ABSTRACT
School placement is a critical part of initial teacher education programmes that provides authentic contexts where pre-service teachers can bridge theory and practice. This chapter examines orientations of pre-service teachers’ practical knowledge during a six-week school placement. Concept mapping as a reflective tool was adopted both at the beginning and the end of the placement, alongside semi-structured interviews as supplementary materials. The research findings reveal three orientations of pre-service teachers’ practical knowledge: interpersonal-interaction-oriented, problem-solving-oriented, and professional-identity-oriented knowledge. Based on the participants’ annotation, the differences in the pre-service teachers’ knowledge orientations are influenced by their prior teaching experience, received mentoring, and critical events during placement. This chapter supplies transnational implications for diagnosing pre-service teachers’ practical knowledge in advance by concept mapping.
