A pandemic legacy : adapting new modes of teaching practicum assessment for student teachers in early and primary schools in Malta - narrative perspectives from six examiners

Abstract

One of the most significant components of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes is the teaching practicum. The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant challenges and changes to the conventional ways the teaching practicum is conducted and assessed. Research shows how student-teachers experienced their teaching practicum during the pandemic; however, the perspective of teaching examiners remains under-investigated. Using a textual narrative approach and drawing on the Disaster Management Cycle (DMC) as a theoretical framework, this study seeks to investigate how examiners in a Maltese ITE institution went about assessing students in their teaching practicum during the COVID-19 pandemic when restrictions were still in place. Adopting a naturalist narrative methodological stance, participants were invited to write narratives about their experiences of assessing student-teachers. Data were analysed using the content analysis technique. Findings show that while the remote modes of assessing student-teachers were provisionally beneficial as they allowed for the continuation of ITE and practicum assessment during the pandemic, this was very time-consuming for examiners and, at times, only provided a selected snapshot of the practice being assessed. Moreover, results show that remote assessments cannot replace face-to-face ones. The findings also show that beyond the pandemic, a hybrid assessment mode can benefit examiners and students alike, as it allows for flexibility, accessibility and efficiency.