Pedagogies of practice in english language teacher education: student teachers’ experiences and preferences

This paper discusses the ways in which (English) language teachers are supported in their preparation for professional practice during their teacher education programmes. Using the framework of pedagogies of practice (representations, decompositions and approximations) (Grossman et al. 2009), it surveys 26 student teachers in relation to their experiences of the practice-oriented components of their teacher education programmes to discern their experiences, practices and perceptions. It specifically explores the context of Ireland and Norway. These opportunities to engage in practice, whether individually or collectively, assessed or unassessed, are discussed in terms of their potential for meaningful reflective practice (Dewey 1933). The results suggest that these students have opportunities to engage in a wide array of pedagogies of practice during their teacher education programmes, both individually and collectively. Many of these are assessed but others are formative in nature. Both groups of students place very high value on these practice-engagement elements of their programmes, with this value and preference increasing the closer these activities move towards real classroom practice, which is the most highly prized of all. Implications and suggestions are included in the concluding remarks.