Do I enjoy teaching and can I meet the demands placed on teachers today? Almost everyone asks themselves these and similar questions on the way to school.
Practice gives initial concrete answers. Here, our guest author, Oleksiy Shevchenko, describes his experience of working at the school and gives useful advice on what he thinks should be taken into account. Oleksiy is studying physical education and the Ukrainian language with the goal of becoming a high school teacher.
Guest article by Oleksiy Shevchenko (This material reflects exclusively the author's point of view. The text does not pretend to objectivity and comprehensive coverage of the topic raised in it)
School practice: Orientation and safety on the way to the teaching profession
Introductory pedagogical practice
General information:
In Ukraine, pedagogical practice is mandatory for all students. In the 2nd year of the bachelor's degree, students undergo a 2-week internship.
This practice primarily serves to review and justify the decision regarding education and the choice of a profession and aims to give students an initial idea of the pedagogical and institutional work of the school. Work in schools should last about 40 hours a week.
The first trial practice in primary school
Practicing in elementary school was a "game" for me, since the students already knew me from my activities in the sports club, etc. From the very beginning, the students seemed very excited and treated me as a "friend". They showed me little respect and were constantly trying to see how far they could go with me.
It was clear to me that now I had to behave differently with the students to make them understand that the teacher should be treated with respect.
For a whole week, I studied the Ukrainian language and physical education and watched the lessons. Unfortunately, I was not given the hours to teach in a subject that would certainly have been very interesting and informative for me. I was also a little scared to stand in front of a class and teach after only a few weeks of training, but in the end it was the most rewarding experience. From this point of view, this internship was very boring for me, because I only sat for the whole week and did not receive more detailed information about the study from the teachers.
The second trial practice in a secondary school
I did an internship at a high school for a week. I was already studying to be a high school teacher and wanted to gain experience, especially in this type of school.
But I was not allowed to conduct classes and receive information about studies here. Unfortunately, it wasn't very interesting. In the end, however, the hours of observation showed me that I had chosen the right type of school, as the topics the students discussed seemed more interesting than in elementary school.
Conclusion:
- If possible, learn by yourself
- Collect working materials for further everyday life
- Talk to teachers about daily life/lessons etc
Pre-diploma practice
Pedagogical and didactic practice
General information:
After the familiarization practice, the pre-diploma practice, which must be completed in any state or state-recognized private secondary schools of Ukraine. It lasts 6 weeks, which must normally be completed over two consecutive school terms. Participation in training organized by the university, which is related to practice, is mandatory.
In accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the aim is to have the following goals and objectives:
Integration into lessons
Observation of learning and social behavior of students in the classroom
Observation of teachers' actions in class
Acquaintance with different abilities of the teacher and teaching methods
Gaining initial experience of individual support of individual students
Preparation, implementation and analysis of several of your own teaching attempts, as well as adequate supervision and supervision
Joint design of exercise blocks
Acquaintance with the teacher's extracurricular tasks
Perform simple organizational tasks and participate in the school development process as a member of the school family
Pedagogical and didactic practice at the DZN:
Before starting my internship, I was excited about what it would be like to stand in front of a classroom as a teacher and teach. I expected to make a lot of mistakes while teaching that I would learn from later. I was also interested in how I influence the students, how to behave with the students so that they accept me, and how well I can prepare the material so that the students understand it.
From the beginning I had a very good teacher who made my schedule and introduced me to all the teachers. As a result, I participated in many conversations and was able to learn some information about practice and other experiences from the early days of teaching.
The teachers especially stressed that I should take advantage of the opportunity to teach my own lessons as much as possible during the first practices, as this is definitely the way I learn the most. I took this advice to heart during this internship, especially for the subject of the Ukrainian language, and this is the only way I can pass it on.
I learned a lot by preparing, teaching and reflecting with the teachers. It was very surprising to me to see how much work a teacher has to do to accurately prepare and plan a lesson and even think about it. The teacher has to think a lot and often react spontaneously. However, learning was actually a lot of fun. I know I've made a few mistakes while teaching, but there's a good old saying: "You learn from mistakes!".
My supervisor was impressed with the lessons I taught because she was also able to learn something. These words of praise are of course the greatest motivation a teacher can receive, and the hard work was worth it in the end.
After my rather bad experience during the introductory practice I was pleasantly surprised and very grateful for the support throughout the weeks. It is nice to see yourself as a "real" teacher during pedagogical and didactic practice, who learns many facets of both the school itself and the students.
These various key points encouraged me that I had made the right career choice.
Conclusion:
Apply independently for schools
Hard work (planning, etc.) is rewarded
Communicate a lot with the manager
Learn more about the school/projects/classes etc
Educational and didactic practice
General information:
If possible, the didactic practice accompanying your studies should not take place before the third or after the fifth semester.
This is also related to a didactic event at the university that I attended in the same semester.
The goal is the following goals and objectives:
Knowledge of work methods based on individual learning models, educational examples and educational projects in different classes
Preparation and analysis of educational projects and at least one attempt at teaching
Educational didactic practice in the subject "Physical education":
The didactic practice that accompanied the teaching of the subject "Physical Education" in the secondary school was very fun and very interesting. The students were very friendly and sociable and, for the most part, very motivated, which made learning very enjoyable.
It was nice to have a successful lesson and to know that the students really learned something today and took something from it. During this internship, I found it much easier to plan than during the previous internship, and over time it became clearer to me what an ideal PE lesson could look like.
After each day of practice, we used the time to discuss the lessons. I could always comment on my own class first and then get feedback from my supervisor and professor at the university.
This reflection phase was very helpful because outsiders perceive the situation differently than you, so in this meeting you always get very useful suggestions for improvement, which I tried to implement in the next initial hour.
Ultimately, this practice is very rewarding and will prepare you perfectly for teaching.
Conclusion:
Get feedback
Try to spend every hour as well as possible
Collect working materials
