A Study On The Transition Between Undergraduate Normal Students And Master Of Education In Practical Teaching

In normal colleges or universities, practice teaching is a vital part which can help put theories intopractice. Both the undergraduates in normal universities and the postgraduates for Master of Education(Med.) are expected to become teachers in high schools, and thus practice teaching has been given moreemphasis so that the graduates can better their skills and strategies in classroom teaching in the future whenthey themselves have become teachers. The Ministry of Education in China has issued two importantdocuments,([2007]2) and ([2009]1), both of which have attached great importance to students’ practicalability.Curriculum Standards for Teacher Education(Trial)([2011]6), the first national curriculum inChinese education history, states that18-week compulsory practice teaching in high schools is a necessityfor the postgraduates for Med.. In2010the Ministry of Education launched National Training Programsfor In-service Teachers in Primary and High Schools, putting more emphasis on practice teaching.It has been known to all that there has been a gap between the curriculum for undergraduates innormal universities and that for Med.. However, no statistics or evidence can well present this gap. Thus,the writer of this thesis collected and analyzed the curriculums from20universities, in order to find out thedifferent proportions for practice teaching, and the ways or approaches to achieve the goals.This study has strived to find out the answers to the following three questions:(1) What are thecourses offered for practice teaching for both undergraduates and MEd.s? Is the transition satisfying or not?(2) What are the different credits and the corresponding proportions for both? Is the transition satisfying ornot?(3) Are there any differences in the choice of thesis topics? If yes, what are they?Studies show that (1) only20%of the universities allocate more that15%of the credits for practiceteaching;(2)10%of the universities have training program in micro-teaching skills;(3) about90%of theuniversities set well organized approaches for practice teaching;(4) in the choice of thesis topics, therequirements for MEd.s are more clearly stated than those for undergraduates.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter1introduces the research background, significance of theresearch and the paper structure. Chapter2reviews briefly the literatures on Maser of Education, national training program, and teaching practice. Chapter3presents the research design, including research,research objectives, research process and research methods. Chapter4collects the research results of eachstage and analyzes them concretely. Chapter5concludes the thesis with the answers to the researchquestions, offers some suggestions, and admits the limitations.