Pre-service teachers' evaluation of bilingual modules. An analysis of students’ reflective journals on their own teaching experience

Abstract

Bilingual education is gaining ground in Germany. While research on this approach has mainly focused on the advantages for students at school, it has so far widely neglected the realm of teacher education. In order for university students to get in touch with this topic at an early stage in their studies, Bielefeld University offers a special internship programme (to be integrated, if required, into the practical semester) that includes teaching a bilingual module. The module, taught as part of a work placement at a secondary school, puts particular emphasis on the reflective competencies of the students, who put down their impressions in a teacher diary. Accordingly, this study focuses on three aspects: (1) How do students evaluate their experience of teaching a bilingual module? (2) Is the teacher diary a useful tool for reflecting on teaching units? (3) Does the project meet the criteria of inquiry-based learning? Depending on which of these questions we focus on, the study’s results turn out more or less concrete. Overall, the six participating students show a positive attitude towards bilingual teaching; they acknowledge, however, that more classes on the topic should be offered in teacher education. With regard to the process of reflection, this can indeed be said to have been initiated by the teacher diary, although other tools might be just as useful. Among the students, rudiments of the critical-reflective attitude desired as a premise of inquiry-based learning were visible; nevertheless, this format could have been addressed more explicitly in the preparatory phases of the school internship.