Designing communicative spaces – innovative perspectives on teacher education

ABSTRACT

The issue of lack of consistency between teacher education and professional practice has been a subject of debate for a long time. In Norway, like many other countries, both scientific communities and governing bodies have put this on the agenda. The current study is qualitative, using a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. The aim is to deepen the understanding of a communicative space between student teachers and pupils, both face-to-face and online, in order to develop student teachers’ interaction competence. The data comprise reflection logs, group interview and video recordings from both live and online meetings with student teachers and pupils, and is analysed by using qualitative content analysis. The findings demonstrate that online communication is different from ordinary classroom communication and therefore student teachers need to interact with pupils online in order to develop these skills. Reflecting on these kinds of situations while still in education helps student teachers to develop their ability to reflect critically on their own practice and prepare them for their future work as teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• communicative spaces
• student teachers’ interaction competence
• critical reflection

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica Aspfors

Jessica Aspfors Ph.D., Associate Professor at Nord University, The Faculty of Education and Arts, Norway. Her main research interest is in the field of teacher education, newly qualified teachers’ professional development and mentoring.

Anne Marit Valle

Anne Marit Valle Ph.D., Professor at Nord University, The Faculty of Education and Arts, Norway. Her primary research interests are language development and literacy, reading and writing disabilities, classroom management, teachers’ interaction competence, and innovation, teacher education and collaboration between teacher education and the practice field.