A Study On The Impact Of Educational Practicum On The Development Of Pre-service English Teachers' Practical Knowledge

Teachers' practical knowledge is a kind of knowledge about education and teaching,which is truly believed and actually applied by teachers in teaching practice and is the guidance of their teaching behaviors.Practical knowledge as an indispensable part of teacher knowledge has a profound impact on teachers' teaching.The educational practicum is an essential approach for pre-service English teachers to construct practical knowledge by offering them opportunities to experience school life and work with real teachers.This research used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to research 53 masters of English education from one university in central China,in order to investigate pre-service English teachers' perceptions about the impact of educational practicum on the development of teachers' practical knowledge.After the educational practicum,questionnaires were distributed to all the participants,and 8 pre-service English teachers from different practicum schools were interviewed to supplement the questionnaire data.All the data were analyzed to answer the three research questions:(1)Does pre-service English teachers' practical knowledge change after the educational practicum?If it changes,how does each aspect of their practical knowledge change?(2)What are the key factors in educational practicum that influence the development of practical knowledge?(3)How do these factors influence the development of practical knowledge?The following research findings are obtained:generally,educational practicum has a positive influence on pre-service teachers' development of practical knowledge in terms of six sub-dimensions and each dimension is improved to various degrees.Specifically,pre-service English teachers' knowledge of self is developed most significantly after practicum,their English pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of students also develop sufficiently.Comparatively,their strategic knowledge and knowledge of curriculum also improve but less significantly than the above ones.The general pedagogical knowledge develops to a certain degree but is the least influenced knowledge by educational practicum among the six dimensions.The research result further indicates that pre-service English teachers' practical knowledge develops differently in emotional,cognitive and practical levels.They develop most in the emotional level,which is demonstrated in their recognition of teacher identity and willingness for teachers' career;they are less developed in cognitive level,for they have gained certain general knowledge and principles of every aspect of practical knowledge;they develop the least in practical level,which means that they cannot effectively apply the learned knowledge and principles into teaching practice or concrete teaching behaviors.Factors contributing to the development of pre-service English teachers' practical knowledge are as follows:classroom teaching is the most critical contributing factor to practical knowledge development,and the second important factor is peers' feedback.Self-reflection and mentors' feedback also play an essential role,other factors like classroom observation,students' feedback,and school environment,etc.also contribute to the development of practical knowledge.There are also some factors restricting their practical knowledge development including the defectiveness of the mentor system,the improper time arrangement of educational practicum and students' lack of self-learning autonomy.In view of the discussion above,this research put forward some suggestions for pre-service English teachers as well as the faculty of the M.E.d program to perfect the practicum system so as to make student English teachers better engage in the practicum and develop their practical knowledge.