Richards, Jack C. & Farrell, Thomas S.C. (2013) Practice Teaching: Reflective Approach, Cambridge University Press

In Practice Teaching, Chapter 1starts with a general introduction about the importance of practicing teaching and the two traditional ways for practical application that are usually followed while studying teaching; namely practicing through “microteaching” (having teachers-in-training teach a short lesson among themselves and get feedback from each other) and teaching ESL classes. The writers then, discuss the differences between adopting both ways, pointing out their procedures as well as their advantages and disadvantages. “Following the 10-minute microlesson the student teachers are asked to recall the microlesson, reflect on it and then discuss it in relation to broader, more general teaching issues” (p. 8). It “is above all an opportunity to learn more about the process of language teaching” (p. 10).

Chapters 2 to 4 discuss three essential elements that are important for the success of the teaching practice: the nature of teacher learning, understanding the teaching context, and working with your cooperating teacher. With the first element, the writers stress the importance of: a) “developing the discourse skills of a language teacher” and b) “developing the identity of a language teacher: i.e. who you feel you are and who others take you to be. The concept of identity reflects how we see ourselves as individuals and how we enact our roles within different settings” (p. 16). Also in relation to teacher identity, “Other examples of theorizing are the principles that teachers often refer to when reflecting on the assumptions and beliefs that guide their practice and decision making” (p. 25). The writers then go on stating more developments that are important for student teachers to keep in mind namely developing:

1. A repertoire of teaching skills

2. Learning how to apply professional development

3. An understanding of how learning is shaped by context

4. The cognitive skills of a language teacher

5. Learner-focused teaching

6. How to theorize from practice

7. Principles and a teaching philosophy

The most interesting thing about this book is that the writers provide comments from real practicing teachers on the different items stated and analyze them after giving the reader the chance to reflect on them. Thus you read reflections and reflect on them. In addition to that, each chapter ends with a summary and conclusion, further reading references, discussion questions and follow up activities with an appendix.

Chapter 3, discusses “understanding the teaching context [and how] Learning to teach within a specific teaching context can thus be thought of as a process of socialization. As Calderhead (1992) remarks, learning to teach involves becoming ‘socialized into a professional culture with certain goals, shared values and standards of conduct’ ” (p. 32). Thus the writers go on to discuss and analyze the role of the school or institution and the different teaching contexts, the learners, and the cooperating teacher / supervisor as well as colleagues. The chapter ends with a group of discussion questions that help practicing teachers to reflect on their learning contexts and analyze them.

This chapter closes with discussing the importance of the role of the cooperating teacher, which leads into Chapter 4 that fully discusses the relation, system of work, and problems related to working with a cooperating teacher, with supervisor, or senior teacher. I consider this as the key chapter of the whole book. It’s greatly enlightening for both the practicing teachers and cooperating teachers. The writers start with “...… developing a positive working relationship with your cooperating teacher will make your practice-teaching experience both fruitful and positive” (p. 43). Then, the writers state the actions “orienting, inducting, familiarizing, helping and reviewing” that the cooperating teachers should implement to make sure that they mentor the practicing teachers well. In addition to sharing instructional strategies, “by modeling, letting you observe his/her class and discussing effective practices” (p.44). The writers also state the steps required to “Develop Teacher’s awareness of his/her teaching, Helping the teacher to resolve problems as well as Encouraging and Motivating them” (p. 44-45).

Along the same line, the writers start speaking solely to the cooperating teacher and then, move on to the student teacher. They discuss different approaches to supervision, and provide and discuss quotes from different teachers revealing the pros and cons involved. Finally, before the closing of the chapter, the writers speak directly to the student teacher stating his/her “obligations as a student teacher” and summarizing “the Nature of [the] Teaching Practice Experiences” in five key points that guarantee success for student teachers’ careers:

1. The cooperating teacher’s expectations of you

2. Your goals for teaching practice and those of your cooperating teacher

3. The nature of the course you will be teaching

4. The kind of observations you will be involved with

5. The nature of conferences with the cooperating teacher (p. 50 – 51)

Thus expectations and goals for both sides are key to the success of the training provided. The remaining chapters from 5 to 12 mainly deal with lesson planning, class management, effective class environment, learning-centered classes in addition to teacher’s’ reflections after work. The authors end by saying, “Once you complete your teacher education program, however, and take up full-time work as a language teacher in a school or institute, you will so realize that there is still a great deal more to learn and that teaching practice cannot fully prepare you for the reality of full-time language teaching” (p.169).

References

Richards, Jack C. & Farrell, Thomas S.C. (2013), Practice Teaching; A Reflective Approach. Cambridge University Press

Maha Hassan is the Founder of Maha ESL Community, Teacher Trainer and Head of English Dept. at the Arab Academy for Training Technology. She has presented at a number of International and National Conferences in addition to publishing a number of articles.