Teacher students’ views towards teaching subjects through teamwork during aproject based internship

Abstract

Teacher Students’ Views Towards Teaching Subjects Through Teamwork During a Project Based Internship

The purpose of this study is to examine how students react to and assess taking part in teamwork during a project based internship. The authors first discuss the term internship, different definitions of the concept, and how it is related to teacher education. Kemnis and Smith (2007) refer to internship as a situated practice where students take part in a certain ethical act that is promissory in terms of respecting specific work and professional traditions. That is the reason why terms such as values, expectations and ideas are important components when talking about internships. During internship students gain practical knowledge that they, together with their theoretical knowledge, can use to shape their own professional views and understanding of teaching.

 

Furthermore, the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge is discussed. Some scholars (e.g., Muchinsky, 2001) suggest that neither theories nor research results tell us exactly what to do in a practical context. Scholars with this point of view often put forward an assertion that there is no relation between theoretical and practical knowledge. Teaching is understood as a question of practice built on common sense and experience. This point of view is also widely known among many teachers who fail to see the connection between theory and practice. Other scholars (e.g., Korthagen et al., 2001, and Ragnhildur Bjarnadóttir, 2015) understand internships as a form of practice where students acquire procedural knowledge built on a dynamic relationship between practical and theoretical knowledge. In this article the term internship is understood as a learning process where students are given the opportunity to combine theory and practical experience with the purpose of becoming reflective professionals.

In 2008, teacher education in Iceland changed from requiring a B.Ed. to an obligatory M.Ed. degree. In other words, the schooling for teachers was extended from three to five years. This is regarded as a major change and has partly resulted in a new structure for teacher education. One of the main changes is that more weight has been given to internships and school−based training. During the last two years of the M.Ed., the students take two courses emphasizing school−based training.

In this study the authors examine how students react to the course „Faggreinakennsla”. The purpose of the course is to let the students reflect on how to teach subjects in compulsory schools. The course has been taught from 2013 and requires that students spend four weeks in schools as part of their internships. Students are required to work in teams with other students while interning. Normally, a team consists of 5–8 students majoring in different subjects, and the team members work in the same school during their internship. During their work in the field, each team jointly finds an issue or topic of special interest relating to school work. The chosen topic is then covered and discussed in a final presentation and dissertation of the course.

The researchers analysed the students’ writings about their experiences and practices during internship. The analysed material covers the period from 2013 to 2015. The research methods are text and discourse analyses. The main results indicate that the students find it highly interesting to work in teams during the internship because they learn about and see teaching methods used in different subjects, which helps them to put their own teaching into perspective. Also, students seem to think of the internship in terms of collaboration with their supervising teachers as well as their fellow students. Furthermore, the students come to a better understanding of how and when it is possible to integrate two or more subjects in their teaching. The research provides a deeper understanding of how teamwork during internships can help students acquire a much better understanding of their teaching practice. The research also reveals that project-based work on a chosen topic or matter related to schoolwork makes it more apparent to the students how theoretical and practical knowledge can be integrated in the learning process. In that way, students seem to have a better opportunity to examine, discuss and reflect on the act of teaching from different points of view. The research, therefore, contributes significant knowledge on how teacher students reconcile theoretical and practical aspects as important elements of the internship.