This study investigated trainee teachers’ delivery of a targeted programme entitled ‘Special Me Time’ (SMT) whilst on teaching placements in Foundation Phase settings in South Wales, over a training year. As reflective practice formed an integral part of the research, the study also aimed to discover whether students reflected effectively on their practice by employing specific reflective practice skills. The teaching experiences of two BA Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Year 3 students and six PGCE ITT students were scrutinised, primarily through examination of student reflective diaries and lesson evaluations. In addition, the study explored the rationale for the further development of good practice in pedagogy related to Personal and Social Development, Well -Being and Emotional Literacy (PSD/WB/EL) and reflective practice in the School of Education of a large university. The analysis of results revealed two common themes: Theme one related to the development of students’ pedagogical practice and to the teaching and facilitation of PSD/WB/EL during ‘Special Me Time’ (SMT). Theme two related to students’ use of reflective practice to assess and reflect upon teaching performance and competencies relating to PSD/WB/EL as part of the SMT programme. Findings from research showed that students gained in knowledge relating to PSD/WB/EL from undertaking the ‘Special Me Time’ programme. However, students found it difficult to effectively quantify the differences that the programme made. Students were aware however, that they were spending what they termed ‘quality time’ with the children. Students appreciated the concept of reflective practice, but often did not reflect upon or credit themselves with pedagogical achievements as a result of this process. Although student reflection was evident, students did not use reflection as a fundamental part of their practice. They often viewed reflection as superfluous and either did not wholly engage in the concept or undertook it but did not document the process fully, often engaging in what I termed ‘shallow reflection’. The study concludes by recommending that further research should be conducted in this area. Further evaluation of the benefits of equipping all ITT primary students regardless of age specialism chosen, with skills and knowledge in relation to teaching/facilitating PSD/WB/EL would be pertinent. The importance of ITT students developing skills and knowledge in order to integrate reflective practice into their professional practice is particularly significant. Findings from this research will inform future delivery of ITT primary programmes.

Les décisions de régulation représentent une très grande part de l’activité de l’enseignant en classe et un facteur clé dans les apprentissages et les progrès des élèves. Or, de nombreux travaux démontrent les difficultés des enseignants stagiaires à s’adapter à la singularité du contexte de la leçon. Ce travail vise donc à appréhender les logiques décisionnelles régulatrices des enseignants stagiaires et notamment au travers de leur subjectivité. Nous mobilisons à la fois les divers travaux s’intéressant à l’activité de l’enseignant en classe, ceux relatifs aux théories de l’activité humaine et leur transposition au monde de l’enseignement et enfin ceux relatifs à la vision psychophénoménologique pour comprendre et caractériser l’activité décisionnelle régulatrice des enseignants stagiaires. Nous faisons également un tour d’horizon de la formation initiale telle qu’elle s’organise actuellement et dans l’académie de Créteil particulièrement. Nos options méthodologiques sont guidées par le souci de rendre compte de la subjectivité, de la singularité et de la complexité des décisions régulatrices en contexte réel. Dans le cadre d’une triangulation des données nous mobilisons plusieurs outils méthodologiques tels que l’entretien semi-dirigé et l’entretien composite pour lequel l’entretien d’explicitation constitue le cœur du dispositif. Les résultats démontrent que les logiques décisionnelles régulatrices sont largement dominées par des modes de fonctionnement convergents et partagés, largement imprégnés par des attentes institutionnelles liées à leur statut d’enseignant stagiaire et à leur formation initiale. Les logiques subjectives sont révélées dans l’expression de mode de fonctionnement cognitifs propres à chaque enseignant stagiaire. / Decisions of regulation represent a very large part of the physical education and sport’s teacher's activity in their class and a key factor in pupil’s learning and progress. However, many studies demonstrate the difficulties of trainee teachers to adapt to the singularity of the context of the lesson. This work aims to apprehend the physical education and sport’s trainee teacher’s decisions of regulation logic, especially through their subjectivity. We mobilize both the various works focusing on the teacher's activity in class, those relating to theories of human activity and their transposition to the world of education and finally those relating to the psychophenomenological vision to understand and characterize the decision of regulation activity of trainee teachers. We also do an overview of initial training as it is currently organized and particularly in the Academy of Créteil. Our methodological choices are guided by the need to take account of subjectivity, singularity and complexity of decisions of regulation in real context. As part of a triangulation of data we mobilize several methodological tools such as semi-structured interview and mixed interview for which the maintenance of explicitness is the heart of the device. The results demonstrate that the decision of regulation’s logic are largely dominated by converging and shared operating modes, widely impregnated with institutional expectations for their trainee teacher status and initial training. The subjective logic are revealed in the expression of cognitive mode unique to each trainee teacher.

The closing thesis deals with the issue of undergraduate training of students at the Faculty of Education of the University of South Bohemia and their following introduction into the school practice. The thesis verifies whether students' presumptions for choosing to study at the Faculty of Education, University of South Bohemia, changed their idea about the readiness to enter the school practice including possessing individual pedagogical skills. This thesis brings many findings for the school management. These findings can be applied in new employees' adaptation. Among the benefits of this thesis belongs renewal of the discussion about teaching profession and clarification of basic terms and their semantic content in the theoretical literature. Questionnaire survey showed that there has been happening a change with the students who choose faculty of education, i.e. they choose it purposely with the vision of teaching profession. School management should reflect this change.

This thesis examines the reflection skills of student English teachers at the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague during their teaching practice. The theoretical part introduces the reflective teaching model and looks into the phenomena of the teacher as reflective practitioner. The empirical part deals with the trainee teacher's reflection and methods, topics, depth and frequency. A significant part of the research also examines the influence of university employees (teacher mentors, supervisors, methodologists) as incentive supporters of the students' professional development regarding reflection. Key words: reflection, reflective cycle, reflective practitioner, trainee teacher, teaching practice, teacher mentor, supervisor, teacher education

This study sought to investigate the impact of pre-service primary school English language teachers’ training on their post-training practice. A constructive research paradigm and qualitative method were used in the study. The participants were selected purposively, and final year pre-service primary school English trainee teachers were used to collect the research data. The data were collected in the year 2016. To collect the data, an interview schedule, an observation guide and document analyses were used. The interviews and the observations were recorded and later transcribed. The transcribed data were coded, categorized according to their similarity, and then these categories were further collapsed into themes. The findings showed that the primary school ELT trainee teachers did not have sufficient understanding of the ELT methods offered during their training which led to poor practice, as revealed in their independent teaching. Some of the reasons for the trainees’ poor understanding and practice mentioned were that the training system was not supported by the reflective teaching method, and the support of ICT. In addition, there was a significant waste of time budgeted for the course time for the completion of the training program. In relation to time, the practicum time the students stayed in the primary school during independent teaching was not sufficient to give them hands-on practice. Moreover, they did not get the required support from the school mentors and the training college supervisors. Due to these constraints, almost all the participant trainee teachers demonstrated poor performances during the lesson delivery, which indicated that they did not understand the principles of the ELT methods / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

Primary school teachers in Zimbabwe tend to face a number of challenges that need to be overcome if they are to handle learners with diverse needs effectively. The main problem has been failure by teachers to deal with gifted learners. The objective of this qualitative study focused on answering the key research question, ‘What are the teacher education initiatives undertaken by Teachers Colleges to prepare trainee teachers in handling gifted learners in primary schools in Zimbabwe?’ The problem is mainly attributed to preparation of teachers during pre-service training. Primary school education in Zimbabwe has tended to ignore gifted learners as compared to learners who experience academic barriers. It has been observed that records kept by trainee teachers on teaching practice reflect some serious planning considerations given to remedial cases in which gifted learners are completely ignored. This suggests that the trainee teachers are not deliberately ignoring gifted learners but have an inherent assumption that they do not need extra attention. The research was grounded in the constructivist paradigm to gain a full understanding of the social life-world of the initiatives by teacher education in the preparation of trainee teachers to handle gifted learners. A phenomenological design was employed to collect data through qualitative methods, namely semi-structured interviews, observation and focus group discussion. The respondents to these data collection methods were lecturers from two teachers colleges, qualified teachers and trainee teachers from two primary schools. The main finding was that gifted education was missing in the teacher preparation to enable trainee teachers to handle gifted learners. The researcher made some recommendations from the conclusions drawn from the research findings. The recommendations included that there is need for a national policy on gifted education to provide guidelines for teacher education programmes and that teacher training colleges should review their curriculum specifically in Theory of Education and Professional Studies to include gifted education. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Despite a growing body of research on trainee teachers’ learning during pre-service programs, intensive introductory TESL training courses are still designed to instruct a “standard” type of trainee teacher. This research study investigates the factors that mediate trainee teachers’ learning process as well as the interaction between these factors, which either facilitate and/or hinder trainee teachers’ success during an intensive introductory TESL training course. Using a qualitative holistic single-case study, informed by an interpretivist perspective, this study explores how three trainee teachers learned how to teach during a course in Southern Ontario, Canada. An integrated conceptual framework, formed by a sociocultural perspective of teacher learning, a holistic view of curriculum, and transformative pedagogy was employed and the findings include four major factors that mediated trainee teachers’ teacher learning process and three types of interaction that facilitated and/or hindered their success during the program.

Despite a growing body of research on trainee teachers’ learning during pre-service programs, intensive introductory TESL training courses are still designed to instruct a “standard” type of trainee teacher. This research study investigates the factors that mediate trainee teachers’ learning process as well as the interaction between these factors, which either facilitate and/or hinder trainee teachers’ success during an intensive introductory TESL training course. Using a qualitative holistic single-case study, informed by an interpretivist perspective, this study explores how three trainee teachers learned how to teach during a course in Southern Ontario, Canada. An integrated conceptual framework, formed by a sociocultural perspective of teacher learning, a holistic view of curriculum, and transformative pedagogy was employed and the findings include four major factors that mediated trainee teachers’ teacher learning process and three types of interaction that facilitated and/or hindered their success during the program.

Primary school teachers in Zimbabwe tend to face a number of challenges that need to be overcome if they are to handle learners with diverse needs effectively. The main problem has been failure by teachers to deal with gifted learners. The objective of this qualitative study focused on answering the key research question, ‘What are the teacher education initiatives undertaken by Teachers Colleges to prepare trainee teachers in handling gifted learners in primary schools in Zimbabwe?’ The problem is mainly attributed to preparation of teachers during pre-service training. Primary school education in Zimbabwe has tended to ignore gifted learners as compared to learners who experience academic barriers. It has been observed that records kept by trainee teachers on teaching practice reflect some serious planning considerations given to remedial cases in which gifted learners are completely ignored. This suggests that the trainee teachers are not deliberately ignoring gifted learners but have an inherent assumption that they do not need extra attention. The research was grounded in the constructivist paradigm to gain a full understanding of the social life-world of the initiatives by teacher education in the preparation of trainee teachers to handle gifted learners. A phenomenological design was employed to collect data through qualitative methods, namely semi-structured interviews, observation and focus group discussion. The respondents to these data collection methods were lecturers from two teachers colleges, qualified teachers and trainee teachers from two primary schools. The main finding was that gifted education was missing in the teacher preparation to enable trainee teachers to handle gifted learners. The researcher made some recommendations from the conclusions drawn from the research findings. The recommendations included that there is need for a national policy on gifted education to provide guidelines for teacher education programmes and that teacher training colleges should review their curriculum specifically in Theory of Education and Professional Studies to include gifted education. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)