Reflecting on BEd students' experiences of unfamiliar school contexts during school-based learning: A proposition for transformative learning

Abstract

As critical teacher educators, we advocate the transformational potential of school-based learning (SBL). Changing practice teaching contexts to accommodate unfamiliar SBL environments for student teachers offers them an excellent opportunity to develop critical skills as transformative intellectuals and agents of change. Yet anxiety about unfamiliar placements often prevents them from making the most of potential learning experiences. In this paper, we generated data via World Café conversations in which final-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) student teachers described their experiences of operating in an unfamiliar schooling context. The findings suggest that changing the SBL context can enable transformative learning experiences using critical pedagogy principles. Student teachers reported that they not only developed classroom skills, knowledge, confidence, and a deeper appreciation of learning opportunities through changing practice teaching contexts, but that they also gained a new understanding of what teacher transformative learning involves.