TEACHING PRACTICE EXERCISE: ITS ESSENCE AND VALUES

Hello guys. I trust you’re enjoying the steemit life. If so, great.

Over here, I need not take a second look at my blog to remember I’m yet to really begin blogging.. Just so much here yet to be put down.


I remember in a post I made sometime last month, I made mention of stories and a friend, @geetasnani, said I start writing them here on steemit. Actually, that wasn’t a cue, but a kind of reminder that I still have some goals yet to set about here and that precisely has to do with recording some figments of my real life blockchain here on steemit. O yes! In years to come, I’d love to look back at them and allow myself to self to bask in the nostalgic stream that would flood my mind – particularly about my teaching practice experiences.


So my teaching practice exercise is the subject I’ve been itching to write about for like two months now since I started; but I’m not so pleased having to hint on an excuse that I have been delayed all these while by that girl out there.

Oh never mind that… I’ll pull through…

---

---

So this being a prelude to the series I’m about starting on my TP exercise, I want to talk briefly about the entire essence of the teaching practice exercise to which every intending teacher is subjected in the modern time.

---

Teachers’ education is a course that deals with the preparation of teachers to undertake the important role of educators in school settings. It aims to groom and adequately equip student to meet the challenging demands of the teaching profession. Basically, teachers’ education curriculum has three major components viz: foundation of schooling and learning(bordering on such subjects as philosophy & psychology of learning, and learning principles), teaching methodology(dealing with the different methods and techniques of instructional delivery), and teaching practice – which is our focus in this write-up.

Image credit
As seen in the foregone paragraph, teaching practice(TP) is a component of teachers’ education curriculum. It is a period of time in which students are working in specific schools to receive in-service training in their respective fields of specialization. Teaching pracitice is the crux of teachers training course as it aims at inducting students into the teaching profession by granting them experience in actual teaching environments.


Basically, teaching practice has to do with assigning students to different schools where they would get attached to experienced teachers in their different fields who in turn provide guidance to the praciting teachers in their class room practice. Also during this period, supervisors are assigned to each student from their institution to monitor and grade their performance, making corrections where need arises and at times some follow up visitations.


At present, teaching practice can be conducted in various forms and it spans different durations depending on the course of study undertaken, the institution, and country. Here in PGDE(Post-Graduate Diploma in Education) in Nigeria, the duration for the course is twelve weeks which is roughly three months, equivalent to one whole college term.


To meet the required standard for qualified teachers, the teaching practice course is made mandatory for every prospective teacher from every institution. The reasons are not far-fetched. Teaching practice exercise helps bridge the gap between theory and practice as it provides ample opportunity for the student-teachers to apply the concepts and methods acquired in school to class room settings. In other words, students have the opportunity to try out the art of teaching before getting into the profession mainstream. It also brings them face-to-face with such unfamiliar situations as control and management of learners which of course would prompt them to develop and master the appropriate skill to that effect. Thus, teaching practice can rightly be seen as an interface between being a student and a professional teacher.


During the TP period, students are expected to act in every capacity as professional teachers. Such include:

• Classroom teaching

• Taking attendance registers

• Participating in sports activities

• Filling the scheme of work record

• Writing lesson notes

• Attending staff meetings

• Handling pupils’ assessments and grading

• Attending extra mural activities

• Etc.
  
  
  These various exercises to which the students are exposed during this period go a long way in shaping their perception of the teaching profession… and this ultimately culminate in their decision about the profession – i.e whether or not to embark on it.
  
  
  Conclusively, the overall essence of teaching practice exercise in teachers’ training courses can be summed up in the following points:

• Prepares the students for the teaching profession

• Help the students in making their career decision

• Bridges the gap between teaching theory and practice

• Shapes the students’ perception of the teaching profession

• Help students develop realistic classroom management skills

• Etc.

---

---

That is it on this for now.

---

In the subsequent series, I would like to take you, readers, through my TP journey. I would like to put down as much of my experiences as I possibly can because I want to revisit them months and years from now and beam with smiles. It happens… and I love the feeling. I’m not a diarist per se, but there have been instances I attempted putting down some happenings around me. Years later, I stumbled upon those books/papers I wrote them, read through them, and instantly wished I had written some more. Lol! I want to have the same feel right here on steemit… especially about my TP experiences.

Did I just repeat that?

Hahaha!

Trust me, I have a handful of points I’m sure you’d find interesting. Bet you would love them.

However, I cannot assure of the regularity of this series. Sometimes some things do crop up and rubbish one’s schedules. And with my lappy still in use by Lil Sis for some school project, it makes things a bit complex. So I can only assure there would be posts on this at least once per week …in the worst case

My next write-up in this series would dwell on my first trip to submit my introduction letter at my prospective school, my first encounter with the school, the principal, the teachers, students… and oh, how many schools I had to visit before finally getting accepted…

You wouldn’t want to miss all that. (Winks)

Pls stay tuned to my blog.

AND THANKS AS USUAL FOR VISITING

One love

…on issues in education