Teaching Practice And Evaluation In A Teacher Training Program: An Analysis Of The Swarthmore-EdUHK Internship Program

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2017

Published In

Han Yu Jiao Xue Yu Wen Hua Xin Tan

Abstract

Since 2012 Swarthmore College, in cooperation with the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), has administered the Chinese Language Internship Program. For our teacher-interns from EdUHK we emphasize in particular training that involves both teaching and putting concepts into practice. During the internship program, the teacher-interns will begin by conducting practical classroom observation and later will be required to personally teach several class sessions of their own. Throughout the course of the internship, we create a system of mentorship, such that each teacher-intern will receive the direct guidance of an experienced and well-qualified Chinese language instructor. The teacher-interns will also participate in group meetings for the purpose of sharing their thoughts and ideas. This study takes as its subject for research and analysis the Swarthmore-EdUHK Chinese Language Internship Program. The study also provides reflection and proposes recommendations regarding teacher training research practices as a reference for developing future studies concerning our internship program. According to a survey conducted at the conclusion of the internship program, the Swarthmore students who participated in the program gave overwhelmingly positive reviews of the work and contributions of the teacher-interns. The study also found that for a short term and high-intensity-work internship program such as the Swarthmore-EdUHK program, in order to achieve the best results the two schools, teacher-interns, and mentoring teachers all require additional pre-training instructional meetings and communication. For teaching methodology, we have some creative and efficient methods for teaching individual grammar points, such as《directional complements II》, which make memorization and usage easier; however, we need to do more systematic collation and analysis, as well as develop even more grammar teaching strategies to help our students, and then summarize and publish these strategies. Furthermore, in order to establish and maintain a successful mentorship system, there are some key factors that must be given serious consideration, such as: appropriate matching of mentors to mentees; a harmonious environment in which there is mutual respect among teammates for learning and for each other; the mentoring style of the mentors; and also effective communication and trust between mentors and mentees. These are areas in which we feel we have been relatively successful.

Published By

Zhonghua Shu Ju (Xianggang) You Xian Gong Si

Editor(s)

Z. Shi and P. Liao

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