Comparative Research On Teaching Practice In Pre-service Teacher Education In The UK And USA

Teaching practice in pre-service teacher education is an important section forteacher education. It is a link between theory and practice and a key process forprospective teachers to enter the area of teaching profession, so teaching practice inpre-service teacher education is very mea ningful for prospective teachers'professiona ldevelopment.According to the three different periods---"before World Warâ…¡","after WorldWarâ…¡"and"since the 1980s", this thesis analyze s the history of teaching practice inpre-service teacher education in the UK and USA respectively. Nowadays, both of thepatterns of teaching practice"school-based"in the UK and"cooperation betweenuniversity and school"in the USA are world-famous. They have the similar developingtrend: transition of emphasis has been from theory to practice and to the combinationof theory and practice; the site for teaching practice has been changed from"university-based"to"school-based". Both of the patterns of teaching practice dema ndto build a cooperative partnership between university and school. They work togetherto prepare prospective teachers. In the schools the prospective teachers are providedreal clinica l chance for practice. By this mea ns, teaching practice promotes prospectiveteachers'professiona l development greatly.Choosing University of Bath in the UK and University of Wisconsin-Madison inthe USA as cases to analyze their teaching practice in pre-service teacher education,we find that they have some common characteristics, such as"based on the practicereflectiontheory of teachers'professiona l development","paying more attention to theprocess and methods of teachers'professiona l development","enough time forteaching practice","proper arrangement for teaching practice","cooperation betweenuniversity and school","stable sites for teaching practice"and so on, which are very important to promote prospective teachers'professiona l development.In the end, the thesis discusses the problems with teaching practice in our country.For the purpose of promoting prospective teachers'professiona l development, someuseful advice on the reform of teaching practice in pre-service teacher education inChina is put forward.