Classroom teaching can be regarded as a complex and challenging activity. Many novice teachers quit the profession and educationists argue that educational institutions do not adequately equip student-teachers to handle all the complexities of the profession. The theory-practice divide is one of the reasons why novice teachers do not cope and consequently leave the profession. Teacher training institutions should train agentic future teachers to overcome the realities of a challenging classroom.

In an initiative to narrowing the theory-practice divide, this paper reports the findings of the following research question: What are first-year student-teachers’ experiences of a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) excursion underpinned by a pedagogy of play and fostering their agency to cope as novice teachers?

The WIL excursion programme, the intervention, was a two-day synchronous virtual event underpinned by a pedagogy of play and self-directed learning principles. Social constructivism, where the students were scaffolded across the zone of proximal development, was used as the theoretical framework.

This qualitative research, within an interpretivist paradigm, used data collected by an open-ended questionnaire and in-time polling questions to gain insight into how students experienced the playful activities and their agency to cope as novice teachers. The qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The emerging themes will be discussed using rich, thick descriptions and interpreted through a Cultural Historical Activity theory lens. All requirements regarding ethical considerations were adhered to. Based on the findings student-teachers indicated that they had fun and experienced the excursion developing them as agentic future teachers.

Authors:
Neal Petersen, North-West University, South Africa

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Neal Petersen is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at North-West University in South Africa

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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