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2021/2022

Practicum

Code: 44309 ECTS Credits: 14
Degree Type Year Semester
4310486 Teaching in Secondary Schools, Vocational Training and Language Centres OB 0 A
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Ana Maria Margallo Gonzalez
Email:
AnaMaria.Margallo@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)

Teachers

Cristina Escobar Urmeneta
José María Sanahuja Gavaldà
Emilee Moore
Neus González Monfort
Oriol Pallarés Monge
Digna Maria Couso Lagaron

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This module is compulsory for the various specializations offered in this master’s degree. The structure and the contents of this module linked to the areas of psychology, pedagogy and social education are common to all specializations. The programme is also tailored to meet the goals of each specialisation. Specialization coordinators will provide students, in due time, with information about the specific contents and goals.

Students do their internships in educational establishments under the supervision of a school mentor and a university practicum tutor, who will guide them in this first contact with the professional world in the field of education.

Specialization coordinators are responsible for allocating students to the educational establishments and for assigning them a university tutor. Educational establishments must be part of the school network promoted by the Department of Education of the Catalan Government. Priority will be given to schools and institutions with a skills-based curriculum aligned with the kind of teaching proposals promoted in this master’s degree. If possible, students’ place of residence will be taken into consideration.

During their internships students are expected to become familiar with the goals, structure and organisation of the school or educational institution that hosts them. First, they should also take an active part in the academic and non-academic tasks the school sets them. Second, they should become familiar with the classroom dynamics and curriculum requirements of a particular class. Third, they should assist their school mentors and conduct both supervised and autonomous classroom activities. Finally they should design, implement and evaluate a pedagogical project. During the internship period, and with the help of their school practicum coordinator, their school mentor and their university tutor, students are expected to develop professional teaching competences.

Competences

  • "Design and conduct formal and no-formal activities that help make the center a place of participation and culture in the environment where it is located; develop the functions of mentoring and guiding students in a collaborative and coordinated manner; participate in the evaluation, research and innovation in teaching and learning"
  • "Determine the curriculum that will be implanted in a school participating in the collective planning thereof; develop and implement both group and personalized teaching methodologies adapted to the diversity of students."
  • Acquire strategies to encourage student effort and enhance their capacity to learn by himself and others, and develop thinking skills and decision-making to facilitate autonomy, confidence and personal initiative.
  • Adopt an attitude and ethical behavior and act according to ethical principles of the profession.
  • Analyze and recognize their own skills to develop those necessary for the development and professional practice.
  • Communicate effectively both verbally and non-verbally.
  • Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  • Design and develop learning spaces with special attention to equity, education and emotional values, equal rights and opportunities for men and women, civic education and respect for human rights that facilitate life in society, decision making and building a sustainable future.
  • Generate innovative and competitive professional activities and research.
  • Inform and advise families about the teaching and learning process and personal, academic and professional orientation of their children.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Interpret the different educational needs of students in order to propose the most appropriate educational activities.
  • Know the rules and institutional organization of the education system and models of quality improvement applied to schools.
  • Make effective use of integrated information and communications technology.
  • Organize a group of students for a successful development of shared activities.
  • Plan, develop and evaluate the teaching and learning process enhancing educational processes that facilitate the acquisition of the competences of the respective teachings, based on the level and previous training of students as well as the orientation of the same, both individually and in collaboration with other teachers and school professionals
  • Search, obtain, process and communicate information (oral, printed, audiovisual, digital or multimedia), transform it into knowledge and apply it in the teaching and learning in their own areas of specialization.
  • Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  • Use critical reasoning of personal work and use resources for professional development.
  • Work in teams (in the same field or interdisciplinary) and develop attitudes of participation and collaboration as an active member of the community.
  • know the processes of interaction and communication in the classroom, mastering social skills and abilities necessary to encourage learning and coexistence in the classroom, and address problems of discipline and conflict resolution.

Learning Outcomes

  1. "Design and conduct formal and no-formal activities that help make the center a place of participation and culture in the environment where it is located; develop the functions of mentoring and guiding students in a collaborative and coordinated manner; participate in the evaluation, research and innovation in teaching and learning"
  2. "Determine the curriculum that will be implanted in a school participating in the collective planning thereof; develop and implement both group and personalized teaching methodologies adapted to the diversity of students"
  3. Acquire strategies to encourage student effort and enhance their capacity to learn by himself and others, and develop thinking skills and decision-making to facilitate autonomy, confidence and personal initiative
  4. Adopt an attitude and ethical behavior and act according to ethical principles of the profession.
  5. Analyze and recognize their own skills to develop those necessary for the development and professional practice.
  6. Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  7. Demonstrate a good command of oral and written expression in teaching.
  8. Design and develop learning spaces with special attention to equity, education and emotional values, equal rights and opportunities between men and women, civic education and human rights that facilitate life in society, decisions and building a sustainable future.
  9. Effective use of integrated information and communications technology.
  10. Gain experience in planning, teaching and assessment materials relevant to the specialty.
  11. Inform and advise families about the teaching and learning process and personal, academic and professional orientation of their children.
  12. Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  13. Know the rules and institutional organization of the education system and models of quality improvement applied to schools.
  14. Master the skills required to foster a climate that facilitates learning social skills and coexistence.
  15. Organize a group of students for a successful development of shared activities.
  16. Participate in improvement proposals in different areas from reflection based on practice.
  17. Prepare proposals based on the acquisition of knowledge, skills and intellectual and emotional abilities.
  18. Search, obtain, process and communicate information (oral, printed, audiovisual, digital or multimedia) to transform it into knowledge and apply it in the teaching-learning materials specific to the specialization studied.
  19. Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  20. Teamwork and equipment (in the same field or interdisciplinary) and develop attitudes of participation and collaboration as an active member of the community.
  21. Use critical reasoning of personal work and use resources for professional development.

Content

The module is divided into the following content blocks:

BLOCK 1. Training workshops

Workshops will be common to all specializations and offered before the first internship period. Topics will be related to areas such as gender education, classroom management, conflict resolution techniques, etc.

BLOCK 2. Classroom observation in secondary schools or state language schools

During the first internship period, which will last for thirteen days, students are expected to observe and assist an in-service teacher and become familiar with the school educational project, structure and organisation. They should pay special attention to the classroom dynamics of one of the observed groups, to the role of the teacher and to the teaching resources available. Additionally, they should take an active role and collaborate with their school mentor in the design and implementation of classroom activities.

BLOCK 3. Planning , Implementing and Evaluating a pedagogical project

During the second internship period, which will last for seven weeks, students are expected to observe and assist the same in-service teacher but they should also take the responsibility of planning, implementing and evaluating an innovative project in one of the observed groups. This intervention will be designed, implemented and evaluated by the students under the supervision of their university tutor and with the approval of their school mentor. Observation will focus on understanding the ins and outs of the professional practice.

Methodology

The proposed teaching and assessment methodology in this study guide may be subject to changes if health authorities recommend restrictions to face-to-face gatherings and advice universities and educational establishments to offer online teaching.

During the two internship periods students are expected to participate actively in the guided activities (workshops, practicum seminars) and supervised activities (group and individual tutorials) offered in this master’s degree with the objective to help them prepare for their internship. Students are required to fulfil the assignments necessary to produce their portfolio and to design their innovative project. They also need to collect evidences of the work done at their host school/educational establishment both to accompany their portfolios and to have data for their research project. Finally, they must actively engage in the tasks set by their school mentors.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Active participation in the practicum workshops and seminars. Process of elaborating the practicum portfolio. Self-assessment of own performance and co-assessment with the school mentor and the university practicum tutor. 61 2.44 5, 18, 13, 8, 17, 15, 16, 20
Type: Supervised      
Active and reflective participation during face-to-face individual or group practicum tutorials and two internship periods at a secondary school or a state language school. 236 9.44 5, 18, 13, 8, 17, 9, 15, 16, 20
Type: Autonomous      
Preparation of the teaching tasks to be carried out during the internship periods and elaboration of the practicum portfolio. 53 2.12 5, 18, 13, 8, 17, 9, 15, 16, 20

Assessment

Active participation in the workshops and in the practicum seminars is a compulsory requirement to pass this course. Students performance at the host school and the quality of their portfolio will also take into account to assess this course. To get a pass mark, students must pass each of the above assessment tasks and all the documents in the portfolio.

Active participation in the workshops and in the practicum seminars

During the practicum seminars, university tutors will provide students guidelines on how to elaborate the documents to produce their portfolios.

Students are expected to actively participate in the activities and discussions that arise during the seminars and workshops. Students’ ability to reflect upon their own learning process, eagerness to share the observations made in the classrooms and willingness to exchange and discuss with their peers their proposals of classrooms activities and those of their classmates will be taken into account to assess their participation in the practicum seminars and workshops.

It is mandatory to attend a minimum of 80% of the sessions dedicated to workshops and practical seminars.

Portfolio

Students are expected to create a portfolio containing the following documents:

Document 1: Expectations (5000 characters with spaces )

Document 2: Design and rationale of a teaching intervention ( 25000 characters with spaces + Annex)

Document 3: Teaching practice, self-assessment and suggestions for improving own's teaching performance (15000 characters with spaces + Annex)

Internship 

School mentors will guide the students on the process of planning and conducting their teaching practice. To pass the course students are also expected to display a professional attitude and professional skills such as respect, cooperation, punctuality and active listening and participation. Finally, students' are expected to respect thedeontological ethics of the teaching profession.

If students do not obtain a pass mark during their first internship period, they will not be able to complete the course and will not be able to participate in the second internship period. School mentors will assess this first internship period.

It is mandatory to fulfil 100% of the hours required to complete the internship.

To be taken into account

Catalan is the vehicular language in this master for all specializations offered except English and French. All individual and group written assignments should be produced in Catalan in all specializations. English is the vehicular language in the specialization of English, and French is the vehicular language for the specialization in French, therefore students should submit their assignments in these languages. Mastery of the vehicular language of own's specialization is mandatory. Assessment will take into account the quality of the written and oral assignments produced by students. An assignment can be graded with a FAIL if it does not meet quality criteria with regards to language use. Written assignments are expected to be coherent, cohesive and accurate in the use of the target language. In oral assignments, students are expected to demonstrate good skills in comprehending academic texts and accuracy and fluency in communication.

In order to pass this course, students' performance at school and during the practicum seminars must prove they have a C2 in the vehicular language of their specialization. Language certificates presented to enrol in this masters will not be taken into consideration. Language proficiency will be accredited through students' performance.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active participation in practicum seminars and workshops 25% 0 0 4, 10, 21, 5, 9
Internship 25% 0 0 1, 7, 4, 3, 10, 18, 2, 13, 8, 14, 17, 9, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20
Portfolio 50% 0 0 1, 7, 4, 3, 10, 21, 5, 18, 2, 13, 8, 14, 17, 9, 11, 15, 16, 12, 19, 6, 20

Bibliography

Selected readings will be given by university tutors during the first practicum seminar.

Software

Not special sofware is needed.