Pre-Service Teachers Professional Development through Four-Step Problem-Solving Model: A Seminar Method

Abstract

Effective teaching and learning strategy is one of the most important topics in the field of teachers" professional development. Teachers" education and pre-service teachers" training programmes provide necessary coursework, field experience, and student teaching internship experience to pre-service, potential, and second career teachers who are seeking initial license status. Due to the rapid developments in Hong Kong, China, school teachers face challenges, difficulties, and social problems due to excess enrolment of teachers from different backgrounds. The regular curriculum and material also fail to cover all these issues. The current study applied the seminar technique as recommended in Polya"s Four-Step Problem-Solving Model with targeted discussion topics and engaged 12 STEM pre-service teachers at one of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programmes. The results indicated that beyond regular coursework, field experience, and internship experiences embedded in the curriculum, additional seminars allowed the participants to establish inter-disciplinary teaching strategies and critical thinking skills. The results of this study serve as a blueprint for teachers" education programme leaders and school administrators to establish similar seminars and conduct such sessions for their pre-service and in-service teachers to refresh and advance their teaching and learning strategies. Contribution/Originality: The study contributes to the existing literature on teachers" education programmes, teachers" training, and teachers" professional development. The primary contribution of this article is also to provide directions for school leaders and administrators to establish professional training to their in-service and pre-service teachers in K-12 school environments. 1. INTRODUCTION How to employ effective teaching methods and how to transfer textbook knowledge into classroom management and practice are some of the significant elements for current teachers to understand (Clandnin and Connelly, 1995; Dos Santos, 2018; Dos Santos, 2019). Both pre-service and in-service teachers are expected to understand the most appropriate teaching strategy and method for their subject matter and classroom environment. Vasquez et al. (2013) indicated that teachers" education programmes for initial license should mainly focus on the areas of coursework, field experience, and student internship experience. Pre-service teachers should also learn how to manage and transfer their theoretical knowledge from textbooks and university classroom environments to real K-12 school environments. They might utilize the mentorship and guidelines from university professors and

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