A Case Study On The Development Of Teachers’ Practical Knowledge Of An EFL Student Teacher During Teaching Practicum

The development of Teachers’Practical Knowledge (TPK) is considered to be the essential part of teachers’professional development. As the official starting point of teachers’ career in China, pre-service teacher education in normal universities should promote the development of pre-service teachers’practical knowledge. Teaching practicum, which is the important session of pre-service teacher education in China, provides the only chance for pre-service teachers to put the theories they learnt into real practice. Thus, teaching practicum is also the starting point of pre-service teachers’professional development in real teaching practice. Since its importance in teachers’professional development, does their teachers’ practical knowledge develop during pre-service teachers’teaching practicum? If yes, how does it develop? What factors influence the development of their practical knowledge? What are its implications on pre-service teacher education? Those are the key issues that the current research is focused on.Since the research on the development of pre-service teachers’practical knowledge during teaching practicum is rare, a case study on the development of an EFL student teacher’s (Miss Wu) practical knowledge is conducted through narrative inquiry. The study on her personal experience shows that she has obtained some practical knowledge before teaching practicum under the influence of her family background, personal educational experiences, and her own teaching practice as a volunteer teacher; the study of his personal experiences during the teaching practicum reveals that, Miss Wu’s practical knowledge does develop in her knowledge about herself, knowledge about the subject, knowledge about the students, and the knowledge about the teaching circumstances; her way of knowledge development is mainly through acquiring new knowledge and reinforcing the knowledge she learnt in teacher education courses; the influencing factors include mentor’s guidance, group discussion, personal observation and personal reflection. In conclusion, the EFL student teacher acquires new knowledge and reinforcing the knowledge they learnt through the process of getting to know the problem, analyzing the problem, taking measures and personal reflection with the help of mentor’s guidance, group discussion, personal observation and personal reflection during some real teaching circumstances. This study may have some implications on pre-service teachers’professional development:a real teaching circumstance, mentor’s guidance, group discussion, personal observation and reflection, and reflective practice constitutes the conditions for the development of pre-service teachers’practical knowledge.