Student teachers’ professional development: early practice and horizontal networks as ways to bridge the theory-practice gap

Abstract

This article focuses on student teachers' professional development and explores how the students connect theory and practice in these processes. Data consist of 17 talks during weekly seminars with 15 preschool student teachers and a group of researchers both at campus and at the practicum placements during their first term. Initially, the researchers introduced discussions with an aim to challenge the students' views on general societal issues as well as specific issues related to the preschool practice. Eventually, the seminars changed toward student and researchers being more equal interlocutors. Experiences were discussed and relations between theory and practice were elaborated. Analyses from an ecological perspective of teacher agency show that the student teachers' agency develops from a naïve to a proactive understanding of the profession. The early practicum period in combination with regular seminars was important for the student teachers' developing profession. The practicum period provides practical challenges, and the seminar discussions with researchers provides theoretical challenges. Implications for teacher education are discussed, such as offering horizontal teacher networks where students get support to be able to develop their professional agency.

Educación infantil y calidad docente

“…Kintner-Duffy et al (2022) found that student teachers had limited knowledge about the crucial role that culture plays in child development and in teaching practices, because of a lack of exposure during initial training to concepts related to culture and cultural identity. Ribaeus et al (2022) concluded that practicum periods in school, in combination with regular reflective seminars, is a formula that contributes to the development of a quality professional identity among candidate ECEC teachers.…”

Cooperation for developing digital competence in preschool – Challenges for teacher education – students – practicum preschools

“…Like all Swedish teacher education programmes, it is organized in two different domains of teaching, namely instruction at a university on the one hand, and on the other a placement (verksamhetsförlagd utbildning, VFU), which means practical training in the field (cf. Ribaeus et al, 2022). The aim for the placement component of teacher education is to form a totality together with the component taught at the university.…”

“…Local teacher educators and teacher educators at the university have to cooperate to support students as they develop in their professional role as teachers (cf. Ribaeus et al, 2022). In three-way conferences and other forms of cooperation between teacher educators in the field and at the university and preschool teacher students, two different cultures of organisation converge: the university and preschool.…”

Teacher educators’ perspectives on shaping a preschool teacher education while dealing with internal and external demands

“…This study is part of a project in which we simultaneously, but separately, study both student teachers' perspectives (Löfdahl Hultman & Ribaeus, 2021, Ribaeus, Enochsson, & Löfdahl Hultman, 2020 and teacher educators' perspectives within the same preschool teacher education programme, at a mid-size Swedish higher education institution (HEI). In this article, the data consist of interviews with 10 experienced teacher educators.…”