Learning to teach through Tong Ke Yi Gou : voices from pre-service language teachers
International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies
ISSN: 2046-8253
Article publication date: 15 March 2022
Issue publication date: 12 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The study explores how pre-service teachers engage in Tong Ke Yi Gou (“Same lesson and different design”) as a Chinese version of lesson study in a language teacher education course.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from multiple sources, including semi-structured interviews, field observations, as well as individual reflections constructed by the participants. The different data sources served to triangulate and enrich each other, shedding light on the student teachers’ learning experiences through lesson study.
Findings
The findings of the study reveal the participants’ enhanced motivation and participation through a process-oriented, collaborative design (i.e. joint lesson planning, micro-teaching, collaborative debrief and individual reflections). In addition, the participants engaged in constant comparisons at multiple levels, which collectively refined and expanded their pedagogical knowledge about language teaching. Such rich and collaborative experiences further contributed to their reflections on and for practice as future language teachers. On the other hand, the study also reveals the emotional challenges faced by some participants due to the competitive atmosphere brought by the comparative element embedded in the process of Tong Ke Yi Gou.
Originality/value
This study incorporates the mode of Tong Ke Yi Gou into a pre-service teacher education course in order to examine how it can benefit student teachers’ learning to teach. The findings highlight the power of “comparison” in promoting student teachers’ reflective and analytical thinking at multiple levels with practical implications for current pre-service teacher education programs.
Keywords
Citation
Yuan, R. and Liu, S. (2022), "Learning to teach through
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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