 university supervisors 9 University Teacher Training School ( Joensuu) 37, 48, 49n13 US Department of Education 59 virtual tools: cyber-practicum training 57 – 58; integration of technology and 69 – 70; lesson planning 64 – 65; podcasting 52 – 53; practicum overview enhanced by technology 61 – 64; training and web-based support 55 – 61; using resources and research 68 – 69; Web 2.0 tools 3, 52, 65 – 68 Web 2.0 tools 3, 52; lesson planning and 65 – 68; see also virtual tools whiteboard 66 working theory, beliefs of future teachers 74 – 75 World War II 36, 37