Enabling Pre-service Teachers to Connect Theory to Practice

Conference: The European Conference on Language Learning (ECLL2022)
Title: Enabling Pre-service Teachers to Connect Theory to Practice
Stream: Professional development
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Miri Yochanna, Kibbutzim College of Education, Israel
Monica Levy, Kibbutzim College of Education, Israel

Abstract:

ESL teacher education programs comprise many second language acquisition and instructional theories alongside teaching techniques, usually via explanations or examples provided by their lecturer. However, not everything learnt can be implemented and experienced in their practicum in schools. As a result, some graduates might start their teaching careers without always being able to connect the theories they have studied to practical classroom use and thus lack confidence in their teaching ability.
Microteaching and reflective teaching served as a base for the revision of our pedagogical courses. Both theories enable the connection of theory to practice through collaborative peer work, peer teaching, reflections and feedback (Kumari, 2014). The pre-service teachers in our courses were third-year students, having studied many theories for two years. They were asked to collaborate with their peers to plan and prepare teaching activities for given situations prior to being taught specific techniques. They then micro-taught their peers, reflected on their teaching and received feedback from both their peers and us, their lecturers. These microteaching opportunities offered springboards for us to pinpoint what was done well and what needed to be taught. Moreover, it ensured that our teaching was tailored to what our pre-service teachers needed. Our revised teaching format and its influence on the pre-service teachers’ classroom abilities will be presented, based on observations, reflections and dialogue.

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