Abstract
The class was quiet...where were their thoughts? 'Guess what I'm thinking', they silently said. 'Guess what I'm thinking', the teacher shattered their calm. Lucky we have an excursion on Thursday! This paper reports preservice teacher and school student perspectives of the practicum. These voices are usually silenced and the research highlights the 'messiness' and complexities of classroom research. A story of the practicum co-authored by the participants (classroom teachers as mentors, preservice teachers, school students and teacher educator) uncovers views not previously heard. Evidence of school student and preservice teacher strategies to reclaim a sense of themselves and resist imposed views is presented. Engaging school students is seen as a problem of how students are constructed as learners, not a problem of pedagogy. Preservice teachers describe the practicum as a time to endure and acquiesce and complain of limited feedback from either the university or their school-based mentors. Both students and preservice teachers support seamless sharing between classroom teacher and novice teacher. They also suggest that the gap in the life worlds of teachers and the life worlds of learners is indeed a chasm.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | AARE2005 |
| Subtitle of host publication | Creative Dissent: Constructive Solutions |
| Editors | Peter L Jeffery |
| Place of Publication | Melbourne, Australia |
| Publisher | AARE |
| Pages | 1-30 |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Publication status | Published - 2006 |
| Event | Australian Association for Research in Education International Education Research Conference: AARE 2005 - Sydney, Australia, Sydney, Australia Duration: 27 Nov 2005 → 01 Dec 2005 |
Conference
| Conference | Australian Association for Research in Education International Education Research Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Sydney |
| Period | 27/11/05 → 01/12/05 |