Learning to teach English in Hong Kong: From conceptions of teaching to practices of teaching

Learning to teach English in Hong Kong: From conceptions of teaching to practices of teaching

• Chow, Wai Kwan Alice The Hong Kong Institute of Education

2004

International Language in Education Conference 2004: The Way Forward in Language Education (2004: The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, China)

• M Teachers & Education for Teachers
  • MA Professional Education for Teachers
• G Curriculum, Teaching & Learning: Specific Disciplines
  • GB English Language

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Post-Secondary Education

The focus of teacher education research in recent years has shifted from a behavioural research paradigm (Beatie, 1995), which examines how teacher behaviour influences student learning, to one which studies teacher cognition, and its relationship with professional actions (Watkins and Biggs, 2001). Such a shift is premised on the belief that what teachers do is directed by what they think (Clark & Peterson, 1986), and that teachers' implicit theories which impact their behaviours are guided by a personally held system of beliefs, values and principles (Zeichner, and Liston, 1987). This paper explores the practicum experiences of a group of Chinese student teachers learning to teach English in Hong Kong. Data were collected through interviews, journal entries and field notes based on practicum teaching observations. Major themes emerging from the data reveal the interplay between the student teachers' conceptions of teaching and argue for a shift away from a didactic approach in teacher education towards a dialectic and reflextive approach in foreign language teacher education.

Paper presented at the International Language in Education Conference 2004: The Way Forward in Language Education

• English

Conference Papers

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/d2b3dd31

2015-07-14