A Study On Pre-service English Teachers' TPK During The Construction Of PLC In Teaching Practicum

During the professional growth of teachers,knowledge is always at the nucleus.Since the 1980s,teachers' practical knowledge(TPK)as a unique form of teacher knowledge has become a powerful support for teachers to identify themselves and improve their teaching competence.While lacking in teaching experience,pre-service teachers find it difficult to develop TPK.Teaching practicum,as an important part of teacher education course,provides a good platform for pre-service teachers to develop TPK.With further exploration of teachers'learning environment,the concept"community" has been put forward among the teacher educators and scholars,and teachers' professional learning community(PLC)has received broad attention as its advocating for collaborative learning.For those pre-service teachers,learning and practicing in PLC do foster the development of TPK.Therefore,this paper is aimed at exploring the construction process of pre-service English teachers' PLC and their development of TPK during the construction of PLC in teaching practicum.This qualitative case study draws data from semi-structured interviews,field observation and other documents to investigate the following research questions:(1)How was pre-service English teachers' professional learning community constructed during teaching practicum?(2)How did pre-service English teachers develop their practical knowledge in the process of constructing PLC during teaching practicum?The result shows that the construction of the PLC of pre-service English teachers mainly includes three phases:breaking of isolation,building of collaborative structure and culture,and stabilizing of regular interactive activities.In the context of PLC,pre-service English teachers have developed TPK in the following four aspects:knowledge about self,knowledge about English teaching,knowledge about students,and knowledge about educational situations.Through "sharing" and "experiencing" in the PLC,pre-service English teachers develop their TPK.Besides,three features of PLC:the shared values and goals,reflective dialogues,and supportive conditions stand out in influencing the development of the pre-service English teachers' TPK.