Analyzing students' learning during field experience: Matching students' perceptions to a philosophical perspective

Field experience during the four-year Bachelor of Education program (Primary) at The Hong Kong Institute of Education offers a number of opportunities for students to observe or teach in a school. The aim of this paper is to analyze the learning of the student teachers during the field experience in the first two years of the program and to explain this using a socio-cultural view of learning. Student teachers in their first year of study in 1998-1999 as well as those in their second year of study in 1999-2000 were interviewed. The principal findings include the following: the first year student teachers pointed out the importance of the linkage between the field experience and other modules in the program; and the second year student teachers were more concerned with the level of support they received from the school and their peers during the teaching practice. From the findings of the study, important functions of the field experience in enhancing the professional development of the student teachers are identified. Copyright © 2002 Hong Kong Institute of Education.