A Case Study Of English Student Teachers’ Practical Knowledge Development

With the continuous improvement of education and teaching quality around the world,teachers’ professional development has received more and more attention from scholars.Practical knowledge is an important knowledge basis for the professional development of teachers and plays an irreplaceable role in the development of teachers.Practical knowledge is rarely studied because of its characteristics of concealment,silence and looseness.The research on the development of teachers’ practical knowledge has certain significance for both professional development of student teachers and development of teacher education.This study adopts the method of case study,taking Chen’s(2011)classification of teachers’ practical knowledge as the theoretical basis and two student teachers as the research object.It aims to explore the teacher’s practical knowledge development of self,subject matters,students and teaching situations,analyze the causes of these changes and try to make some constructive suggestions for student English teachers and teacher education researchers.The research questions are as follows:1.Does student teachers’ practical knowledge develop during teaching practicum?If so,in what way?2.What are the main factors shaping the contents of student teachers’ practical knowledge during teaching practicum?The study found that before teaching practicum,the student English teacher has formed some practical knowledge.The experience in teaching practicum also affected the development of their teachers’ practical knowledge.In general,there have been some changes in self-knowledge,student knowledge,subject-matter knowledge and situation knowledge.Teacher-self knowledge is further embodied in teaching practice.Both student teachers are deeply aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and expect to continue to develop;Students’ knowledge experiences new development in aspects of students’ characteristics and their learning motivation;In terms of subject matter knowledge,there has been development in English subject,practical content and curriculum.In terms of situation knowledge,teacher-student relationship,school culture atmosphere and classroom management have further developed.Although all four aspects have developed,the degree of development in each aspect is different,and the development of teacher-self knowledge and subject matter knowledge is relatively small,while the development of student knowledge and situation knowledge,especially classroom management,is more obvious.The development of practical knowledge was influenced by both internal and external factors.Internal factors included professional development determination and critical reflection.External factors included mentor teacher’s support,peer support and communication with students.Based on the above findings,the researcher made the following suggestions:1.Teacher educators should strengthen practical and theoretical application of student teachers to make them possess strong practical competence.2.The period of teaching practicum should be longer for student teachers to get the most out of it.3.student teachers themselves should be willing to practice,strengthen self-reflection,and develop teacher practical knowledge in practice.