Prospective Teachers of Secondary School Learners: Learning to Teach - Teaching to Learn

Abstract

Prospective teachers in their third year of a Bachelor of Education degree in secondary teacher education use a journal to respond to a range of questions about their experiences as learners prior to, during and after their first practicum. These stories are used as a source of data to analyze how 14 prospective secondary teachers understand the interaction between university–based and school-based studies; the points of conjunction and disjunction that they experience. The paper shows that during the first teaching practicum their ideas about learners and pedagogy are challenged and argues that more can be done in both the university and school to make ‘learning to teach’ a more connected experience for prospective teachers. This will require greater collaboration in a number of areas, along with the removal of structural barriers such as time and money.