The Disciplining of Pre-service Teachers: Reflections on the teaching of reflective teaching

Abstract

In this paper we examine some of the knowledge transformations which occur amongst first-year pre-service teachers as a result of their reflections upon their initial fieldwork experiences and course content. We pay particular attention to the changes which herald a shift from school student perceptions of what constitutes a 'good' teacher to the perceptions of pre-service teachers who are becoming immersed in educational discourses. In many instances this immersion represents a knowledge loss. Accompanying the movement of a school student knowledge of effective teaching to a more 'professional' or 'disciplined' knowledge is a lack of attention to an 'ethic of care' as an integral component of teaching. Our reflections upon this loss lead us to suggest that the knowledge about the teaching act which first-year education students bring to education faculties should be valued, and serve as an important standpoint from which other pedagogical knowledges can be viewed.