The roles of supervised teaching practice and peer observation in teacher education in Hong Kong: implications for partnership.

STUDENT teachers; TEACHING; LEARNING; CAREER development; TEACHER training

HONG Kong (China); CHINA

This paper examines the views of student teachers in Hong Kong on two mechanisms - supervised teaching practice and onsite peer observation (OPO) - which involve school-university partnership. Data were collected by using self-administered questionnaires (n = 59) and semi-structured interviews (n = 40). Results of the study indicated that student teachers regarded the two mechanisms as contributing to their learning and professional development. However, they highlighted a lack of school support for conducting OPO. Findings are discussed with reference to existing models of school-university partnership pointing to the possible existence of some aspects of a university-led model in which the university takes a dominant role in teacher education. Recommendations are made to formalise the operation of OPO in schools and to initiate a dialogue and cooperation between the participating parties involved in OPO so as to better facilitate student teachers' learning within a supportive school-university partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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