Training Teachers in Practice

This book deals with a range of theoretical and practical issues concerning the training of modern language teachers. Its seven chapters are divided into three sections. Part I considers theory and practice, policy issues, and ways of understanding the process of initial teacher education. Part II gives an account of five trainee teachers in practice. These are stories of the lived experience of training: the stresses and strains, the highs and lows. How they fared in lessons is described, along with their own personal thoughts and feelings. Much of these accounts comes from the trainees themselves. Each story shows, in close detail, who they were, where they came from, and what became of them. Part III looks at the commonalities in their experience in general terms. A series of 'dilemmas' of training is listed, together with how trainees responded to them. Initial professionalisation is presented as the outcome of real relations with pupils, mentors and trainees as they develop over time. The reality of the reflective practitioner is exposed. Pre-service training is disruptive and demanding. Finally the book shows how such features can be productive in the process of becoming a teacher. The implications of this conclusion are discussed in terms of both initial and in-service teacher training for modern languages in today's communicative world.