Pixel International Conferences

Students wishing to become teachers of languages in Malta are required to follow the Master in Teaching and Learning (MTL) course offered by the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta. The two-year full-time post graduate course, which enables graduates to teach at Secondary level, according to the language of specialisation chosen, combines theory and practice by means of a Field Placement in schools throughout the 2 years of the course. This comprises a period of observation sessions in schools held once weekly, during which, with the help of a Teacher Mentor, student teachers are expected to discuss the different practices observed, followed by a six-week block practicum period in each of the two years of the course, giving particular attention to preparation and planning, reflective practice, professional skills and professional development. The Field Placement goes hand in hand with the Themes in Education interdisciplinary programme with the aim of fostering reflective inquiry and professional practice by helping student teachers focus on a number of issues and challenges which teachers have to deal with in their everyday work. As Impedovo and Khatoon Malik (2016) [1] argue, the objective of reflective practice in teaching is to ensure a more precise and meaningful understanding of a situation and to provide effective, applicable actions for strengthening performance. This embraces the concept of the teacher as a learner and the teacher as a professional. Every teacher has a professional responsibility to reflect and evaluate his/her practice in order to be able to identify how to improve the quality of pupils' learning. And the Field Placement offers future teachers of languages the opportunity to reflect on and to evaluate what goes on in class and why; it also encourages teachers to try out new ideas and promote changes in pupils' learning behaviour.

Keywords: Field Placement; Reflective Practice; Teacher Mentors; Teaching Practice.

References:

1. Impedovo, M. A., & Khatoon Malik, S. (2016). Becoming a reflective in-service teacher: Role of research attitude. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(1).
   http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n1.6.