Understanding My Practice as an English Teacher Educator Through Research on Practicum Learning

• In Event: Collaboration on Research on Practicum Learning as Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices

Abstract

Perspectives
The general practices of teacher education in China have not changed much since the foundation of the New China in 1949. University programs are responsible for the preparation of secondary or post-secondary teachers, while college programs prepare primary and pre-school teachers. My self-study develops from the perspective of someone who studied at a Normal University in China over two decades ago. I took mandatory courses in pedagogy, educational psychology, ethics, and Mandarin in addition to a one-month practicum to receive my teacher’s certificate. I taught post-secondary courses for 5 years before beginning my MA in English teaching. Since then, I have worked at a highly competitive University in the same province, teaching future Chinese English teachers for a total of 20 years.

Methods
My doctoral work focuses on the experiences of teachers who were originally certified internationally but who now require local certification before they are able to teach in K-12 public schools. As a part of this work, I am engaging in a study of the practicum experiences of these internationally trained teachers as they complete a modified teacher education program. This research has caused me to reframe some of my experiences in Chinese teacher education. I am working with my supervisor on a collaborative self-study of my practice, with a specific focus on how I am coming to see my teacher educator identity in new ways as a result of conducting research on the practicum experience. My work builds on ideas put forth in Skerrett (2008) and Samaras et al. (2004).


Data Sources and Results
This research is informed by Cole and Knowles’ (1995) discussion of the importance of life history in developing an understanding of practice, which they call “the essence of professional development” (p. 130). I kept a journal devoted to writing about my experiences as a teacher candidate and a teacher educator; the topics for writing were stimulated by doctoral work focussed on studying practicum experiences:
Nobody told my associate teacher how to teach me, particularly with respect to how to link my coursework to the practicum. She said I was confident and I would be fine, but my confidence cannot take the place of my associate teacher’s experiences. For example, my courses mentioned that it was important to pay attention to students’ feelings and reactions during class. But when I got to the practicum, I couldn’t make the link, it was like I forgot everything that was in the textbooks . . . . When I became a teacher educator, I worked hard in my class to be explicit about how I managed relationships in our class.

Data were analyzed using Berry’s framework of tensions in both my practice and my identity as a teacher educator, as well as the literature on critical friendship (e.g., Costa & Kallick, 1993; Schuck & Russell, 2005).

Scholarly Significance
Self-study methodology has enabled me, as a Chinese teacher educator studying outside China, to consider both my identity as a teacher educator and the experiences of internationally trained teacher candidates in new ways.

Authors

• Jian Kong, Simon Fraser University

• Shawn M. Bullock, Simon Fraser University