I read the whole article “Nepalese ELT practitioners meet the world” and I think I should write something about my experience. Yes, practice teaching is really being a meaningless ritual.
I’m one of the students of education faculty and now I’m doing my Masters at Kathmandu University. I finished my Bachelor level from Dhankuta Multiple College of eastern Nepal and I also followed the rule of TU and went for practice teaching. When I was in the process of learning to be a teacher, I was not able to ask any question because the class was very large. But later, in the orientation class we were divided in a different group and I was also able to ask question to my teacher.
The real problems are being created from this point because different teachers are orienting their students from different perspective. At first we deal with one teacher and follow him, but later, another teacher who was not orienting us first comes to my practice teaching class as an internal and external observer. Because of this cause we students are forced to think that teaching practice is nothing but it is a burden for us and we should be victim of different perspectives of our different observers.
I am also the one who faced the same problem. At first I got the orientation class with an expert of English, I followed his ideas and he appreciates me and gave 19 out of 20. I was so excited at that time, I thought I followed my teacher and he was happy with me. When I went to school in a real situation I always remembered each and every thing that my orientation teacher provided me. I followed the method of teaching; I followed the way of appreciating the students and the way of preparing materials also. The Head teacher was happy with me; the class teacher was also happy with me and all of the students whom I was teaching were also satisfied with me. With this process, I spent my 28 days in that school, but not any internal observer came there to observe my classes.
At last two experts of Foundation of education came to my class for final observation; one as internal and the as external. They observed my class and scolded me inside the classroom for the way I had prepared the materials; the first lesson plans were not satisfactory for them. What my orientation teacher had asked me to do and I had done but that was not satisfactory for other teachers. They never came before to observe me and instruct me; at last they said I was not a good teacher. My orientation teacher was satisfied with my presentation so he provided me 19 out of 20 but the final observers were not happy, as a result they gave 40 out of 80 to me. This is not only my problem; I think this is for the all. My teaching practice friends who were oriented by the same final observer were benefitted but others were not.
Now, can you find where the problems are being situated? Who are the real problem creators? Who are holding the teaching practice as meaningless ritual?