DISPOSICIÓN FINAL TERCERA.

6.3.1 Physical context

6.3.1.1 Time allocation of preparation

In Class 1, STs had a week to prepare plans, while STs in Class 2 had two weeks. Regarding this period of time, there were two opposing viewpoints. Some interviewees said that a week was enough for them to complete the task, but others (mostly from Class 1) complained that a week was insufficient. Many STs felt there was too much assessment for other modules at that time, which made them unable to concentrate on this task and the results did not fulfil their expectations. Indeed, the time given for preparation to the STs in this task is equal to the time given to real teachers, and high school teachers also have the same pressure of time in writing a classroom management plan each month. At this point, it was noticeable that STs did not like these on-job requirements. STs felt lecturers should be less demanding while assessing them during training courses. This also connected to their professional identity, in that STs had not seen themselves as actual teachers.

6.3.1.2 Resources

The resources for STs to complete the task were similar to those available to real teachers. All interviewees said that they needed general information about a school, a class, the monthly plans of the school, and reports about activities of the class when writing their classroom management plans. These materials might be published on the websites of the schools or delivered in hard copies directly to form tutors. However, some school websites were devoid of such material:

I surfed the school website but they did not update anything…I felt the school website was underdeveloped. (Hong)

Accordingly, STs had to ask for a help from senior STs, high school teachers and administrators to access information. Additionally, some STs had the chance to refer samples of the monthly classroom management plans. They appreciated these resources for clarifying how to present a classroom management plan.

164 6.3.2 Social context

The task was completed individually. In practice, form tutors also have to make their own classroom management plans independently because each form tutor is responsible for his/her own class. STs were aware of this and were happy to do the task individually, considering this a good chance to show their potential competencies. When designing a classroom management plan, teachers also have to contact others, such as the school managerial board, subject leaders and leaders of the student associations in order to ensure that their plan is aligned with other plans. They may share and discuss their plans with their colleagues before applying them. In other words, the teachers are required to interact with other people when designing a classroom management plan, and the STs were also encouraged to follow real high school teachers’ procedures, collaborating with school staff and peers.

6.3.2.1 Collaboration with people in school

As explained above, STs had to gather material from a real class in a real school to design their plans. The guidelines suggested some ways to obtain the information needed, and most interviewees said that they followed these suggestions. Interviewees’ comments showed that they were also aware of the requirement to interact with other people to design a classroom management plan. They really appreciated help from senior STs, high school teachers and students during the task.

When getting the task, I referred [to] some senior STs’ experience. They gave me some advice about steps of designing a classroom management plan, activities in schools…I also contacted my former teachers […] I got some useful and valuable advices from the teachers and senior STs and I completed the task. (Duong)

From the above statements, it appears that senior STs were the most accessible and valuable advisers for STs in this study. At the time, senior STs were in their practicum in schools; thus, they knew a lot about school contexts. Senior STs provided guidance, school plans and other documents, as well as contacts through which STs could approach teachers and school students. Dan told about his good luck in this task:

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Recently, I made friend with a senior ST who is in practicum. She asked me to help her in a camping trip with her class. I had a chance to meet the high school students in that class…so I knew all their activities…I also had a close relationship with the form tutor in the class…so I learnt a lot experience there for my plan. (Dan)

In addition to senior STs, a few interviewees asked for help from former teachers, while others consulted current high school teachers they knew. Mining the experience of experienced teachers is a good way to develop professional competencies for novice teachers. In this task, a STs recognised how useful this was:

I got some experience, when I made the plan, I asked few of my previous teachers in my high school, they were enthusiastic to guide me to focus on some main issues, ignore some others to practice required skills for our high school students. (Nga)

It appeared that through the task, STs gained indirect teaching experience from several sources. The task made the STs more aware of the importance of connection to people in schools. To build up their teaching expertise, they found that learning from experienced teachers or senior STs in practicum was a useful strategy.

6.3.2.2 Interaction with lecturers and peers in class

STs did not have many opportunities to present their plans to get direct feedback from their lecturer and peers, as only some STs were selected randomly to present their plans and then got feedback. The lecturers also led discussion to expand the debates and comments beyond the presented plans. Interviewees appreciated the presentations and class discussion after each one.

[The presentations and discussion] were useful and necessary because each of us chose a different month. When listening the presentations presenting the plans of other months, we could refer to reflect [on] our plans and supplement our understanding of activities in those months. (Quan)

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As Quan said, because each student was only required to design a classroom management plan for the month of their choice, they did not have much understanding of the other months, whereas they will need to consider all twelve months in the future. For this reason, the presentations and class discussions helped STs learn from each other.

I got many different ways to complete the tasks from the presentations, the contributed ideas from other people in the class after each presentation added more ideas for my plan. (Khuong)

Khuong added that while listening to others’ presentations of their plans and the lecturers’ and peers’ comments, the STs could reflect on their plan, recognise their shortcomings, consider their self-assessment, and finally revise their plan if required. The interviewees also enjoyed the lecturers’ reviews after each discussion because they generated more ideas about designing a plan for that month.

The lecturer gave very useful feedback, the STs could recognise their strengths and weaknesses, and then she reviewed [the] main activities and how to organise them in that month so that the STs could use those experiences […] later. (Thao)

Some interviewees expected lecturers to extend teaching sessions for them to present more plans and discuss them further. This suggests the STs really appreciated the chance to share experiences with both lecturers and peers, and so hopefully they will do the same when working in school.