The catalyst role of teacher: from the perspective of prospective teachers

Authors : Nur Cebeci, Işıl Gamze Yıldız

Pages : 193-204

View : 12 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 2017-06-21

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Normal 0 false false false TR X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:`Table Normal`; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:``; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:TR;} Teachers have a wide range of roles to handle the class in terms of supporting students and accomplishing their own responsibilities. Additionally, the roles of a teacher may also change due to many factors such as methodological development or technological innovations. With the current changes, it seems that teachers play the role of a catalyst by supporting and motivating the students. In this study, the term catalyst teacher is used to describe the teacher’s role, and the teacher’s role as a catalyst is investigated from the perspective of prospective teachers. In doing so, the prospective teachers of English at a Turkish university were interviewed through semi-structured interview questions to explore their understanding of teacher cognition. The interview has three different dimensions: prospective teachers’ previous learning experiences; their recent experiences, and their school practicum experiences -in terms of mentor teachers’ roles. The results of the study displayed that the prospective teachers believe that the teacher should be a model and guide- catalyst- in the classroom; however, they declared that their previous teachers implemented traditional teaching techniques for teaching English. Similarly, they also declared that their mentor teachers followed traditional teaching methods.
Keywords : teacher role, catalyst role, foreign language learner