Developing Learning Environments: Creativity, Motivation and Collaboration in Higher Education

14. Field-based support and the learning of novice professionals: Implications from a teacher education programme

14 :฀Field-base d฀support฀and฀the฀learning฀of฀ novice฀professionals:฀Implications฀from฀ a฀teacher฀education฀programme฀ Cheng May Hung May and So Wing Mui Winnie INTRODUCTION฀ Programmes fo r th e preparation o f professionals includ e field-base d components, meaning tha t th e learning of novices occurs both i n th e tertiary institutio n an d i n th e field . Eve n i f th e curriculu m fo r th e programme base d i n th e institutio n i s well organize d an d delivered , learning in the field-based componen t is subject t o circumstances tha t tertiary educators may not be able to control. It is important, therefore , for tertiary educators to understand th e learning process and the role of the parties involved m the field-based component, so that it can be better organized. This chapter addresses concerns about learning among novices i n the field. The analysis is based on the field-experience componen t o f a four-year teache r education programme a t the Hong Kong Institute o f Education. Schools , as the places where the field experienc e is based , play a more active and supportive role in facilitating the development of student teachers. As well as their peers and Institute tutors, co-operating Cheng฀May฀Hung฀May฀and฀So฀Wing฀Mui฀Winnie฀ teachers and principals in th e schools have a significant influenc e o n the learning experience of the novices. Experience in the field begins in the firs t yea r of the programme whe n th e student teacher s have thei r first tast e of life as a teacher, during a two-week school attachment. I n the secon d year, ther e is a three-week teachin g practice in a primar y school. During this field experience, the student teacher s are involve d in team-teachin g an d ar e supporte d b y teacher s i n th e school . Th e findings describe various forms of support in the field that may enhanc e the learning and professiona l developmen t o f student teacher s in th e first tw o years of the programme . The finding s o f th e study wer e interpreted fro m a socio-cultura l point o f view o f learning. This define s learnin g t o teach a s a proces s influenced by interaction between the participants in the system, namely those fro m bot h th e schoo l an d th e Institute . Th e participant s thu s include the student teacher s themselves, Institute tutors, co-operatin g teachers, and school administrators. One of the functions o f a teache r education programme, like other tertiar y programmes that aim to help students develo p int o professionals , ca n b e see n a s facilitatin g th e socialization o f the novices within th e profession. Th e implication i s that suppor t fro m bot h th e Institut e an d practitioner s i n th e fiel d i s important. Drawin g on th e finding s o f the study, we identify possibl e forms o f support bot h i n th e fiel d an d fro m th e Institute, whic h ca n enhance professional development . THE฀IMPORTANCE฀OF฀THE฀SCHOOL฀CONTEXT฀FOR฀FIELD฀ EXPERIENCE฀IN฀TEACHER฀EDUCATION฀PROGRAMME฀ Field experience is an important part of a teacher education programm e and i s a major influenc e i n helpin g studen t teacher s lear n t o teac h (Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann 1987) . Apart from the knowledge they acquire durin g th e Institute-base d programme , teacher s accumulat e knowledge abou t teaching , whic h i s described a s 'practical' o r 'craft ' knowledge (Calderhead 1996) . As this 'practical' or 'craft' knowledge is highly contextualized, related to pupils' needs and specific to the school Field-based฀support฀and฀the฀learning฀of฀novice฀professionals฀27 1฀ in which the teachers function, thi s form o f knowledge is a necessary support for student teachers during their early teaching experience. This definition o f professional knowledge , comprising both theoretica l an d practical knowledge , suggest s tha t academic s an d...