A Comparative Study On The Teaching Practive In Initial Teacher Education Between China And The UK

Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures made to equip teachers with knowledge,attitude,behavior and skills benefiting for performing their duties in class,in school and even in society.According to the stages of the professional development of teachers,teacher education covers three consecutive stages: initial training,induction training and in-service training.The teaching practice in initial teacher education is an important section for teacher education,linking theory and practice.And it is the key process for prospective teachers to enter the area of teaching profession.The teaching practice in initial teacher education is of great significance for prospective teachers' professional development.The UK is one of the first countries in the world to implement initial teacher education's practice curriculum reform,which can be traced back to the 1980 s.In 1992,the “school-base cooperative partnership teacher training model was established.Its teacher education practice curriculum is very representative.Therefore,the author chooses the initial teacher education practice curriculum as the research subject.First of all,the literature on initial teacher education's practice has been reviewed,offering the historical development of the curriculum in China and in the UK.Then,based on the geographical position,school size,and the development of initial teacher education's curriculum,the author selects Southwest University,Northeast Normal University,and Henan Normal university in China,and Cambridge University,Saint·Martin's University,the University of Exeter and Queen's University Belfast in the UK as the research subjects,aiming to explore the similarities and differences between Chinese and British curriculum for initial teacher education's practice,so that some experiences can be provided for the education reform in our country.The major findings of the research are as follows:(1)the initial teacher education practice curriculum both include educational observation and educational practice,and the purpose and the implement procedures of the two phases are nearly the same.The difference lies in the content of the educational observation: The practice curriculum in China includes micro-teaching besides the educational observation and the educational practice,while the evaluation standard for the introspection of the initial teacher education is more detailed in the UK.What can be drawn from this study is as follows: In China,the goals for practice teaching should be more clearer and manageable,the duration can be lengthened,the content can be richer so as to meet the authentic needs of the base schools.Further communication and negotiation are needed to enhance the leading and serving functions of the universities.