Abstract
In teacher education, “learning to teach” has gradually been viewed as professional craft knowledge which is to be developed through the processes of reflection and practical problem-solving that they engage into carrying out the demand of their jobs (Black-Hawkins & Florian, 2012). In this project, a micro-modular approach which reflects a blended pedagogy will be adopted to realize the craft knowledge development in “learning to teach”. In each micro-module, the learning package will consist of (i) recommended reading materials about the topic, (ii) selected video clips of authentic classroom teaching in local schools (5-10 minutes each) with accompanied lesson plans and instructional materials, and (iii) guided questions for self-reflection and problem-solving discussion. The target users of this “learning to teach” platform are undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. By capturing the subject-specific knowledge and generic aspects of teaching in authentic classrooms, and making selected and edited video clips available to these student teachers in an eLearning environment for discussion and reflection, the platform will serve as an analytical tool for student-teachers to develop critical awareness of teaching in the local context.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
- to nurture the professional craft knowledge of student teachers
- to prepare them for their teaching practicums at local schools
- to develop a critical awareness of teaching the subject matter in the local context
- to develop a critical awareness of generic skills for teaching in the local context
- to support reflective and autonomous learning
Activities, process and outcomes
A micro-modular approach which reflects a blended pedagogy has been adopted to realize the craft knowledge development in “Teach to Learn” (T2L). In each micro-module, the learning package consists of i) recommended reading materials about the topic; ii) selected video clips of authentic classroom teaching in local schools (5-10 minutes each) with accompanied lesson plans and instructional materials; and iii) reflective questions for discussion. As the site contains mostly authentic classroom teaching videos in local schools, only registered users will have the access right. URL: https://platehk.org/teach2learn/
Deliverables and evaluation
A total of 82 micro-modules were developed. 1) Subject-specific: Chinese Language (18 micro-modules), English Language (26 micro-modules), and Mathematics (19 micro-modules); and 2) Generic with topics on technology-based learning, classroom management, classroom organization, and questioning strategies (19 micro-modules)
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
Locally, the project supervisor was invited to give a talk on the use of videos and portfolios in teacher education at the Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong on 1 June 2018. Internationally, the project supervisor was invited to produce a video and a Project leaflet as a showcase example of good practice of innovative ways in teacher training and development. They are now hosted in a publicly available website which won the English Language Teaching Research Partnership Awards funded by British Council. This Project process/outcomes/deliverables were also presented in the form of seminar, webminar and international conferences in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Australia and the UK.
