Leder: Inkluderende utdanning og oppvekstmiljø

Perspective Chapter: Enhancing Student Teachers’ Professional Development through Active Learning

“…In the two examples, student teachers are seen as active co-constructers of knowledge, not as objects to be equipped with pre-determined knowledge. In a similar vein, the role of the teacher educator is neither to provide the learners with information, nor to be a passive facilitator who leaves the students to discover and develop skills and knowledge on their own [2]. Rather, by leading the process of learning in a planned and structured way, teacher educators may take an active role in constructing and developing knowledge in collaboration with the student teachers.…”

“…Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs a computer-generated environment to stimulate the physical presence in an imaginary world-in our case, a classroom. The project was developed by a team of teacher educators at INN University in collaboration with in-service teachers at one of the schools in the area and a local company working with different types of VR style technology [2]. The purpose of the project is to advance the professional growth of prospective teachers, developing skills and knowledge with regard to home-school cooperation.…”

“…In order to activate the student teachers' engagement in their own process of learning, the VR project is designed as a "flipped classroom" practice [2,3]. As noted by Burnett and Merchant [14], the introduction in recent years of digital tools has contributed to a radical change in teacher education pedagogy, for example, through the emergence of flipped classroom methodologies.…”

“…In this part of the project, we emphasize an active connection to the learning material with the student teachers' previous knowledge and experiences about home-school cooperation [6,7]. In this phase, the team of teacher educators constantly assesses the extent to which the student teachers are able to utilize and apply their knowledge independently [2]. In the second phase, which involves the actual VR simulation, the student teachers test their newly acquired skills and knowledge, and, in the third and final phase, they come together and discuss and analyze their experiences with the team of teacher educators.…”

“…This role includes modeling behavior for student teachers and providing a space in which they can imitate the role of a professional teacher. Moreover, it includes the responsibility to nurture and challenge reflections, skills, and understanding by asking questions and providing critical instruction, guidance, and scaffolding [2]. As such, this chapter will challenge the view that student-active learning methodologies reduce the role of the teachers to passive facilitators who leave the learners to grow and advance on their own.…”