Journal of Education for Teaching

International research and pedagogy

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Examining Chinese and Spanish preservice

teachers’ practicum teaching experiences: a
transformative learning perspective

Gang Zhu, Pedro Membiela Iglesia & Ke Wang

To cite this article: Gang Zhu, Pedro Membiela Iglesia & Ke Wang (2020): Examining Chinese
and Spanish preservice teachers’ practicum teaching experiences: a transformative learning
perspective, Journal of Education for Teaching, DOI: 10.1080/02607476.2019.1708623

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2019.1708623

Published online: 13 Jan 2020.

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING
https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2019.1708623

Examining Chinese and Spanish preservice teachers’ practicum

teaching experiences: a transformative learning perspective
a
Gang Zhu , Pedro Membiela Iglesiab and Ke Wang c

a
Institute for International and Comparative Education, East China Normal University, China; bDepartment of
Special Didactics, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain; cDepartment of Teaching, Learning and Culture, Texas A&M
University, College Station, USA

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This paper examines how Chinese (n = 11) and Spanish (n = 11) pre- Received 30 August 2018
service teachers reflect on their learning-to-teach experiences during Accepted 8 January 2019
the teaching practicum period through the lenses of transformative KEYWORDS
learning theory and third space conceptualisation. Specifically, the Student teachers;
authors adopted the five-stage transformative learning model and transformative learning;
collected reflective journals from the participants. Framed by this third space; frame of
model, the authors traced the Chinese and Spanish preservice teachers’ reference; teaching
transformative professional learning experiences evidenced by (1) dis- practicum
orienting dilemma, (2) reflection and exploration of assumptions, (3)
gaining confidence in a new role, (4) behaviour changes, and (5)
integration of new perspectives. Implications for fostering a third
space, namely hybridity and boundary-crossing between university
and schools, during teaching practicum are discussed in this paper.

Introduction
International scholars acknowledge the potential contributions of teaching practicums to
preservice teachers’ professional development and particularly professional identity con-
struction (e.g. Zhu, Waxman, Rivera, & Burlbaw, 2018; Zhu & Zhu, 2018). The primary
purpose of practicum experiences is to provide preservice teachers with opportunities to
become acquainted with the requirements of their future teaching, develop repertoires of
pedagogies, and construct professional identities (Lawson et al., 2015).
Considering the turbulence of learning to teach during the practicum period, this
paper endeavours to unpack how the preservice teachers enact their transformative
learning (Mezirow, 1994; Mezirow & Associates, 2000) in the teaching practicum context.
Moreover, there is no explicit international comparative study that explores Chinese and
Spanish preservice teachers’ professional practicum experiences, which represent the
Confucius-culture inherited society and the western society, respectively.

Theoretical framework
Originally formulated by Mezirow (1994, 2000), Mezirow and Associates (2000) and then
widely disseminated by others (e.g. Kumi-Yeboah and James 2012; Meijer, De Graaf, &

CONTACT Gang Zhu gzhu@iice.ecnu.edu.cn

The current affiliation of Ke Wang is the Department of Teacher Education, Nicholls State University.
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 G. ZHU ET AL.

Meirink, 2011), transformative learning theory conceptualises adult learning as a process

leading to fundamental changes in frames of reference and habits of mind. The main
constructs of the transformative learning theory are ‘frames of reference,’ ‘disorienting
dilemma,’ ‘critical reflection and dialogue,’ and ‘taking action’ (Meziorw 2000, 5). Frame of
reference is defined as the summation of one’s intellectual capacity through which all
thoughts, experiences, learning, and actions are filtered and processed (Mezirow, 1997).
The disorienting dilemma is an experience that causes discomfort and disequilibrium,
because it comes in conflict with one’s present frame of reference (Meziorw 2000). The
learner then progresses through introspection, critical reflection, and dialogue to develop
a new frame of reference that is integrated, emancipated, and less discriminatory.
Specifically, this study utilises the five-stage transformation construct (Senyshyn &
Chamberlin-Quinlisk 2009) that accounts for the participants’ transformative learning:
(1) Disorienting dilemma, (2) reflection and exploration of assumptions, (3) gaining
confidence in a new role, (4) behaviour changes, and (5) integration of new perspectives.

Methodology
Contexts and participants
This study was situated in two four-year university-based teacher education programmes
in China and Spain respectively. The first author distributed the metaphorical professional
identity instructions to the EFL preservice teachers. Overall, 22 Chinese (n = 11) and
Spanish (n = 11) preservice teachers who finished their teaching practicums agreed to
participate in this research. Among these participants, seventeen are female and five are
male. Twelve student-taught in public middle schools and ten in public high schools.

Data collection and analysis

Journaling provides a vehicle for critical self-reflection (Craig, Zou, and Poimbeauf 2015) and
allows preservice teachers to examine their frames of reference from different points of
view. Accordingly, 22 journal entries at the end of the teaching practicums from Autumn
2017 to Summer 2018 were collected and all the journal entries were translated into English.
Subsequently, the reflective journals were analysed iteratively. The complete data analysis
process involved four steps: 1) naming/labelling, 2) sorting (clarification and elimination), 3)
categorisation, and 4) analysing data (Saban, Kocbeker, & Saban, 2007, p. 126).

Findings
Disorienting dilemma
The disorienting dilemma is widespread among both the Chinese and Spanish participants.
Since the teaching practicum encompasses multifaceted tasks, including designing lesson
plans, classroom management, and communicating with parents, it is understandable that
the participants encounter discomfort and disequilibrium. These disorienting dilemmas
demonstrate the conflict with one’s pre-existing frame of reference (Meziorw 2000).
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 3

Reflection and exploration of assumptions

The reflection mainly centres on the participants’ underlying assumptions about the
relationship between theory and practice, with a particularly explicit focus on how
effectively to teach the pupils in the placement schools (Allen and Wright 2014).

Gaining confidence in a new role

Towards the end of the teaching practicum, the participants accumulated more practical
experiences, which contributed to their heightened confidence in assuming new roles.
For instance, the Chinese participant C7 shifted her professional identity from a traditional
teacher to a more progressive teacher (a ‘road guide’). Similarly, the Spanish participant S7
changed his professional identity from ‘lost in the jungle’ to ‘a professional athlete’.

Behaviour changes
As the teaching practice progressed, the participants changed their daily instructional
practices more readily to accommodate the students’ various learning needs. For
instance, the Chinese participant C9 became more pedagogically pupil-centred.
Additionally, C11 developed more sophisticated understandings about grading and
lecturing by participating in a series of professional development sessions. Meanwhile,
the Spanish participant S8 gained more teaching autonomy as evidenced by his oppor-
tunities for more favoured instructional approaches.

Integration of new perspectives

After reflecting on the assumptions and adjusting the behaviours, the participants
renewed their perspectives on teachers’ roles and teaching. Furthermore, the integration
of new perspectives demonstrates that the participants expanded their perceptions on
‘what they should do’ and ‘what they could achieve’.

Discussions and implications

This international study reveals that the participants’ self-descriptive metaphors and
written reflections show that they integrated new perspectives that embody the shift
from idealistic expectations to realistic perceptions of the multifaceted teaching practice.
This paper contributes to the literature through the fine-grained account of the Chinese
and Spanish preservice teachers’ transformative learning journeys in different contexts. As
can been seen from this empirical inquiry, preservice teachers’ transformative learning is
always intertwined with resolving the disorienting dilemma, critical reflection and
exploration of assumptions, gaining confidence in a new role, behaviour changes and
integration of new perspectives (DeCapua, Marshall & Frydland, 2018). In addition, this
study confirms that the transformative learning process involves continuous professional
identity formation (Illeris 2014).
4 G. ZHU ET AL.

Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Southwest Education Research Association Research Grant. We
feel indebted to Ms. Jinfei Zhu, who assisted us in the data collection. Furthermore, we thank the
anonymous reviewers and the JET Editors, who provided insight and expertise that greatly
improved this manuscript.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding
This work was supported by the Peak Discipline Construction Project of Education at East China
Normal University, China.

ORCID
Gang Zhu http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3169-8424
Ke Wang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0491-0613

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