A model of expertise development in initial teacher education in Japan

In previous studies on teacher education, many researchers and teacher educators proposed a model of expertise development for teachers, among

others which included Korthagen et al. (2001)and Borg (2006). Borg’s (2006) model, for example, describes various psychological factors and constructs which are used to describe language teachers’ cognition. The constructs include student teachers’ prior experiences and beliefs such as schooling,

professional coursework, as well as contextual factors such as classroom practices. Borg argues that practices and cognitions are mutually informing,

and cognitions continue to have an impact on teachers throughout their career.

In addition, Korthagen et al. (2001) propose a process model of the five phases of the cycle of learning to teach. In their cyclical model of acting and

learning from that acting, student teachers engage in the process of becoming aware of essential problems and alternatives in their teaching, which results in

92

Figure 1: A Dialogical Process of Theory and Practice in ITE in Japan

With the supervising teacher’s help, student teachers also learn to use this

model independently. It is fundamentally a self-discovery process aiming at the promotion of reflection. However, as was already argued in section 2.2.5,

the models above commonly regard professional development as an individual self-directed process of cognitive development. In the present

thesis, the following model is tentatively proposed as an alternative which SOCIAL CONTEXT SELF Theory GAP Practice Mediational Activities Mediational Activities Former Teachers

93

focuses more on the dynamic nature of interaction among the participants in the community of practices. Figure 1 shows the schematic representation of

the dialogical process of theory and practice in ITE in Japan with the help of mediational activities, such as potentially, observation, emulation and

reflection, although which socially-mediated tasks are more effective is the issue which will be examined later in this study based on the qualitative case

studies.

The figure illustrates the beginning stage of teacher expertise

development. Firstly, student teachers are influenced by former schooling experiences; whether positively or negatively and the extent of the influence

will be explored in this study. Student teachers also learn abstract concepts, theories and principles at HEIs. Among various kinds of knowledge bases,

content knowledge (what to teach) is the central feature of the teacher knowledge base. As prospective EFL teachers, they ought to learn theoretical

principles on the English language system, its culture, second/foreign language acquisition, and second/foreign language teaching. In addition, they

are expected to learn pedagogical knowledge (how to teach), especially what Shulman (1987) calls pedagogical content knowledge as was previously

mentioned in this chapter (section 2.2.2) on dimensions of teacher expertise. Then, student teachers try to theorise knowledge bases in order to adapt to

new classroom contexts. For instance, in classroom practices, student teachers may ask themselves reflective questions, such as “Why didn’t it go

well?” or “What could I have done differently?” in order to improve their

teaching by referring back to the theoretical knowledge that they acquired at HEIs.

94

However, in the case of ITE in Japan, because of the theory and practice divide, student teachers often find there is a gap between what they know and

what the actual classroom context is like. Since professional development is not an individual process of cognitive development in this model, student

teachers are considered as being situated in a social context and are the peripheral members of their learning community. How student teachers try to

bridge the gap between theory and practice and what kinds of mediational activities and social interactions are useful (or not useful) for them will be

delved into in this study.

The schematic representation in Figure 1 is still a tentative one: it will be

further developed and revised as the data analysis proceeds. Of course there are many other aspects which are deeply related to teacher development in

ITE but not currently shown in the figure, such as previous beliefs and experiences or contextual factors. These are excluded from the figure at this

point since where to situate these elements was not clear, either as an individual factor or as a social contextual factor at the start of this study. What

kind of social activities are in fact employed in ITE is not well examined yet either. Therefore, this study will revisit the model in Chapter 5 by referring to

the previous studies and the data of the main study and indicate what factors are more influential in connecting theory and practice in the case of EFL

95

2.5 Conclusion

The present chapter elaborated on dimensions of teacher expertise necessary for EFL student teachers as well as approaches for student teachers’ expertise development, particularly from a sociocultural theoretical approach. In a sociocultural theoretical approach, student teachers’ expertise

development is regarded as being situated in a social context and they are to learn to teach through social interactions with others, such as teachers

(expert others) and peers (temporary, non-expert others). The chapter also discussed how student teachers in Japan struggle in order to bridge the divide

between theory and practice. In the model of teacher expertise development provided in section 2.4 (see Figure 1), mediational activities, such as

observation, emulation, reflection, and social interaction are considered as possibly significant constructs in the development of the dialogical process of theory and practice. For example, student teachers may emulate an expert’s

teaching behaviours and thinking processes behind the stages of teaching,

followed by a critical examination of their emulated actions, whereas student teachers may also tacitly imitate an expert’s teaching skills, without critical

reflection on the way they teach.

In order to become a teacher who can make professional judgments and take control of one’s teaching, it could be argued that a teacher should first

acquire theoretical knowledge at HEIs, and then experience practical contexts

so that he or she can critically analyse his or her own teaching and its

contexts. However, in the case of ITE in Japan, where there is little opportunity for practice, and student teachers are not fully familiar with

96

enough to get them ready for a professional culture. Some mediational activities which enable them to form their teacher thinking and link theoretical

knowledge and practical experiences are necessary. In a culture where mastery of set forms through emulation of experts’ behaviours and thinking

processes and repeated practice have traditionally been highly valued (Sato & Kleinsasser, 2004; Shimahara, 1998; Shimahara & Sakai, 1992), student teachers’ awareness of the importance of mediation such as emulation and

reflection can be a key to successful teacher expertise development in ITE,

97