Learning to Teach in a Non Traditional Program: The Changing Conceptions and Increasing Sophistication of Understanding Teaching

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which students who are learning to teach in a non-traditional program experience changes in their conceptions of teaching and the ways in which they develop an increasing sophistication in their understanding of teaching and its complexities. Understanding the transformations in the conceptions of teaching these learners experience is central to teacher educators who are tasked with designing meaningful learning experiences for students of teaching, helping them in making visible core aspects of the practice of teaching that seem to remain hidden to novice learners. Documenting learners' conceptions of teaching and their transformations over time may also help teacher educators in assessing and addressing the learning needs of their students.