Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education
Pre-service teacher education should be underpinned by pedagogies that would enhance self-directed learning. Future teachers need to create contexts in the classrooms that would enable learners to, as self-directed learners, identify individual learning goals for themselves, search for appropriate r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/9/862 |
| _version_ | 1797580509541302272 |
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| author | Josef De Beer |
| author_facet | Josef De Beer |
| author_sort | Josef De Beer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pre-service teacher education should be underpinned by pedagogies that would enhance self-directed learning. Future teachers need to create contexts in the classrooms that would enable learners to, as self-directed learners, identify individual learning goals for themselves, search for appropriate resources, and monitor and assess their own learning. Self-directed learning is essential to adequately prepare learners for a complex and changing world. This paper focuses on the affordances of a first-year student teacher excursion to scaffold learning and the development of a professional identity, and to address the ‘apprenticeship of observation’ that could prevent optimal learning. Pre-service teachers often enter the Bachelor of Education degree with a naïve understanding of the teaching profession. Furthermore, they come from school contexts that often do not enhance self-directed learning. The faculties of education from three different universities have engaged in excursions for first-year student teachers, where the student teachers, as <i>Homo ludens</i> (the playing human), engage in problem-based and cooperative learning activities, exploring the complexities of the teaching profession. Social constructivism underpins the excursion. Findings over 17 years (2007–2023) across three universities—the University of Johannesburg, North-West University and the University of the Western Cape—show that such immersion pedagogy is a high-impact educational practice, in which student teachers learn from practice. The findings show that the excursion provides pre-service teachers with a more nuanced understanding of the teaching profession, enhanced sensitivity to diversity, social justice and inclusivity, an understanding of the value of reflection, and a sense of belonging as a student in the higher education sector. The findings also highlight the affordances of excursions to enhance self-directed learning, an important attribute to ensure continued professional development. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions had to rethink teaching and learning, and this article also explores the transformation of face-to-face excursions to virtual online excursions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:51:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-50637d3eb836480680d1d8b6aab97a71 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:51:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-50637d3eb836480680d1d8b6aab97a712023-11-19T10:18:40ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022023-08-0113986210.3390/educsci13090862Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher EducationJosef De Beer0Faculty of Education, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, South AfricaPre-service teacher education should be underpinned by pedagogies that would enhance self-directed learning. Future teachers need to create contexts in the classrooms that would enable learners to, as self-directed learners, identify individual learning goals for themselves, search for appropriate resources, and monitor and assess their own learning. Self-directed learning is essential to adequately prepare learners for a complex and changing world. This paper focuses on the affordances of a first-year student teacher excursion to scaffold learning and the development of a professional identity, and to address the ‘apprenticeship of observation’ that could prevent optimal learning. Pre-service teachers often enter the Bachelor of Education degree with a naïve understanding of the teaching profession. Furthermore, they come from school contexts that often do not enhance self-directed learning. The faculties of education from three different universities have engaged in excursions for first-year student teachers, where the student teachers, as <i>Homo ludens</i> (the playing human), engage in problem-based and cooperative learning activities, exploring the complexities of the teaching profession. Social constructivism underpins the excursion. Findings over 17 years (2007–2023) across three universities—the University of Johannesburg, North-West University and the University of the Western Cape—show that such immersion pedagogy is a high-impact educational practice, in which student teachers learn from practice. The findings show that the excursion provides pre-service teachers with a more nuanced understanding of the teaching profession, enhanced sensitivity to diversity, social justice and inclusivity, an understanding of the value of reflection, and a sense of belonging as a student in the higher education sector. The findings also highlight the affordances of excursions to enhance self-directed learning, an important attribute to ensure continued professional development. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions had to rethink teaching and learning, and this article also explores the transformation of face-to-face excursions to virtual online excursions.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/9/862cooperative learningexcursionsimmersion pedagogypre-service teacher educationproblem-based learningself-directed learning |
| spellingShingle | Josef De Beer Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education Education Sciences cooperative learning excursions immersion pedagogy pre-service teacher education problem-based learning self-directed learning |
| title | Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education |
| title_full | Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education |
| title_fullStr | Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education |
| title_short | Excursions as an Immersion Pedagogy to Enhance Self-Directed Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Education |
| title_sort | excursions as an immersion pedagogy to enhance self directed learning in pre service teacher education |
| topic | cooperative learning excursions immersion pedagogy pre-service teacher education problem-based learning self-directed learning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/9/862 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT josefdebeer excursionsasanimmersionpedagogytoenhanceselfdirectedlearninginpreserviceteachereducation |