An inquiry into the theory-practice process: What and how student teachers learn?

The researchers and teacher educators in this study explored what and how their student teachers learnt to fulfill the ever-changing needs in today’s education. They inquired into the learning process happening during the school attachments. Four case schools where the 10-week attachment took place were studied. Twenty pre-service student teachers participated. Case study and narrative methods were used in interpreting the data collected by journaling, school visits, and interviews. Initial findings showed that learning to teach was dependent on the interaction between people (student teachers, school teachers, and teacher educators) and places (schools and teacher education institute), such as: (1) the kind of relationship and trust established between schools, the regular teachers, and the student teachers; (2) the way student teachers perceived the work given to them; and (3) the ability student teachers have had in dealing with challenges in the school context.