Differentiation has gained increasing attention in contemporary pedagogy as an approach to cater for student diversity. However, particularly novice and pre-service teachers seem to struggle with applying it in practice. The aim of this study was to increase pre-service English teachers' understanding of differentiation in Finland. Differentiation…

This case study examined three pre-service teachers' reflection processes during their first teaching practicum. During the six-week practicum, the pre-service teachers reflected on their own as well as their peers' teaching in group mentoring meetings several times a week. Unstructured stimulated recall facilitated pre-service teacher-initiated…

This paper reports on a study into course relevance conducted using some of the principles of Exploratory Practice (EP). I wanted to gain an understanding about how relevant the students taking my English courses perceived them to be in terms of their own lives. I also hoped to resolve some of the tensions experienced due to the differences in…

This article details the ongoing collaboration between two teacher training providers in the UK and Finland in the development and use of portfolios to support reflective practice in teacher education programmes. The use of portfolios for assessment in teacher education has developed extensively over a number of years to support the student to…

This paper examines the context of teacher education in which certain students work as teachers whilst at the same time they study in a teacher education programme. The two phenomena that are discussed are the integration of theory and practice, and learning while working. These are located in the wider framework of teachers' pedagogical thinking,…