Oral and written competencies at a transitional stage: A study of narratives from first-year student teachers´ self-evaluations

• Main Authors: Torhild Erika Hoydalsvik, Hilde Randi Osdal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Murcia 2020-09-01
• Series: Educatio Siglo XXI
• Subjects: Teacher Education; Student Teacher; Competencies; Formation; Transitional stage
• Online Access: https://revistas.um.es/educatio/article/view/424831
• ISSN: 1699-2105; 1989-466X

The article presents a study concerning Norwegian student teachers’ understanding of their oral and written competencies in higher education, focusing on students in their initial teacher education studies as they prepare to become school teachers or kindergarten teachers. The study sought deeper insight into student teachers’ perceptions of their own performance in meeting the oral and written objectives of the academy. The study sample included the following categories of education students: part-time students at the bachelor’s level seeking to teach kindergarten, as well as full-time bachelor’s kindergarten students and full-time master’s students seeking to be primary and secondary educators. The findings in this analysis of student teachers’ experience, concerning oral and written competencies as expressed in sixty-seven narratives, indicated that they experienced high degrees of mastery for oral competency but lower levels for written competency. Further, students struggled with what they described as hidden or unclear expectations related to academic text production. Based on the findings of this study, the authors propose further investigation of students’ experiences in mastering language competencies. These findings on Norway will have parallels to other professional education programmes elsewhere in Europe.