What is a Teaching Practicum?

A teaching practicum is an exploration of the actual practice of teaching under the

supervision of a mentor, typically involving actual teaching as well as duties related
to this profession. This type of course is almost always offered for credit and may
be required in many programs. Not all of a student's time in this type of course is
spent on actual teaching duties; some involves consultation, seminars, and other
preparatory work. Working through a teaching practicum is thought to give future
teachers actual experience in the field, much like an internship, with the benefit of
close supervision from a university-approved source.

Most of the time, a teaching practicum must be specific to the types of classes that
the student will someday teach. There are, for example, programs specific to
teaching at the elementary school level and in the sciences. At the university level,
this type of teaching experience is almost always specific to the discipline. A
student does not typically have a choice in terms of which practicum to take, as it is
usually a required part of the program he or she has entered.

Depending on the school, a teaching practicum can be set up in a variety of ways,

but all courses under this designation will involve some actual teaching involving
students, as this is the definition of the course. Other activities related to teaching
may vary. For example, in the sciences, supervising lab time, developing
laboratory experiments, and providing tutorials can all be part of the practicum. In
writing courses, more time might be devoted to grading essays. Most schools try to
minimize the amount of grading done by students in these courses, as experience
with grading has often already been obtained.

One of the key features of this type of course is supervision. A teaching practicum
can be supervised by the student's adviser or a special mentor assigned
specifically for this course. Observation may involve the mentor sitting in on
courses, or it may require the student to report back at regular intervals. Having
guidance when learning the nuanced art of teaching can be helpful and is one of
the features that sets this type of experience apart from unsupervised internships.

The skills taken away from a teaching practicum depend on the focus of the
course, but some common experiences include a deeper understanding of working
with large groups, attention to the demands of teaching, and improved
communication skills. This type of course is a learning experience, so perfection is
usually not expected. Any student who experiences difficulties during a teaching
practicum and tries in earnest to come up with solutions is likely on the right track
in his or her teaching career.

PRACTICUM OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING GOALS

1. To help students translate into practice in a particular setting the concepts and
principles taught in the classroom.

2. The learning opportunities are designed to enable a candidate for a Human

Social Services degree to develop and exhibit a professional level of work
performance. Students are expected to accomplish this through: a. Indicating by
their performance an internalized sense of professional identity that causes them to
(1) think, feel and act in accordance with the values and responsibilities of that
profession, (2) analyze and assess their own professional activities, and

(3) accept a continuing responsibility for their own professional development. b.

Approaching problem-solving tasks or helping interventions in a way that reflects a
spirit of inquiry, a capacity for conceptual thinking, a grasp of the structure of
knowledge and theory pertinent to a particular problem, an ability to transfer to a
specific situation applicable concepts and principles, and a readiness to seek new
knowledge when needed to guide their professional activities. c. Using in a variety
of problem-solving tasks involving individuals, groups and communities, the
technique essential to all professional practice, inquiry, analysis, assessment,
planning and action to implement change strategies. d. Using in purposeful
professional relationships a disciplined self-awareness and control a genuine
concern for people, and understanding of them, their capacities, their problems and
the social systems with which they interact. e. Demonstrating in discussion and
field practice, a personal and professional commitment to participate responsibly in
efforts to alleviate social problems, improve social functioning, effect social change
and contribute to the research and knowledge needed to achieve these objectives.

Definitions and Goals of Evaluation

Educational evaluation is the process by which teachers, schools, and

students are evaluated to indicate the effectiveness of education and the
degree to which students integrate and understand information. As a single
catch all term, it can refer to just about any type of evaluation,which can be
performed at any level of the education process. In reality, it often refers to
either the process of evaluating education as provided by teachers and
schools or evaluating the ongoing education of students through testing and
similar methods. Educational evaluation is typically defined based on the
context in which it is being used and can refer to different things within
those contexts.

    For teachers, educational evaluation is usually about monitoring the methods

used by teachers and the rate of success with which they are able to assist
students in learning. This type of evaluation is typically performed both at a large
level for an entire school and at a specific level for individual teachers. Though it
seeks to measure the effectiveness and performance of teachers, educational
evaluation of this type is often based on student achievement and performance.

Take in consideration these aspects before to do the

evaluation in your prácticum.

1.    Planning:
-     What are the aims of this lesson?
                  -     What will I expect students to do by the end of the lesson which will show that
                      the aims have been achieved?
-     Are there opportunities to develop interactive social skills?
-     What problems could be anticipated? How could these be overcome?
-    How will I be able to support the less able children / challenge the more   
able children?
2.    Observations
-     Where students absorbed in the activities? (Give examples of what students did.)
-     Where any students not involved? Why?
-   Did any students show particular abilities (e.g. producing spontaneous
language)?
-     Was pair / group work carried out effectively?
-     Were there any practical problems (e.g. problems with materials, space, noise)?
3.    Analysis
-     To what extent were my aims achieved?
-     Which aspects of the lesson were most successful? Why?
-     Which aspects were less successful? Why?
-     How can I reinforce pupils’ learning?

The Goals of Evaluation

The generic goal of most evaluations is to provide "useful feedback" to a variety of audiences in
administrators or staff. Most often, feedback is perceived as "useful" if it aids in decision-making. B
evaluation and its impact is not a simple one -- studies that seem critical sometimes fail to influence
studies that initially seem to have no influence can have a delayed impact when more congenial co
there is broad consensus that the major goal of evaluation should be to influence decision-making
the provision of empirically-driven feedback.

It is also necessary to incorporate strategies for student participation in the assessment

of their achievements as self-assessment or peer assessment.
These evaluation models promote learning through reflection and assessment of
students on their own difficulties and strengths, on the participation of
peers in collaborative type activities and from collaboration with faculty in regulating
the teaching-learning process.
In any case, different evaluation procedures used, such as systematic observation of student
work, oral and written tests, portfolio, registration protocols, or class work will enable the
integration of all the powers in a frame coherent evaluation.

They must understand the curriculum area of Foreign Language English as

those basic issues on which teachers organize their work.
The novelty of this curriculum are learning standards, so it will be up to the teacher to
distribute content and temporal sequence of  work at each level, so that their final
course students can achieve these standards. To do this, the evaluation
criteria (indicating what you need to know and know how) will guide teachers towards
achieving the standards.
The achievement of the standards may be carried out
through descriptors achievement through assessment tools such as rubrics or rating
scales. These descriptors should include ranges that measure the level of achievement of
the standards, taking into account the principle of attention to diversity.
Since the ultimate goal to be achieved is to communicate in English, room
arrangement should facilitate cooperative activities among students, leaving aside the
traditional arrangement in which the student is a mere recipient.
Since new technologies of communication and information make us move
towards other forms of global communication in the teaching of English, the use of these
technologies should be the natural support of oral and written texts that
students will understand,
process and produce. But these resources should serve as a means to promote oral and
written expression.
For students to be able to recognize that the end of the English language is to get a real
communication, teachers try to provide every possible opportunity where students can see
the use of the English language in real communicative situations.
To get this real communication, the teacher has European platforms to work with other
centers and cultural institutions using the English language.

It is also necessary to incorporate strategies for student participation in the assessment

of their achievements as self-assessment or peer assessment.
These evaluation models promote learning through reflection and assessment of
students on their own difficulties and strengths, on the participation of
peers in collaborative type activities and from collaboration with faculty in regulating
the teaching-learning process.
In any case, different evaluation procedures used, such as systematic observation of student
work, oral and written tests, portfolio, registration protocols, or class work will enable the
integration of all the powers in a frame coherent evaluation.
They must understand the curriculum area of Foreign Language English as
those basic issues on which teachers organize their work.
The novelty of this curriculum are learning standards, so it will be up to the teacher to
distribute content and temporal sequence of  work at each level, so that their final
course students can achieve these standards. To do this, the evaluation
criteria (indicating what you need to know and know how) will guide teachers towards
achieving the standards.
The achievement of the standards may be carried out
through descriptors achievement through assessment tools such as rubrics or rating
scales. These descriptors should include ranges that measure the level of achievement of
the standards, taking into account the principle of attention to diversity.
Since the ultimate goal to be achieved is to communicate in English, room
arrangement should facilitate cooperative activities among students, leaving aside the
traditional arrangement in which the student is a mere recipient.
Since new technologies of communication and information make us move
towards other forms of global communication in the teaching of English, the use of these
technologies should be the natural support of oral and written texts that
students will understand,
process and produce. But these resources should serve as a means to promote oral and
written expression.
For students to be able to recognize that the end of the English language is to get a real
communication, teachers try to provide every possible opportunity where students can see
the use of the English language in real communicative situations.
To get this real communication, the teacher has European platforms to work with other
centers and cultural institutions using the English language.

Rating Scales and Rubrics

Introduction of new teaching strategies often expands the expectations for student learning, creating a
parallel need to redefine how we collect the evidence that assures both us and our students that these
expectations are in fact being met. The default assessment strategy of the typical large, introductory,
college-level science course, the multiple- choice (fixed response) exam, when used to best advantage
can provide feedback about what students know and recall about key concepts.

A rating scale is a set of categories designed to elicit information about a quantitative or a qualitative
attribute. In the social sciences, particularly psychology, common examples are the Likert scale and 1-
10 rating scales in which a person selects the number which is considered to reflect the perceived
quality of a product.

We use the word RUBRIC to denote a type of matrix that provides scaled levels of achievement or
understanding for a set of criteria or dimensions of quality for a given type of performance, for
example, a paper, an oral presentation, or use of teamwork skills. In this type of rubric, the scaled
levels of achievement (gradations of quality) are indexed to a desired or appropriate standard (e.g., to
the performance of an expert or to the highest level of accomplishment evidenced by a particular
cohort of students). The descriptions of the possible levels of attainment for each of the criteria or
dimensions of performance are described fully enough to make them useful for judgment of, or
reflection on, progress toward valued objectives (Huba and Freed, 2000)

The European perspective

The “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching,
assessment” (CEF) (1) saw the light in its French and English versions in 2001, the
European Year of Languages. It was translated later into more than 20 languages.
The CEF describes in a comprehensive way what language learners have to learn to
do in order to use a language for communication, and what knowledge and skills they have
to develop so as to be able to act effectively. It also defines levels of proficiency which allow
learners’ progress to be measured at each stage of learning, and on a life-long basis.

The approach used in this document is an action based approach .Language use,
embracing language learning, comprises the actions performed by persons who as individuals
and as social agents develop a range of competences, both general and in
particular communicative language competences. They draw on the competences at their
disposal in various contexts under various conditions and under various constraints to
engage in language activities involving language processes to produce and/or
receive texts in relation to themes in specific domains, activating those strategies which
seem most appropriate for carrying out the tasks to be accomplished. The monitoring of
these actions by the participants leads to the reinforcement or modification of their
competences.

The CEF promotes the use of the language portfolio. What is the portfolio? This
instrument is a way of recording the experience of learning a language. It has three main
objectives:
a)   to promote a life-long learning;
b)   to give a control of the linguistic abilities that is recognized internationally;
c)   to promote a socio-cultural conscience and a tolerant attitude towards other cultures
and languages
Each pupil will have his or her portfolio that will accompany him or her during the whole
learning process.
The European Language Portfolio consists of three elements:
 The Language Passport
It offers a general perspective of the linguistic abilities of each pupil in one or more
languages. It includes the linguistic competence in the four skills and it includes elements of
self-evaluation and evaluation made by the teacher, as well as any certificate the pupil has
acquired during his or her learning process.
The Linguistic Biography
This instrument wants the pupil to evaluate the learning process. It also wants a
reflection on it so that pupils can plan their future learning. It encourages pupils to think what
they can do in the foreign language and it includes information about the linguistic and
cultural experience acquired in and outside the school. It finally pretends that the pupil
recognizes that he or she can understand and speak the foreign language.
The Dossier
The dossier contains the practical work that illustrates the achievements indicated in
the language passport and linguistic biography.
We have recently publishes a series for English for Primary (2) where we have tried to
produce a practical version of the portfolio so that teachers and pupils in Spain can use it
without difficulty. We tried to familiarize them so they can use them in the future in
Secondary Education because we think that they will be a general tool in a couple of years.
We also think it is an important tool for the secondary education teachers who will know
exactly what their students have done in the previous courses.

In our version of the portfolio we have included several elements we think that are
important for a primary school learner. First of all it includes a proposal of the language that
has been taught and learned. This proposal that the pupils have to tick comes in sentences
that begin with “I know....” We also give them a record sheet where they can select the
language the use more or they like most. Here we emphasize that the language they have
learnt is the language they can use.
There is a section where they can record the additional activities they have done as
well as the projects they have done with their teachers and exceed the English class.
Apart from the different skills and linguistic abilities we have incorporated a self-
evaluation sheet and a learning strategies record sheet that we include below: