Name

Sidra rehman
Roll no
S/2017-2241
Class
B. Ed hons elementary
Topic
Introduction to teaching practice
Submitted to
Sir Rafaqat Ali Akbar
Introduction to teaching practice:
Introduction
Teaching practice is an important component of becoming a teacher. It grants
student teachers experience in the actual teaching and learning environment
(Ngidi & Sibaya, 2003:18; Marais & Meier, 2004:220; Perry, 2004:2). During
teaching practice, a student teacher is given the opportunity to try the art of
teaching before actually getting into the real world of the teaching profession
(Kasanda, 1995). Student teachers also know the value of teaching practice
and as remarked by Menter (1989:461), they perceive it as ‘the crux of their
preparation for the teaching profession’ since it provides for the ‘real interface’
between studenthood and membership of the profession. As a result, teaching
practice creates a mixture of anticipation, anxiety, excitement and apprehen-
sion in the student teachers as they commence their teaching practice (Mani-
on, Keith, Morrison & Cohen, 2003; Perry, 2004:4).
Marais & Meier (2004:221) assert that the term teaching practice repre-
sents the range of experiences to which student teachers are exposed when
they work in classrooms and schools. Marais and Meier (2004:221) further
argue that teaching practice is a challenging but important part of teacher
training, especially in developing countries such as South Africa, where the
effectiveness of the teaching practice can be diminished or eroded by a range
of challenges, such as geographical distance, low and uneven levels of teacher
expertise, a wide-ranging lack of resources as well as a lack of discipline
among a wide cross-section of learners and educators. These challenges, if not
addressed, may affect student teachers’ performance during teaching practice
and may in the long run affect their perception of the teaching profession (Quick & Sieborger,
2005).
Menter (1989:460) notes that there has been a shift in the literature from
the concept of teaching practice (associated with an apprenticeship model) to
the concept of field/school experience (associated with an experiential model).
Lave & Wenger (1991) point out that however way it may be envisaged, the
notion of teaching practice is entrenched in experience-based learning initia-
ted by Dewey (1938), Vygotsky’s (1978) social cognitive theory, and founded
in the premise of situated learning. Consequently as suggested by the South
African Norms & Standards for Educators (Republic of South Africa, 2000:12),
teaching practice is meant to provide for the authentic context within which
student teachers are exposed to experience the complexities and richness of
the reality of being a teacher. This process allows the student teacher an op-
portunity to establish whether the right career choice has been made or not.
However, despite its importance, Killen & Steyn (2001) note that teaching
practice sometimes becomes a demoralising and sometimes very frightening
experience.
Several studies have been conducted on student teacher’s experience and
anxieties during teaching practice (Ngidi & Sibaya, 2003; Marais & Meier,
2004)to mention but two. However a review of the literature indicates that
there are limited studies that have been conducted regarding ways in which
students’ experiences during teaching practice influence their perception of
and attitudes towards the teaching profession
The study examined the experiences of Vaal University of Technology
(VUT) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) student teachers during
their teaching practice in the Vaal Triangle. The study was prompted by a
class discussion where students were requested to give reasons for choosing
the teaching profession. The majority of the students in that class indicated
that they were doing the course by default. The students saw it as a stopgap
while they waited for better career opportunities in other fields. Most of the
students were from other countries and had been offered government bur-
saries to enrol for the PGCE programme. These students enrolled because
they had no alternative, since they were not able to get jobs after their under-
graduate qualification and because there was funding available for them to do
the PGCE course. The majority of student teachers indicated that they had no
intention of teaching after the course. During the year, some students main-
tained the same attitude while others felt that teaching was “not such a bad
thing after all”. All students had continued with the course until the time they
had had to go for teaching practice.
Towards the end of teaching practice, the student teachers were asked
about their experiences during teaching practice and whether these experien-
ces may have influenced their perception of the teaching profession.
We argue that, despite the enriching experiences during teaching practice,
student teachers experienced challenges, which may have significantly affec-
ted their ability to derive maximum benefit from the exercise. An understand-
ing of the student teachers’ experiences will facilitate the teacher-training institutions’
awareness of the challenges faced by student teachers, which
could militate against a positive teaching practice experience (Marais & Meier,
2004:232) and teacher-training programmes could be reconsidered and re-
viewed so as to enable student teachers to achieve the desired outcomes from
the teaching practice.
We explore student teachers’ experiences and how these experiences in-
fluence their perception of the teaching profession. We identify both the posi-
tive and negative experiences of student teachers during teaching practice and
suggest ways of assisting student teachers to achieve the desired outcomes
from teaching practice.
A limitation of this study is that a small sample (n = 24) of PGCE students
from the Vaal University of Technology was used. Therefore the findings of the
study cannot be generalised to other student teachers from other teacher
training programmes.
We describe and give a justification for teaching practice as a training
requirement for teachers. A brief review of how it is conducted at the VUT is
done, followed by an account of the methodology and a discussion of findings.
Finally suggestions as to how teaching practice could be improved in order to
have a positive influence on the students teachers’ perception of and attitude
towards the teaching profession are presented.
Teaching practice: a teacher-training requirement
Teaching practice is a form of work-integrated learning that is described as a
period of time when students are working in the relevant industry to receive
specific in-service training in order to apply theory in practice. Researchers
such as Marais and Meier (2004:220), Perry (2004:2) and Maphosa, Shumba
& Shumba (2007:296) describe teaching practice as an integral component of
teacher training. In order to achieve the standards required for qualified tea-
cher status, a student teacher is required to do teaching practice in at least
two schools. According to Perry (2004:2), teaching practice can be conducted
in a number of forms depending on the institution. Some institutions send
student teachers to go for teaching practice once a day each week; others do
this over a semester; while others send student teachers in a two- to six-
weeks’ block. Participants in Quick & Sieborger’s (2005:4) study suggested
that the traditional PGCE can accommodate a third of the time (11 or 12
weeks) for teaching practice, and that this practice period should be divided
into at least two, possibly three, school experience sessions. It should be
pointed out that, in whatever form it is done, teaching practice is aimed at
inducting student teachers more fully into the professional work of teachers
(Perry 2004:2). To this effect the student teacher is expected to fulfil all the
responsibilities of a teacher, which according to Perry (2004:2) is exciting but
challenging.
Perry (2004:2) also points out that, on the one hand, student teachers
should experience the excitement of being a part of a real classroom setting,
of getting to know learners, of planning and organising the classroom tasks.