Modern and Postmodern Views of Education that Shape EFL Mentoring in the Teaching Practicum

Abstract

Educational settings are now characterised by ethnic, cultural, linguistic, sociocultural and epistemological diversity. This article analyses epistemological diversity as an important factor in shaping teacher education programmes. This involved exploring how teacher-educators and student-teachers align themselves or negotiate modern and postmodern views of education. The research employed a narrative analysis-based on a qualitative methodology to discuss the effects of modern and postmodern views of knowledge construction and pedagogical action during the English Teaching practicum at a state university in Bogota. The findings suggest that, even though teacher-educators and student-teachers position themselves with discourses of generational change regarding conceptions of knowledge construction, there is a tendency to shape practices based on the ideals of fixed-defined generations (e.g. old, young) who have fixed views of education (old/traditional, young/contemporary) which consequently give particular shapes to pedagogical actions.

The Practicum in Times of Covid-19: Knowledge Developed by Future Physical Education Teachers in Virtual Modality

“…On the other hand, the contact and relationship with the university tutors and with the guiding teachers of the respective schools was not what was required in the circumstances of the pandemic, since when the teachers in training needed support, guidance or even just being listened to and given feedback, the conditions were not in place for that. The foregoing is contradictory to Chaliès et al (2008) Nash, (2010, Remy (2015), Medina and Bohórquez (2020) and Qadhi et al (2020), by highlighting the relevance of the task of the tutors and guides of educational establishments when developing the mentoring work, in the understanding that students in practicum, and new teachers especially, require systematic support during their insertion in the school system.…”

“…The teaching and learning process needs, therefore, to adapt to the new reality, and, in this sense, the initial teacher training (ITT) is of vital importance, especially at the training instance called practicum, at which point future teachers are deeply inserted into the school system for a whole semester (Fazio et al, 2010). In this context, students have strong pedagogical, emotional, and social support from collaborating teachers, trainers, and peers, in order to achieve the implementation of new strategies in the classrooms (Hume & Berry, 2013;Chaliès et al, 2008;Medina & Bohórquez, 2020;Nash, 2010).…”

The Conception of Student-Teachers and the Pedagogical Practicum in the Colombian ELT Field

“…Practicum advisors are critical companions in student-teachers' professional development and in helping them augment their knowledge (Bonilla-Medina & Samacá-Bohórquez, 2020;Castañeda-Peña et al, 2016;Chaves-Varón, 2008;Méndez-Rivera et al, 2019;Montoya-López et al, 2020;Viáfara-González, 2005). Practicum advisors should be good listeners who fuel conversations via comments or questions and understand that difficulties are part of the learning-to-teach process.…”

Reconstructing a Personal Story about Being a Teacher Educator and a Researcher

“…First, Monroy (2020), Bonilla andSamacá (2020) and Buendía-Árias et al, (2020) used the worked developed by Castañeda-Trujillo and Aguirre-Hernández (2018) as part of the contextualization of the problem. Monroy (2020) aimed at explaining the importance of listening to the voice of a pre-service English teacher through his reflections on ELT.…”