Concerns of Student Teachers: implications for improving the practicum

Abstract

Maximizing school‐based training when student teachers learn through observation and practice is of central importance to teacher education. This important part of teacher training hinges on the fundamental linkage of instruction at the higher‐education level and practice of teaching in the classroom. This initial teaching experience provides a powerful conception of teaching (Roskos & Walker, 1994). Although current research has addressed the process and effectiveness of the school‐based practicum, few studies focus on the concerns of student teachers in the classroom. Indeed, student teachers who can reflect and resolve their concerns gain more professional confidence from their practicum.

The aim of the paper is to examine the concerns of student teachers during their initial school‐based training. A self‐administered questionnaire reveals the kinds and levels of concerns, while further illumination of personal, teacher‐situation and pupil‐needs concerns is captured from focus‐group interviews.

An examination of student‐teacher concerns after a first school practicum is beneficial on three levels. First, to the student teachers, so they can develop a professional confidence in what they are doing since many principals consider ‘presentation of self and a professional image essential to good teaching’ (Principals, 1995). Secondly, to the school principal, the co‐operating teacher and the pupils who are taught by student teachers (if a student teacher is well‐trained in a particular school, principal can request placement of that teacher in the school and be assured that the teacher fits well into the school context (Furlong et al, 1994), and the co‐operating teacher is assured that the student teacher is effectively teaching the pupils), and, thirdly, to higher‐education lecturers, who formulate and decide the sequence of courses.