Teaching Practice

Definition

The term practice teaching has three major connotations: the practicing of teaching skills and acquisition of the role of a teacher; getting accustomed with the whole range of experiences that students go through in schools; and the practical aspects of the course as distinct from theoretical studies (Stones and Morris, 1977). We at ACT put a lot of stress on Teaching Practice (TP) and engage our trainee teachers in effective Teaching Practice sessions in the local schools to help them better grasp the teaching techniques and promote their newly acquired skills in real classrooms.

Objectives of Teaching Practice :-

1. To provide the trainees with an opportunity to understand the functioning of an actual a set of learners.
2. To provide an opportunity for trainee teachers to understand their roles in the larger context.
3. To provide the teachers with the opportunity to establish the fitting teacher student relation.
4. To provide the trainees with practical experience in school to gain an understanding of discipline and apply classroom management methods.
5. To provide with an opportunity to put theories into practice and to develop a deeper understanding of EFL/ESL learners.
6. To enable the trainee teachers to effectively prepare lesson plans.
7. To get the opportunity for self-evaluation and to discover own strengths and weaknesses.
8. To provide an opportunity to liaise with school environment, new culture and resources.
9. To understand the functioning of a school and its administrations

TESOL TP Sessions

Teaching Practice sessions expose the trainee teachers to a range of teaching and learning experiences which aid them in their profession when they get employed and land up in real classrooms as teachers. Teaching Practice sessions for ACT trainees is always an exciting part of their course and even if the trainees do not get it perfect the first time the sessions make them confident enough to face real classrooms.The trainees get to carry lot of memorable experience from their TP sessions.

There followed steps are followed before the actual Teaching Practice session :-

• The trainer gives a demo of Teaching Practice which is observed by the trainees and they accordingly need to prepare their own Lesson Plan.
• The trainees get to prepare themselves with Peer Teaching which is a sort of a mock Teaching Practice session.

The actual Teaching Practice session comprises of the following :-

• Lesson Plan steps
• Basic Model
• Receptive Model
• Innovative Lesson

Trainees engaged in Teaching Practice are being monitored by an Observer/Trainer and they share the rubrics later on based on which the feedback is given. The entire experience is filled with challenges as well as excitement and provides the candidates with a platform and to realise about their strengths and weaknesses and how they can enhance their teaching and apply variety of strategies and approaches to improve their teaching style.