Student teachers are bound to experience uncertainty the first few times they stand in front of a class because of their lack of practical experience. Students acquire this experience during internships at primary schools. Mentor teachers who have the required teaching experience supervise the students' internships. Yet students often find it difficult to apply what they have learned in their educational programme to their internship group. They experience a gap between the theory they learn during the lectures and their practice in the primary schools. Maaike Vervoort, PhD candidate at the University of Twente, thinks this gap can be narrowed by using rich media-cases to bring theory and practice closer together.
Rich media-cases consist of videos of teaching situations in a digital environment with audio, video or texts which provide additional information. These videos are practical examples, meaning that they provide an example of the desired educational practices. "The expectation was that rich media-cases would help student teachers to apply the ideas from the teaching methods. But that does not happen by itself". Vervoort decided to use rich media-cases differently. In preparation for a lesson for primary school pupils, a student teacher first discusses a rich media case with his or her mentor. They prepare the lesson together and the mentor can introduce his or her practical experiences on the spot. "The video ensures that a substantive conversation will take place between the student teacher and the mentor", says Vervoort. "Because the mentors actively think with the student teachers about the lesson, they gain insight into the situation in the group, such as: What could these pupils be doing at this moment? What is the most appropriate teaching strategy for this situation? The student does not yet have this knowledge. The mentor's practical knowledge, therefore, is an indispensable source of knowledge".
You look with your brain
According to Vervoort, experienced teachers have more (practical) knowledge which can help student teachers to interpret videos of teaching situations and translate them into a lesson for a specific situation. "When I walk into a classroom, I look immediately, so to speak, with my brain. As a language didactics teacher, I see everything hanging on the wall and then immediately recognize elements of language didactics, but I am looking with 20 years of knowledge and experience. A student teacher needs to learn how to look and interpret this way. Which is why I call it: learning to look with your brain! And the mentor has a vital role to play here".
Conducting research and supervising research
Research plays an increasingly important role in education. Vervoort carried out her PhD research as a teacher educator. At the same time, an important part of her work consists of supervising research: for student teachers and students earning a Master in Learning and Innovation - these are experienced teachers of primary, secondary and vocational education who conduct research in their own practical situations.
Maaike Vervoort
Vervoort (45) studied Dutch language and literature at Utrecht University and she has worked in education for 20 years. Currently a senior lecturer and researcher at Saxion Teacher Education Hengelo (Saxion Lerarenopleiding Hengelo), formerly "Edith Stein University for Teacher Education", Vervoort is involved in several projects, such as working with tablets in primary education. She is married to Gert Brinkman and together they have a daughter (15) and a son (13). In her free time she is involved with Scouting. "I see Scouting as a way of life. Entering the woods and seeing what comes your way, it reminds me of my PhD research", laughs Vervoort.
More information
Maaike Vervoort's thesis "Focus on practice: rich media-cases in teacher education" (Kijk op de praktijk: rich media-cases in de lerarenopleiding) is available upon request. Her thesis supervisor was Prof. Jan van den Akker, PhD, and co-supervisor Dr Ellen van den Berg ("Rich media and teacher learning" lecturer at Saxion) Vervoort conducts her research at the Institute for Governance Studies (IGS).
