Connection between theory and practice in teacher education: Students’ perspectives

• Published in: Netla
• Main Authors: Gísladóttir, Berglind, Björnsdóttir, Amalía, Svanbjörnsdóttir, Birna María B., Engilbertsson, Guðmundur
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2023
• Subjects: teacher education; elementary student teachers; theory and practice; coherence; kennaramenntun; grunnskólakennaranemar; tengsl fræða og starfa; samhengi í námi; Akureyri; Klette; Iceland; University of Akureyri
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/netla/article/view/3697; https://doi.org/10.24270/netla.2023.5

Teacher education has often been criticised as fragmented and the lack of connection between courses taught in teacher education programs and the actual classroom practices of teachers in schools. This divide between teacher education and the reality of practice in schools is sometimes referred to as the “practice shock”, which is experienced by many novice teachers when they transition from student to teacher (Caspersen & Raaen, 2014; Smith et al., 2013). This challenge of disconnection is by no means new and has persisted in teacher education (Schuck et al., 2018). Teacher educators have pointed toward scarce opportunities to practice, study, or rehearse actual teaching as a major cause for this divide between theory and practice (Kennedy, 1999). In fact, research on teacher education in the past decades indicates that a key feature in teacher preparation is providing student teachers with learning and practice opportunities that are grounded in actual teaching. Large-scale studies indicate that teachers that have such opportunities to learn in the context of teaching practice prove to be more effective teachers (Boyd et al., 2009; Hammerness & Klette, 2015).In the last decade, Icelandic teacher education has undergone extensive reform. The legislation passed requires a master’s degree for teacher certification. In 2013 the first cohort of teacher candidates graduated from a 5-year program. Changes have also been made to field practice in teacher education, regarding its length and implementation. The latest changes took place in 2019. These changes gave candidates the option of paid internships in schools in their final year of study. Despite rapid changes and reform, little research has been devoted to the nature of Icelandic teacher preparation or the specific factors that effectively prepare prospective teachers for the teaching profession.The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent student teachers at the University of Iceland (HÍ) and the University of Akureyri (HA) view their teacher ...