Looking back : teachers' views on their pre-service training

Abstract

This qualitative research focuses on teachers' views regarding their pre-service training. Our intention was to get an insight on what post-graduate teachers think about the B.Ed. (Hons.) course offered at the University of Malta. In-depth interviews were carried out with fifty teachers in their fourth and fifth year of teaching experience. Our study has revealed that the B.Ed. (Hons.) course was essential for the professional development of teachers. Amongst the most useful aspects was teaching practice, which provided the opportunity to post-graduate teachers to experience and work in the professional context. Furthermore, the B.Ed. (Hons.) course provided also useful units that prepared prospective students for their teaching career. Amongst one of the common assertions made is that B.Ed. course is burdened with theory and frequently fails to establish a relation between the theoretical and practical aspect of teaching. Moreover, this study has also indicated that the B.Ed. course is projecting a teaching reality that is different, from the classroom reality. As a result the B.Ed. course is failing to engage the University context with the Professional context. Among the main suggestions put forward by this study is the need for an increased awareness of the professional context in the setting up of the teacher training curriculum and a more widespread practice of the official agenda of the teacher education programme within the faculty.