At present, there are many researches about the problems of educational practicum and field experiences. And here is the analysis and summarization of those researches. And those problems of the researches will be sorted out and analyzed from the following three aspects: the problems caused by the universities, the problems caused by the student teachers, the problems caused by the schools which provide the practicum and field experiences.
2.1 Definitions
2.1.1 Definition of “educational practicum”
Educational practicum is of great importance in a student teacher’s development. Referred to the definitions of the educational practicum, there are different answers verified. For an instance, some scholars believe that the educational practicum refers to the fact that the student teachers carry on some teaching and pedagogical activities under the direction of the teachers and professors (Zhou Pufang & Xiao Zhongmo, 1998). And some researchers define the educational practicum through a series of authentic activities as the process of the student teachers improving their teaching and managing abilities according to the educational objectives (Zhu Yongxin & Yang Shubing, 1996). When a student is admitted in to the normal university and becomes a student teacher, then in the following years he or she will gradually receive the systematic, scientific and practical education which are specially designed for improving their teaching skills and helping them to become a qualified teacher. This kind of systematic and practical education is defined in a broad sense, referring to a series of pedagogical activities usually includes the mentioned “educational practicum” and “field experiences”. But in the narrow sense, the educational practicum is only regarded as the fact that the student teachers leave the universities for one to two months and come to the primary schools or secondary schools to experience the real life as a student teacher in a span of time. And according to the different objectives, the educational practicum can also be categorized into three main classifications as followings. The first one, which can be regarded as “observing”, means that the student teachers will not directly take part in the teaching activities, but will only pay enough attention to watching the teaching activities directed by the experienced teachers (Li Zhongli & Sun Lifeng , 1989). Being a field observer, the educational practicum will help those student teachers to have a general understanding of what responsibilities a teacher should shoulder and what pedagogical activities they should organize. And this educational practicum will usually be arranged in the sophomore year. The second one, which is more complicated than the first one, asks the student teachers to start to take part in part of pedagogical activities, such as being the assistant of the teacher, and helping the teachers to carry on some work. This “joining” educational practicum will be arranged in the junior year. And the last classification which is the focus of this essay is quite different from the former ones. The student teachers will not only take part in the pedagogical activities, but they will also be the performer of the pedagogical activities. In other words, seeing that they have already had a good command of the teaching theories, the student teachers need to apply what they’ve learned into practice, gain some authentic experiences and enhance their teaching abilities. 师范生教育实习有效性的研究(4):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_50896.html