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- The role of practicum for early childhood teacher education: the perspectives of student teachersPublication . Craveiro, Clara; Silva, Brigite; Friães, Rita; Parente, Cristina; Lino, DalilaIn the last decade with the reforms required by the Bologna process the role of practicum in pre-service teacher education has been emphasized, making it a central component of European curricula. It has been observed over the years that this dimension has been mainly approached in terms of organization and supervision processes, and cannot be found many studies that focus effectively on what it represents for the actors and it contributions for professional development. This study aims to understand the practicum at pre-service early childhood teacher education. The objectives of the study are: (i) to identify the role of the practicum for professional learning and development of early childhood teachers; (ii) to know the difficulties and critical factors experienced by student teachers at practicum. The methodology used is the mix-method research and data was collected through online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The participants are early childhood teachers that have graduated in the last three years from different Portuguese Higher Education Institutions. The qualitative data was analyzed through content analyze with the use of NVIVO 11 and SPSS 22 was used to analyze the quantitative data. To ensure confidentiality no information is disclosed without participant’s consent and the interviews were transcribed and sent to the participants for a final revision. The results confirm the centrality of practicum for early childhood teachers’ professional development. The construction of professional knowledge emerges as one of the main contribution of practicum. Another contribution is the student teachers’ awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses in terms of theoretical and practical knowledge. The data also show that the relationships with the educational context and with the different practicum actors (supervisors, cooperating teachers) has a supportive role for student teachers’ success. The study point out several difficulties experienced by the student teachers, namely: lack of time to respond to all the academic tasks; the interconnection theory practice; the development of reflection and research skills.keywords: practicum, early childhood teacher education, professional development.
- Inside the practicum: crossing the visions of the actorsPublication . Lino, Dalila; Parente, Cristina; Vieira, Maria de Fátima Cerqueira MartinsThe roles and responsibilities of preschool teachers require a broad range of skills that include promoting child development, being sensitive and responsive to individual needs, working collaboratively with families and communities, and negotiating unexpected and challenging situations. The understanding of the practical training component is that of experiential learning supervised and reflected in real working context, in the case under study, at infants and toddlers and preschool classrooms. The supervision of practicum is understood as one of the most critical components of the formation of childhood educators. The main goal of this study is to understand the perceptions of the three actors of practicum: student teachers; university supervisors and cooperative teachers. From this main goal the following objectives emerged: (i) to know the models of supervision adopted by university supervisors and cooperative teachers; (ii) to identify supervision strategies adopted by the university supervisor and the cooperative teacher that promote student teachers professional development; (iii) to identify the critical factors that promote or hinder student teachers success; (iv) to know the needs of other conditions and/or resources at the supervisory level. The study is part of the interpretation paradigm, using for this reason a qualitative method. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews to 15 cooperative teachers, 15 university supervisors and 30 student teachers of preschool master programmes. A content analysis approach was used to analyse the data. To ensure confidentiality no information is disclosed without participants' consent and the interviews were transcribed and send to the participants for a final revision.The results reveal the key role of interactions and relations between student teachers and cooperative teachers and student teachers and university supervisors for the success at practicum, the importance of interconnecting theory and practice, reflection has a crucial role for student teacher’s professional development, the need for more training in supervision for cooperative teachers and university supervisors.
- Practical learning and professional development of preschool teachers: the role of practicumPublication . Lino, Dalila; Friães, Rita; Parente, Cristina; Vieira, Fátima; Craveiro, Clara; Silva, BrigiteNowadays is recognized that practicum has a key role in the initial education of teachers and preschool teachers, being considered as a fundamental axis for the professional development of these professionals. It is acknowledged that this period of supervised, reflected and experiential learning acts as a wedge between the academic and theoretical training and the one that occurs in practice contexts, being practicum pointed out by research as a crucial space and time to promote the preschool teachers’ awareness of the profession and the acquisition of human skills and qualities of practical thinking and professional knowledge. This study is part of a research project that aims to understand the role of practicum for preschool and 1st and 2nd cycle of basic education teachers.