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Learning to Teach Low Socioeconomic Pupils: Pre-service Teachers Understanding about Education & Social Differences in C |
| Heng Jiang |
Abstract |
| This study examines empirically what pre-service teachers learn from working with students of low socio-economic (SES) background during a cross-regional immersion internship in China. Drawing on the theory of boundary work in cultural sociology, this study attempts to explore the lived experiences of pre-service teachers and examine the mixture of cultural meanings appropriated by them for shaping their understanding and actions during the internship. It is found that pre-service teachers use multiple cultural resources to draw intellectual, moral, and cultural boundaries among their rural students during their learn-to-teach experiences. A professional supportive setting with expert mentors can help these novices to reflect upon their unexamined perceptions about disadvantaged students and obtain better understanding of teaching students different from their own. |