‘We teach plastic lessons to please them’: The influence of supervision on the practice of English language student teachers in Kenya

Abstract

This article analyses the process of supervision by teacher educators and its influence on English language student teachers during a practicum in Kenya. The student teachers were enrolled in a four-year Bachelor of Education course for teaching English at secondary school level. Drawing on the perspectives of teacher educators, co-operating teachers and student teachers, this analysis suggests that supervision was brief and un-coordinated and that the feedback student teachers received was mainly evaluative, directive and focused on general, rather than subject-specific pedagogy. Student teachers' concerns during the practicum were related largely to pleasing their supervisors and obtaining a pass mark, and this limited the extent to which student teachers developed the pedagogical reasoning that is considered to be the main goal of teaching practice by both the Kenya government and current literature in the field of language teacher education (LTE). This study has implications for the conduct of teaching practice on pre-service language teacher education courses in Kenya and more generally.

Understanding feedback: A learning theory perspective

“…Ten articles were based on behaviourism: Werts, Wolery, Holcombe, and Gast (1995), Lee (2002), Ferreira, Moore, andMellish (2007), Goodman, Brady, Duffy, Scott, and Pollard (2008), Rodriguez, Loman, and Horner (2009), Auld, Belfiore, and Scheeler (2010), Scheeler, Congdon, and Stansbery (2010), Duchaine, Jolivette, and Fredrick (2011), Ochieng' Ong'ondo and Borg (2011), and Scheeler, McKinnon, and Stout (2012.…”

“…Table 2 shows the task-related characteristics. It is suggested that feedback should be task-or goal-related (Black & Wiliam, 1998;Brinko, 1993;Ochieng' Ong'ondo and Borg, 2011;Sadler, 1989;Shute, 2008). Brinko (1993), reasoning from the social cultural theory, proposed that feedback should be directed at behaviour rather than on the receiver.…”

“…From all learning theories it is suggested that feedback receivers should have an opportunity to respond to feedback and engage in a dialogue with providers, and in addition, feedback should be given in a context of collaboration (Table 4; e.g., Auld et al, 2010;Brinko, 1993;Hyland, 2001;Landry et al, 2009;Licklider, 1995;Manouchehri, 2002;Nicol & McFarlane-Dick, 2006;Ochieng' Ong'ondo and Borg, 2011;Pokomy & Pickford, 2010).…”

Great Expectations: The TESOL Practicum as a Professional Learning Experience

“…However, two challenges have emerged out of the developmental perspective on the TESOL practicum. One is the quality of supervision by teacher educators (Bailey, 2006;Farrell, 2007Farrell, , 2008bOchieng'Ong'ondo & Borg, 2011;Tang, 2003;Youngs & Bird, 2010) and the other is how to make the practicum a real learning opportunity for student teachers' professional growth (Richards, 1998).…”

Unearthing the Complexities of Clinical Pedagogy in Supervision: Identifying the Pedagogical Skills of Supervisors

“…Unfortunately, supervision of preservice teachers has been practiced predominantly through observation and feedback (Jacobs et al, 2014). Many conceive of supervision as a detached supervisor attending to the technical aspects of observing preservice teachers' behavior and providing corrective feedback (Basmadjian, 2011;Ochieng' Ong'ondo & Borg, 2011;Rathel, Drasgow, & Christle, 2008;Rock, Gregg, Gable, Zigmond, Blanks, Howard, & Bullock, 2012;Scheeler, McAfee, Ruhl, & Lee, 2006). These conceptions are problematic in that they fail to recognize the pedagogical potential of supervision.…”