A Case Study On The Legitimate Peripheral Participation Of The Pre-service English Teacher In The Educational Practicum

Situational learning theory emphasizes "learning in doing",which is the process of"legitimate peripheral participation"(LPP)of novices in the community of practice.As an important part of the teacher education program in China,educational practicum provides pre-service teachers with an opportunity to strengthen practical teaching skills and enables them to acquire basic information about the teaching profession and practical knowledge in the real teaching environment,i.e.local primary and secondary schools.While in the process of educational practicum,the learning process of pre-service teachers is embodied in the legitimate peripheral participation.Although the legitimacy of pre-service teachers’participation in the practicum school is guaranteed by the university-school partnership,they still participate peripherally in the learning process.Aimed at the legitimate peripheral participation of student teachers,the study therefore focuses on the following two questions:(1)How do pre-service English teachers engage in the legitimate peripheral participation in the practicum?(2)What leads to the legitimate peripheral participation of pre-service English teachers in the practicum?Focusing on one pre-service English teacher Wendy who comes from a M.Ed.Program of a key normal university and applying qualitative method including semi-structured interview and the teaching portfolio,this study aims to explore her LPP process in the practicum and the factors that exert influence on her periphery.As the findings indicate,the periphery of the pre-service English teachers is mainly manifested in four aspects:(1)the short time of the practicum and the simple work;(2)the low presence and recognition among students;(3)the weak position in the interpersonal interaction with the mentor;(4)failed attempts to find a suitable way to participate and the right position in the practicum.In addition,there exist three factors that have effects on the peripheral participation process of the pre-service English teachers.First,the randomness of the mentor arrangements in the practicum school determines that the student teachers cannot choose their mentors on their own,and the arranged mentor is not necessarily suitable for the student teachers,which has a certain risk to the periphery of student teachers.Second,different mentors have different roles in the mentoring process.In terms of vocational guidance,role models and emotional support,different mentors play different roles in lubricating the LPP process of student teachers.Last,for the lack of clear understanding of practical learning and practicum awareness,student teachers cannot actively participate in learning,which results in the increased periphery of student teachers.Based on what has been discovered,suggestions on how to improve the LPP process of pre-service English teacher in the practicum are as followed.First,student English teachers should effectively reflect on some subjective factors of LPP in educational practicum and make improvements;second,mentors should lubricate and accelerate the LPP process of student teachers in practicum;third,universities and schools should separately train student teachers and mentors before the practicum.